The Temple, sea arch along the California coast at Point Reyes National Seashore

 The Temple is a sea arch along the Point Reyes National Seashore coastline. Sea arches form by erosion caused by wave action. The Temple is only safe to visit during low tide, because during high tide, the waves can reach the base of the cliffs along the one mile of beach that it takes to reach this arch.

The day was a little overcast, but we arrived here at mid-morning when the tide was going from low tide to high tide. We could tell that the water reaches the arch at those times.

Fuji GFX100S, f13.9, 1/50 sec. ISO 400, 45 mm (36 mm 35 equiv.)

Location: 37 deg, 58' 51.48", -122 deg, 48' 9.68"

Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) blossom in Yosemite Valley, May 15, 2025

 There's rarely a bad time to visit Yosemite Valley, but one of the better times is when the Pacific Dogwood (Cornus nuttallii) tree is blooming. This usually happens from late April to mid-May, so many summer visitors to the park don't get to see this floral display.

The showiest part of the blossom are actually bracts that attach below the flowers of this tree. The flowers themselves are in the tight cluster in the middle.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Corona Arch and sunburst, near Moab, Utah, March 18, 2025

 After participating in the 2025 Spring Arch Rally with the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, we hiked to Corona Arch out of Moab, Utah. The trailhead for this hike is off of the Potash Road. The hike to this arch crosses railroad tracks and involves scrambling with a handling and a ladder. It also passes by a pothole arch named Bowtie Arch.

This magnificent natural rock span is listed as having both a span and height of 110 feet and is a buttress type arch in Navajo sandstone. This view is from the side away from the direction we first approached it.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Parallel Double Arch, Klondike Bluffs, near Moab, Utah, March 14, 2025

 We attended the 2025 Spring Arch Rally by the Natural Arch and Bridge Society centered around Moab, Utah. The rally was held from Saturday, March 8th to Saturday, March 15th.

On our seventh day of hiking, our host Peter Jamieson took us to the Klondike Bluffs area north of Moab, Utah. One of the several natural rock spans that we saw on this hike was this one called Parallel Arch. This double arch was high on a cliff of sandstone.

The dimensions of these arches, according to the World Arch Database is, for the outer arch, 32 foot span, and the inner arch is 22 foot span.

We tried measuring the span and height of these two natural rock spans and came up with the following numbers:

Parallel Arch Outer

Span - 17.178 meters (56.36 feet)

Height - 12.617 meters (41.38 feet)

Parallel Arch Inner

Height - 9.067 meters (29.75 feet)

Span - 

Remember it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Concealed Bridge, Herdina Park, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah, 2025 Spring Arch Rally, Natural Arch and Bridge Society, March 10, 2025

 We attended the 2025 Spring Arch Rally by the Natural Arch and Bridge Society centered around Moab, Utah. The rally was held from Saturday, March 8th to Saturday, March 15th.

On our third day of hiking, our host David Alexander took us to the Herdina Park area of Arches National Park. One of the several natural rock spans that we saw on this hike was this one called Concealed Bridge. To get to it we had to duck under an overhang of sandstone before reaching a dryfall, or pouroff, This span  was on the edge of a pothole.

The span of this arch is 9.5 feet and the height is 10 feet and is listed as a waterfall-type natural bridge.

Remember it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Big Sur southern coast, Kirk Creek Arch, Monterey County

 

We found out about an arch along the southern end of the Big Sur coast from a Facebook posting from an avid hiker we're following. She mentioned where she was and included several photos, including an arch in the Pacific Ocean. It was actually next to a campground we were already thinking about visiting, so her posting made us take the trip to see it sooner rather than later. We saw it first during a higher tide, with waves crashing under the arch. We came back about 6 hours later and the tide was low enough that we could stand under it. We took measurements with a laser measurer and reported our results to the Natural Arch and Bridge Society. It turned out that we were the first to report this arch to them.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Alabama Hills, the Eye of Alabama natural arch

 

Here is a close view of the second most famous feature in the Alabama Hills, the Eye of Alabama. We parked along the road and hiked up to this feature to get a closer image. There are over a hundred natural arches in this area. We visited during the Fall Arch Rally sponsored by the Natural Arch and Bridge Society in November 2024. We were part of a group of about 15 people on this day.

The Paiute name for this area is Payahuunadü, "land of flowing water."

Fuji GFX100S, ISO 100, f8, 1/220 sec., 100 mm (79mm equiv.)

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!