Yeah, it was kinda crazy how as everything receded it exposed just how much of a drop off there actually was!

So much of the landscape out there has the appearance of being sculpted out of clay which, in a way, it really was.

It is definitely a fitting name for the arch!

Thanks, that’s very kind!

Yeah, this is definitely up there as one of my favorites. I just love the way it all changes perspective constantly based on where you are on the trail and what height you are at. Just a really mind-blowing adventure.

Yeah, it does seem to have some directional elements among all the noise.

Oh wow, always thought that claw was a sixth one. I knew about pandas having the pseudo-thumb that evolved from their wrist but could never figure out how they didn’t have seven if other bears already had six. I guess that’s how haha. Thanks for the info!

That’s what I thought they looked like as well, but the only north american ones that I am aware of are in Olympic national park in Washington. They certainly wouldn’t be where this is, there are barely any trees haha.

Thanks for that, was super informative. I always have enough wonder with a third of the country being a massive inland sea, adding that a large inlet of hyper saline is would domino effect to all these arches is just wild.

After the big chunk fell off of Landscape arch in the 90s they put up a wooden fence that keeps you 100 ft or more from it, which is where I was standing when taking that photo for reference. All other arches in the park that have an opening of 3 ft or more are not allowed to be walked on, so probably not even the smaller of the Double O arches although it may be small enough.

For this one, it’s more wind shear and ice cleavage/hot expansion that does most of the erosion from what I understand. Everything in the area is mostly sandstone or similar so it erodes relatively easy. Some layers are ‘softer’ than others so in the case of this one the lower area eroded easier than the upper boulder, leading to what you have now. At one point it would have been much larger and over time pieces have broken off to where you are just left with this.

Slot canyons are formed by water flow closer to what you’re talking about though, and could also lead to a similar outcome as this, but it would likely be surrounded more closely by other rock walls, as well as probably being smoother.

For arches it could go either way; a small cavity develops which just keeps eroding until you are left with two large bases connected by a bridge. You could also have water cutting its way down to form a slit canyon but there was a tougher layer toward the top that didn’t fully erode before the flow got too low to hit it and kept carving beneath.

This was from a trip I took down there in December 2023, which had had very little snow at that point in the season. In one of the hikes coming up when I get to Great Basin National Park, I was at 10,000 ft on December 30th and in open areas there was only patches of snow, which was not typical at all. I believe right when I left at the start of the year a big snowstorm came through

Haha, dual (hiking) boots

It doesn’t seem to be all that well advertised for such a massive waterfall; although I guess since the town is named Twin Falls that’s all the advertising you really need.

A night show sounds awesome. Yeah, this was the only time I’ve personally been there but would love to see it when its actually flowing. Most of the times I’ve passed close by I’m headed towards Montana and get off of 84 at Mountain Home. This trip was when I was headed to Utah so I stayed on longer. I think I may come back west that route in the spring and will definitely swing by then if that’s the route I go. Good to know about a night show, will try to plan for that as well.

Oh wow, I wasn’t aware of that. 1,000 goats at one point is a crazy number for up there and must’ve been really damaging.

That’s true, I forgot about the hill leading up to it. Although, and I may be mistaken, I believe that they offer a shuttle for people with disabilities that will go around the hill and drop you off at the top.

Haven’t been to that one, but I’m always a fan. Portland also has a Chinese garden that is pretty nice closer to the waterfront, but is smaller. Has a great tea house.

I think one of my favorite things about that garden is the climate really encourages mosses and the like to grow which really adds to the atmosphere of it. Downside is sometimes you’ll get bad weather for it. Yeah, there are some really great photos of that maple out there. Gets kind of intimidating when all the photographers are all jockeying for spots there haha.

Haha, I wasn’t aware you could see them there, that’s awesome… I remember the first time I saw a sign warning about the pee-mad mountain goats while hiking the Heart Lake Trail in the sawtooth mountains of Idaho.