No, the title doesn't refer to my feet (although I guess it could after some of my hikes), but rather to some of the Arches in the national park. And by the way, the Arches National Park is only 5 miles north of the fun city of Moab, UT. Anyway, in my last blog, I talked a little about how arches are formed. But what I didn't say, but you could probably guess, is that once an arch is formed, that is not the end of the process. No indeed! Arches keep changing and eventually disappear as the water, ice and gravity keep working away.
Near the entrance of the park at a place known as "Park Avenue," there is a road sign that talks about a giant double arch that once existed in this area. You can see the remnants of the of the arches lying on the ground as giant red boulders.
But, the arches I want to focus on today are in the area known as the "Devils Garden." This fantastically beautiful place lies at the end of the Arches main road, very close to the park's only campground. As you can see from, the first photo, the Devil's Garden consists of giant red rock formations known as "fins" because they look so much like a fish's fin. These giants are pushed upward from underneath the ground and form the basis of many future arches.
The photo shows the start of the Devil's Garden trail which takes you to several interesting arches...the most famous being Landscape Arch, the largest arch in the park and the world. It measures some 290 feet from end to end...and is about 1.5 miles from the start of the Devil's Garden trail. This is the subject of the second photo. 
One used to be able to walk underneath this arch, but that trail has been closed off for some time. You see, in 1991, a 73 foot slab of rock fell out from underneath the thinnest section of the span. Amazingly enough, a Swiss tourist was there with his video camera when it fell and photographed the whole thing. There were some loud popping noises prior to the actual collapse, so he was able to get his camera up and running. If you would like to see it, click on this link as it is part of a 15 minute movie done by the Discovery Channel that is also shown in the park's theater at the visitor center. It is worth seeing, trust me, just to watch part of the arch fall.
Now, if you continue on the Devil's Garden trail, about a mile beyond Landscape Arch is another famous arch known as Wall Arch...or used-to-be would be a more correct statement. You see, in August of this year, Wall Arch collapsed completely. It apparently happened at night and no one was around. Wall Arch was the 12th largest arch (out of over 2,000, remember) in the park, measuring some 71 feet across and 33 feet high. Obviously, I couldn't take its picture as it was gone when I got there (the trail is closed anyway). However, if you click on this link, you can see a before and an after picture. 
The third photo is not an arch, but rather the famous Balanced Rock. I show it hear because it is also subject to the same forces that collapse arches. Someday, perhaps sooner rather than later, it will fall over and probably shatter. No one can predict when it or any of the arches will collapse and fall. It just happens. So as one ranger says in the above-mentioned video, you better come sooner rather than later to see some of these famous natural phenomenon.
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