Postcard from the Arches–Balanced Rock

Sometime ago, I shared a photo of Balanced Rock at sunset. In that image, you could only see the profile of the rock set against a fiery sky. So, I decided to show you the rock in daylight, although it is getting towards sunset in this image. It is quite a remarkable sandstone formation and is one of the most famous landmarks in Arches National Park.

Balanced Rock is about 128 feet high, with the balancing rock rising 55 feet above the base.  Until recently, Balanced Rock had a companion…a similar, but much smaller balanced rock named "Chip Off The Old Block", which fell during the winter of 1975. You can see the pedestal where it stood to the right of Balanced Rock. One day, its big brother will fall also. Such is nature.

Getting to the rock is easy as it sits right by the main park road. There is a parking lot there so you can hike all around it if you wish. The snow covered mountains in the distant background are the LaSalle Mountains.

This is another in my experiments with HDR photography.