Maine is not known for natural arches but there were four small ones reported in the Journal of Natural Arch Discoveries.
This October, Pat and I drove up the Maine coast stopping at some nice lighthouses. At the Portland Head Lighthouse in South Portland, ME you can see Portland Head Lighthouse Arch (ME-4), which is just south of the lighthouse.
Directions: In Portland, drive State Street south across the bridge into South Portland and turn left onto Cottage Road. Turn left into Ft. Williams State park and head to the lighthouse parking lot. You can see the arch to the south. Walk the trail south along the fence then go uphill to the top of the cliffs. Go left on a faint trail which goes on a pebble beach, and go right around the rocks to see the arch (only if it is low tide). The arch has a span of three feet.
Unfortunately nearby Portland Head Arch (ME-2) has fallen. It had a span of four feet. A scan of my old Polaroid photo is below.
The photo below shows two large natural arches at Legzira Beach, Morocco, in the Province D’Agadir about 10 kilometers north of Sidi Infi.
The arch in the foreground, NABSQNO 29R 391178 3257234 with an estimated span of 60 feet, collapsed on September 23, 2016. The remains are shown in the photo below.
The remaining arch, with an estimated span of 90 feet, still stands. Our own Guilain Debossens stands by the arch in the photo below.
Long Island Arch, Five Islands, Nova Scotia, collapsed on October 19, 2015. The arch, composed of basalt, was located on the Parrsboro Shore of the Bay of Fundy. The before and after photos above are courtesy of Fundy Geological Museum. The short video below includes footage from the day before the collapse, where rubble has already accumulated in the opening before the final collapse.
Hewitt Canyon Arch, Bob Mapes (left) and Nick Terzakis
Hewitt Canyon Arch
NABS members accessing arch AZ-116 in the Eagletail mountains on Saturday, Feb 13, 2016.
Lovely Triple Eye Arch in the west Eagletail mountains. NABS members climbed high up to get near this one.
Crazy 8 Arch was also visited by NABS members on Saturday in the west Eagletail mountains.
Triple Eye Catchment Arch was discovered by Larry Beck and Bob Mapes while exploring an area near Triple Eye Arch. It is named for the wildlife water catchment that is nearby.
Arch AZ-49, west side. Terry Sorenson (left), Nick Terzakis (sitting), Jim Hoerlein (red shirt), and David Alexander
Arch AZ-49 gets bagged by NABS group
Black Glass Canyon Arch with NABS members
Diversion Dam Arch, near Florence, Arizona
Eagletail Arch bagged by NABS members
Gavilan Wash Arch, near Hag’s Tooth Arch, California
Hag’s Tooth Arch (left) with Norm’s Stargazer Arch (right)
Hag’s Tooth Arch on Three Arch Hill in California. David Alexander (left) with Bob and Marcia Mapes.
Arriving at Martinez Canyon Arch
NABS group at base of Martinez Canyon Arch before ascent to the arch
Unnamed arch near Eagletail Arch
NABS members dedicating Norm’s Stargazer Arch at Three Arch Hill in California
Whitley Bridge, Picacho State Park, CA, with NABS members
NABS is pleased to announce that we have selected an arch to name in honor of the memory of long-time member and SPAN publisher, Norm Self, who passed away earlier this year. Norm and his wife, Linda, lived in El Centro, CA for many years and Norm delighted in taking numerous friends out to see the arches on “Three-Arch Hill” in Gavilan Wash west of Picacho State Recreation Area in eastern Imperial County, CA. This area had special meaning to Norm and Linda and that played a role in selecting one of these arches to honor Norm.
The three arches located there have been unofficially referred to as Hag’s Tooth (CA-146), Gavilan Wash Arch (CA-145), and Eye of the Hawk (CA-144). “Hag’s Tooth” was aptly used for obvious reasons, and Gavilan Wash Arch was too small (5-foot span), so we chose Eye of the Hawk to honor Norm. Therefore, California arch NABSQNO 11S-707583-3657511 will hereafter be referred to by NABS as Norm’s Stargazer Arch (“Stargazer” was Norm’s old CB handle). Eye of the Hawk (“Gavilan” is Spanish for “hawk”) will be retained as an alternate designation. Of the three arches, Norm’s Stargazer Arch is the largest, northernmost, and highest elevation. It has a span of 20 feet and a height of 7 feet. NABS is planning a visit to these arches at the end of our next Rally.
Here are photos of the three arches by Dave Kennedy:
The Natural Arch and Bridge Society Spring 2015 Arch Rally was held in Escalante, Utah, and had about 40 members in attendance. It was great fun with several trips daily. Here are some photos from the Rally (hover for caption; click for slide show).
Your webmaster and Blog editor David Brandt-Erichsen got a new job as Natural Arch Consultant when NABS was asked by Red Bull Adventure for assistance in compiling a collection of arch photos. Although it was one-time only and there was no pay, it’s a start!
The NABS Board and a few other members joined in on the fun of making suggestions, and two of our intrepid international arch hunters, Ray Millar and Gunter Welz, actually got paid for some photos.
The Red Bull editors of course made the final selection. The article was published July 28:
These photos show a dramatic change in the appearance of Ring Arch in Courthouse Wash in Arches National Park. Sometime between April 29 and October 7, 2014, a significant portion of the arch collapsed, leaving the arch very much thinner and looking quite delicate.
Ring Arch Spring 2014. From left to right: Sandra Scott, Susan McDowell, Gus Scott, and John Slivka. Photo by Larry Beck taken during NABS Spring Arch Rally.Ring Arch Fall 2014. Photo by Susan McDowell taken during NABS Fall Arch Rally.
As the photos show, the left abutment remains intact, but shortly beyond, a large amount of rock including a portion of the right abutment has fallen. The arc of rock that remains shows no fractures in the photos, but it showed no fractures in the earlier photos either. Standing under the arch, it appears as though much of the lower right front of the span has fallen.
Ring Arch may be seen almost directly west from the park road from a long pullout on the west side of the road (NABSQNO 12S-621729-4278463) about 0.15 miles southwest of the center of the Courthouse Wash Bridge. Binoculars will help, as the arch is about 1.3 miles from the road and the arch location is not obvious.
There is no established trail to Ring Arch. Walking directly to it from the park road view is not recommended since it is difficult to avoid disturbing sensitive desert soils. It’s also unpleasant to deal with the stickers in dense patches of Russian thistle and several tumbleweed-filled drainages. A better route starts on a use trail at the parking area on the northwest side of Courthouse Wash (12-622006- 4278791).
Ring Arch is tucked in a northeastward facing alcove and has morning sun. Courthouse Wash can have standing water, serious mud, and voracious seasonal biting insects. Walks taken after a dry spell and when insect populations are low are recommended. If you are good at finding use trails and return the way you came, your round-trip walk will be about 4.0 miles. This is a wonderfully pristine area, so stay in drainages when possible and do your best to insure there is only one narrow footpath leading to the arch.
Ring Arch is a very old pothole type natural arch, which has formed in the Slick Rock Member of Entrada Sandstone. The Slick Rock Member was deposited in tidal mudflats, beaches, and sand dunes during the Middle Jurassic period between 180 and 140 million years ago.
Sources agree that Harry Reed, a Moab photographer and custodian of what was then Arches National Monument, first reported Ring Arch in 1940. Slim Mabery, a former district ranger at the monument, named the arch in 1961. The name comes from the shape of the arch. According to the World Arch Database, Ring Arch’s span is 45’ with a height of 39’. After the recent rockfall, the arch may be marginally taller.
No, the Natural Arch and Bridge Society does not make money from arches.
But some governments do.
The United States Mint released an Arches National Park quarter in 2014 as part of its America the Beautiful Quarters Program, featuring Delicate Arch. You can buy a 100-coin bag of these from the U. S. Mint ($25 face value) but it will set you back $40 with shipping. [UPDATE 2016: Not any more, but you can get a pack of 3 for $9.95 + $4.95 shipping.]
NABS member Daniel Putelat has the following coins in his collection. Quebec released a coin featuring Le Rocher Percé:
He also has in his collection this 2015 Monnaie de Paris (Money of Paris) featuring Pont d’Arc:
Daniel also has in his collection these Monnaie de Paris featuring Etretat:
Paper bank notes have also been produced. Below is Pigeon Rock in Lebanon.
