The first picture of Grand View Arch is taken with a powerful zoom lens from near the beginning of the spur trail:
Mel is standing in the middle of the spur trail close to the start of it. To the right, you can see the small side canyon with narrows that dead-ends at a dry fall reported on in my Grand View Canyon report:
Mel passed me up while I was taking photographs and he is now leading the way up the trail:
Notice how the first half of the spur trail follows a small ridge of gravel:
The trail next passes to the left of a cliffs area. There are good views through here of the arch:
This dramatic picture was taken looking over the cliffs down into the 2nd Narrows of Grand View Canyon:
In the bottom portion of this picture, you can see how the cliffs form just below the arch and quickly grow in height. Hiking around this area really requires great caution and care:
Zooming in on Grand View Arch from the same spot:
Once the cliffs became less exposed on the right side, I walked along the rocky areas to have better footing:
Grand View Arch is simply an amazing formation to behold:
I eventually worked my way down below the arch. The next two pictures show views from below it:
Standing near the right side of the arch base, it is interesting to note how much solid rock is found here:
View looking through the arch from below:
Directly underneath Grand View Arch and looking up at the rock span:
Now slightly above the arch crossing, this is the view looking through it:
The arch looks quite beautiful from this angle behind it:
Grand View Canyon is even visible looking through the arch:
Backing up a little bit more for a wider view of the long arch sides:
Panoramic of Grand View Arch and the grand view of Saline Valley in the distance:
A picture of Steve taken from above the arch:
And a picture taken from below the arch which shows how small I am in comparison:
The Saline Valley Sand Dunes are clearly visible from Grand View Arch:
This shows the small canyon wall behind the arch on the right side. The canyon is very short and thus this formation was named an arch and not a natural bridge. But it was close. I don't think too many people would have objected if I had named it a natural bridge, but I truly think it should be called an arch:
This view is taken from the end of the very short canyon:
Above the arch now and behind it on the opposite side:
I wouldn't recommend trying to walk across the top of the arch. The rock looks a bit unstable:
A picture of Mel at the bottom of Grand View Arch:
This picture shows the loose rock that must be navigated on the steep hike back down. To the left are the sheer cliffs:
One final view of Grand View Arch from the opposite hillside, zoomed in a great deal:
We leave you with one final panoramic of Grand View Arch, perhaps Death Valley's largest arch:
