"There are those seeing it (Landscape Arch) and the warm-hued desert vistas it frames, who are content to turn back without further exploration. Most others push on through scored corridors to Double-O Arch, a pair of windows arranged in double-deck -- as if to keep alive an appetite jaded by mere single windows."
--- Utah A Guide to the State 1941
Today it is still the same, with many never taking the difficult but rewarding trail to gaze upon the unique Double-O Arch. It's almost as if mother nature, gazing at her handy work, said to herself, "I wonder what it would look like with a second small arch, a window if you will, below the magnificent wide arch I just created."
To think that we are only following in the line of those who came before. They were following the American Guide Book, while we follow the modern, colorful Park Pamphlet. Yet all of us get to enjoy the same experience, standing where others have gone before.
To step back, immerse ourselves in the past, to do what those who came before did. We may not be the first to gaze upon its beauty, but we share the same sense of awe that makes us realize how wonderful our national parks truly are. May there always be "guides" to give us the opportunities to enjoy this planet we share with our fellow humans. And may we continue on down the trail to view the next arch, especially one as remote and unique as Double-O.