Update on My Arch Activities

Why Do I Like Arches So Much?

People sometimes ask why I like arches so much. From the first time I saw an arch nearly 60 years ago (Kentucky’s Natural Bridge ), I was amazed by its beauty, and I wondered how it might have formed. In the autumn of 1973, my parents moved back to Menifee County, Kentucky, where they had grown up. My parents expected the Waltons, but they ended up in Hooterville, but that’s another story. I was a sophomore at Bob Jones University at the time, so I didn’t participate in the move. However, I did spend the summer of 1974 living with my parents in Menifee County. I had heard about the nearby Red River Gorge, but I had not spent any time there. So one day that summer, I drove the pickup truck to the gorge. As I drove through the gorge, I took advantage of every sign for an arch that I encountered. When I saw Rock Bridge , I was hooked.

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Kentucky's Natural Bridge.

Rock Bridge.

That summer, I spent several more days exploring the gorge, and on subsequent trips to visit my parents over the next decade, I would sometimes spend a day in Red River. There are 11 arches in the gorge that have marked trails that lead you to them (three in Natural Bridge State Resort Park and eight in the Red River Gorge Geological Area, run by the National Forest Service). During that decade, I visited most of those arches. During that decade, I read in a couple of places the number of arches known in the gorge. One source said that there were more than 80 arches in the gorge, and the other source said that there were more than 100 arches in the gorge. I thought at the time that I would like to visit all the arches in the gorge, but with no signs, trails, and documentation, where was I supposed to learn where those other arches were?

Circumstances changed, and over the next three decades, I visited the gorge only twice. Once I got settled here in Northern Kentucky a decade ago, I began to visit Red River again (the gorge is only a two-hour drive). I made these occasional trips to the gorge with several different people from Answers in Genesis, but my activity in Red River ramped up six years ago when I teamed up with my hiking buddy, Eric Glover, who is a coworker here at Answers in Genesis. Eric searched online for information about those 80–100 other arches in the gorge, and he soon found a series of DVDs “The Arches of the Red River Gorge Kentucky” that Bill Patrick began producing nearly 25 years ago. I ordered the entire 10-volume set of DVDs, and later, I obtained the subsequent volumes 11 and 12 (volume 13 is in the works). The first DVD discussed many of the better-known Red River Gorge arches circa the turn of the century. When Bill made that first DVD, he probably didn’t plan to make more DVDs, but as Bill gained the confidence of other arch enthusiasts, they began to share their arch discoveries, some going back decades. The discussion of each arch in the DVDs includes photographs, a map, and most importantly, the latitude and longitude of each arch. This wasn’t possible before the advent of GPS. I watched the DVDs and transcribed the location of each arch. I handed that list off to Eric, who entered the data into his computer. I purchased a GPS device, into which Eric uploaded the data. We always take the GPS device on our treks in the gorge as we search out arches that we haven’t seen before. Over the past six years, I’ve managed to visit 375 arches in the gorge. So much for 80–100 arches in Red River.

You may wonder how many arches are in the gorge. No one knows, partly because we keep finding new arches. Those in the know agree that likely there are more than a thousand arches in the gorge, making Red River Gorge the place in the United States with the second greatest number of arches. With 2,000 arches, Utah’s Arches National Park has the greatest number of arches. But hold on—at the rate we are discovering previously unknown arches, it is possible that Red River might have the greatest number of arches. How could so many arches escape discovery? The rugged terrain and dense vegetation make it difficult to spot arches from any distance. This is very different from arches out West, which often can be spotted from considerable distances. In the Red River Gorge, it is possible to walk right past an arch without noticing it. Furthermore, I suspect that some people in the past may have seen some arches but were not impressed enough to mention them to anyone (not everyone is as thrilled by arches as I am).

When Is an Arch an Arch?

There is more to discovering an arch than just spotting it.

My hiking buddies and I have discovered several arches, but there is more to discovering an arch than just spotting it. First, one must ensure that the arch meets the minimum size requirement to be considered an arch. That criterion is that an opening must be at least three feet across in at least one direction, so I carry a tape measure with me. I’ve found several windows (a term for an opening that is too small to be an arch) that were just a few inches short of the minimum size (I need to carry a hammer and chisel with me). Second, to be a true arch, the opening must be eroded away from a single rock. A false arch is a rock that has fallen onto another rock to leave an opening. Most false arches are easy to identify, but some false arches are difficult to tell. Third, one must be certain that an arch that one has found has not been previously discovered. Several times my hiking buddies and I think that we have found an arch, but we later find that someone else has found the arch already. A case in point is the small arch in this photograph . I spotted this arch on my most recent trip to Red River, only to learn that this arch was recently discovered and probably will be featured in the upcoming Volume 13 DVD. Fourth, an arch must be confirmed, typically by another party locating the arch to verify its existence, confirming it meets the minimum size, and recording the same latitude and longitude originally reported. There are many arches reported decades ago (before GPS) that were located using compasses and topographical maps that still lack confirmation, largely because of the uncertainty in their locations. Confirmation is an important part of the process, as important as initial discovery. Several times, I have notified Bill Patrick of arches that my hiking buddies and I have found, only to learn that someone else had previously reported them. Bill was always thankful for the confirmation.

Small arch.

Arch rally group.

With the number of new arch discoveries reported to Bill, he regularly organizes arch rallies in the gorge. I attended my first rally a year ago, and I attended the most recent rally on March 1. Nearly 30 people showed up (in the photograph, I’m in the green sweatshirt just left of center). On rally days, people are paired in teams, with each drawing a slip of paper with an assignment to check out an arch, its location, and a small photograph. However, this year, Bill asked me if I would be willing to take on the challenge of confirming six arches relatively close together in Natural Bridge State Resort Park. Of course, I agreed, and that morning Bill paired me with veteran arch hunter Steve King (he’s to the right of me in the photograph). Many people say that I walk very fast in the gorge, leaving people behind. I don’t think I walk that fast, and after spending a day in the gorge with Steve, I know that I don’t. Steve left me in the dust. We were not able to find two of the assigned six arches, but we found the other four. I was familiar with the area, and on previous trips there, my hiking buddies and I had spotted two arches in the general area, one two years ago and the other just a few weeks earlier. We confirmed the locations of both of those arches. Confirmation of six arches in one day is not bad.

Why Isn’t Archaeology the Science of Arches?

I’m not a geologist, but I’ve gained appreciation for the Corbin Sandstone, the rock layer in which most Red River Gorge arches are found. I have found the Corbin Sandstone to be quite variable in its properties. I frequently have been surprised by what I find in that sandstone. For instance, earlier this year, I saw a lens, a patch of very different rock inserted into the sandstone. The name comes from the different material tapering out on either end, resembling a lens in shape. The rock in the lens I saw was a very crumbly shale, identical to shale found below, but not in contact with, the Corbin Sandstone. I had never seen a lens in the Corbin Sandstone, so that is something to watch for in the future.

But my growing interest in the geology of Red River has taken a more scientific turn of late. My favorite arch is Rock Bridge, a true bridge in that a stream flows under it. For 70 years, the formation theory for Rock Bridge is that it is the remnant of a retreating waterfall. According to this theory, a vertical joint just upstream from the waterfall allowed water to reach the undercut of the waterfall, diverting all the flow and eroding a new channel. After this, the new waterfall retreated upstream, leaving Rock Bridge behind. I disagree with this theory. The stream flows northward here, but it makes an abrupt right-angle turn to the east once it passes through the arch. Rock Bridge appears to be part of a wall that crosses the stream and continues to the west side of the stream, with a drainage on either side of the wall. Two to three years ago, I noticed that the wall extends about 100 yards to the west so that the two drainages are connected, forming a U-shaped channel, with the north branch of the U continuing downstream. I think that it is clear how Rock Bridge formed—the original flow followed a gooseneck meander around the wall before the flow punched through the wall, forming the arch and leaving the U-shaped channel without flow.

Rock Bridge.

Rock Bridge is the second stop on the Answers in Genesis field trip to Red River that I lead (I’ll say more about the field trip later). I point this feature out on the field trip, and I discuss my theory of how Rock Bridge formed. I point out to the guests that I needed a detailed survey of the area around Rock Bridge to support my theory. Alan More of Dallas was on the field trip a year and a half ago, and when I pointed out my need for a survey, Alan said that he could do that. So last May, Alan made a trip to the gorge with me along with a couple of his employees to survey the area around Rock Bridge. Last July, I gave my first presentation of my theory of how Rock Bridge formed at the meeting of the Creation Research Society at the Answers Center at the Ark Encounter.1 I shared the survey results as a key part of my presentation.

I have since learned that the three namesake arches of Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah are believed to have formed by the same mechanism. Therefore, at the end of March, I plan to visit the national monument to see for myself the evidence of this mechanism. I will drive there with my hiking buddy, Eric, but we will be joined by Canyon Ministries Director Nate Loper as well as Nathan Mogk, both from Arizona. While neither one is a professional geologist, both Nate and Nathan know much geology, so I hope to learn quite a bit from them while there.

But there are some added bonuses for being there. Natural Bridges National Monument has many petroglyphs, including a famous one that resembles a sauropod. Some creationists cite this petroglyph as evidence that humans and dinosaurs coexisted. I hope to visit that site and others to see the petroglyphs for myself and collect photographs. But wait—there’s more! This part of the country is more than a mile above sea level, very arid, and it is far from any large city. Therefore, the skies are excellent for stargazing. I planned the trip to coincide with dark moon so that I can photograph the sky. In a future blog, I’ll share the photographs of rocks and stars that I might take. Our main target is the national monument, but if time allows, Eric and I hope to visit Arches National Park to take in some more arches. I briefly visited the national park a few years ago, but there is much more there I want to see.

Why Don’t You Join Me in Red River Gorge?

Earlier I mentioned Explore Arches, an Answers in Genesis field trip that I lead in Red River Gorge (what I unofficially call “Arch Encounter”). There is still room for you to join us on our next excursion on April 11. You can see the evidence of the rapid formation of Rock Bridge for yourself. Sign up here. Did I mention that I will bring a bottle of Cheerwine for you to drink with your lunch that day?