Gateway Arch National Park

My final stop on my summer National Park tour was a place I honestly didn't even realize was a National Park -- Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

Having developed my love of and familiarity with National Parks out west, I share Q.T. Luong's opinion that as impressive as the arch is it doesn't fit my ideal for what a National Park should be.

National Monument, perhaps?  Sure.  But I believe a National Park should be based mainly on a location's natural scenery.  This location has none of that.

What it does have is one impressive structure that lends itself to a number of abstract shots, some of which twisted me into a bit of a pretzel as I shot them.

I did have perfect conditions -- bright sun that reflected dazzlingly off the arch, and a few interesting clouds to break up the blue sky.

This Mallard hen tried to refute my assertion that the park had no natural beauty.  A for effort.

Having a few visitors walking around for context might have been nice, but I personally enjoyed the solitude.

If the arch is still standing in a couple thousand years, and the relevant records have been lost or destroyed, will our descendants insist it must have been built by aliens?

Even though I didn't do any true "hiking," the day was warm enough that I worked up an unexpected sweat just wandering around looking for interesting compositions.

In order to get my National Park passport stamp I had to walk the full length of the underground exhibit hall below the arch.  And thanks to COVID-19 I needed a timed ticket to do so.  Fortunately with virtually no crowd I was able to walk up and get a (free) ticket on the spot.

After notching no new National Parks on my belt in 2019, I was delighted to pick up five in 2020 -- during a global pandemic, no less!