We drove about 30 minutes to Canyonlands and they too had the picture post!
Canyonlands is a very large national park with 3 distinct sections: Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze. The Needles and Maze sections are very rugged and not very accessible to the average park-goer so we spent all of our time in the Island in the Sky section. This section is pretty much what the name implies. It is located on a large plateau between two canyons formed by the Colorado River on one side and the Green River on the other. At the end of the plateau, the Green River converges into the Colorado River so the "island" is shaped like a giant triangle. Because we like to do awesome things, we drove straight to the end of the triangle where the rivers converge and took the 1 mile hike to the very end of the plateau. This trail is called Grand View Point and it lives up to its name! First we stopped for a picture at the overlook before continuing onto the trail with the other awesome people.
This is a relatively flat trail that follows along the edges of the canyons. The views were spectacular the entire way. We began our hike around 10:00AM and it was just beginning to get hot.
This might have been the friendliest trail I've ever taken. There weren't a lot of people on it, but everyone we passed greeted us with a cheery hello. This is a good sign when people are happy after returning from the end of a trail!
This trail was mostly a natural trail so they had built cairns (the stacks of stones) to mark the trail.
Looks like someone built a tiny replica of the Delicate Arch on top of this rock.
Since we were walking along the edge of a huge cliff, the kids felt it appropriate to jump and leap rather than walk carefully.
I thought this rock formation looked like a sombrero. Maybe I'm missing Tex-Mex?
So here we are. The peak of the "island". This is a panoramic shot showing all directions. You can see 4 states from up here and see for over 100 miles in all directions. To the left is Colorado, then New Mexico. Straight ahead is a giant rock formation named Junction Butte that blocks the view of the convergence of the two rivers. Beyond that is Arizona. The Colorado River is on the left and the Green River is on the right. It was AMAZING. We are definitely canyon people.
Here is the map showing the view we were seeing.
To get up to this view, we climbed up on a bunch of other rocks to really get the panoramic viewpoint. It was really scary at the edge.
I told Rodney to go sit on this rock so I could take his picture. He has better life insurance than me. He said it was really scary!
After he came back, I actually took a look at what he was sitting on. It's pretty much just a bunch of gigantic rocks piled up. Yikes!
The kids of course wanted to risk their lives as well so we let them because it made a great picture. I took pictures of Rodney leading them to the dangerous spot in case I ever need evidence in a custody battle. ;-) Notice him telling them to sit and not move any further!
The kids smiling on the edge of a cliff.
Caleb lifted this giant rock. He's so strong.
I zoomed in to see the Green River at the bottom of the canyon.
After our amazing hike, we stopped for a picnic lunch with a chipmunk. Caleb earned a Coke by finishing the hike without complaining.
The next stop was the Green River Overlook. Lucky for us, they have built a road all the way out to the overlook and we just had to walk out to the viewpoint. Thanks, Canyonlands! It was another beautiful panoramic view.
The Green River.
Since we got off easy on the last viewpoint, we decided to kick it up a notch. The Upheaval Dome is a unique landmark that is believed to have been created by a meteorite crash. There is another theory involving a collapsed salt dome, but that's a boring theory. It is a short but steep hike to the first viewpoint.
The Upheaval Dome. It is a huge circular crater 2 miles wide with a small green hill in the bottom.
The kids are off the hiking bandwagon now (especially in the Utah heat), but we had one last thing to see before leaving Canyonlands. The Mesa Arch is a natural arch on the edge of the canyon. It is apparently a popular spot to view the sunrise, but it was beautiful in the afternoon as well.
On the way to the arch, we spotted a lot of biological soil crust. This is a big deal out here in the desert. It is the dark brown stuff in the sand. It is alive and it takes a long time to grow and is very delicate, but very important to keeping this fragile landscape in place.
Mesa Arch. It was busy!
It is a steep drop on the other side of that arch!
Both kids participated in Junior Ranger this time so we went back to the visitor center to turn in their books.
Another wooden badge!
Canyonlands National Park turned out to be a wonderful surprise. As I mentioned yesterday, I really expected Arches to be the gem of Moab and Canyonlands was on the list mainly because it was so close. In the end, we really enjoyed Canyonlands. It was much less crowded than Arches too so we either discovered a secret or have very different taste than most people. Either way, we love pleasant surprises!
On our way back to Moab, we spotted some people at a scenic overlook who had a drone. As we were leaving, we noticed that they were using the drone to take their picture. What a good idea! I bet that was an amazing viewpoint!
We took over the hotel pool once again before getting cleaned up for dinner. We decided to walk from our hotel to the restaurant since it on the same (and pretty much only) street. We spotted Tow Mater on the way!
We had scoped out the restaurant selection during our walk last night and decided on Pasta Jay's. It was really tough to choose as all the restaurants looked great and smelled delicious. Too bad this is our last night in Moab. Pasta Jay's did not disappoint and we enjoyed a patio table and a great view of Main Street while we ate.
We did some more strolling after dinner and ended up at the ice cream shop again. Rodney and I were stuffed with pasta, but kids had room for dessert!
As we were going to bed, the sunset was glowing over the mountain outside our hotel window. Tomorrow we move on to another place. Until next time, Moab!
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