Day 23 (September 23, 2019) - Canyonlands

Canyonlands National Park

We completed our excursions to the Utah Mighty Five national parks today with a visit to Canyonlands National Park.  Well, some of us hit all five.  Susan and I skipped Capitol Reef because it was too remote and had too little to do to make it worthwhile.  The others went through on the way to Moab.

Canyonlands was like a little Grand Canyon to me.  It was carved by 2 rivers - the Green and the Colorado.  The vistas were actually prettier to me because they were more open than the Grand Canyon.  The hikes took you to more interesting features as well.

Like all of the parks out here, Canyonlands was huge.  We limited our visit to the northern 1/3 called Island in the Sky.  The Needles is the southern 1/3 and is much like Capitol Reef in that it is too far to go for very limited number of things to do.  It is far less popular than Island in the Sky.  The middle 1/3, The Maze, is completely wild and inaccessible except by the bravest and most fit. We don't measure up.

Our first stop, as is almost always the case, was the visitor center where they also had a scenic view.

We next drove the length of the Island in the Sky Road to Grand View Point Overlook and Orange Cliffs Overlook.  John found some rocks to climb.  What is not shown is the 1,400 foot cliffs below him.

Our next stop was White Rim Trail, a 1.8 mile out and back hike to a fantastic 270+ degree view.  It also had convenient seating in the shade for an extended snack and water break.  We knew there would be no lunch today.

We then headed north to Upheaval Dome for a 0.6 mile hike.  As one might imagine from its name, Upheaval Dome is a mound.  Well, that's a bit of an understatement.  It is a crater with high rims.  I saw the stone stairs to the viewing areas and decided I would be better off with a nap in the car.  So no pictures.  Sorry.  I guess I should have taken pictures of the stairs.

In that same area was another overlook called Green River Overlook.  I did manage to crawl out of the driver's seat for it.

Our last stop also included a hike.  It was Mesa Arch and it had a 0.6 mile trail.  It was worth the effort.

It included a view of the Washer Woman rock formation.

After a long day, John cooked a dinner of Italian sausage to top off the evening.

Susan’s quote of the day:  “Are we going on that?" with a definite look of desperation.  She was questioning the sanity of anyone who would drive the White Rim Road which goes from the plateau on top to the plateau below.  Doesn't sound too bad, right?  After all, lots of roads go down hills.  This one is goes down 1,200 feet, is dirt, has no guardrails, is only wide enough for one vehicle in many areas, goes for 100 miles, and the recommended travel time is 2 days. 

  Here is a picture of the road at the top and at the bottom.  Just imagine getting from here to there.

The highlights - Mesa Arch.
The regrets - None.

Today's total miles - 118
Today's miles from start to destination - 0
Today's miles on side trips - 118
Today's miles driven by Paul - 118
Today's miles driven by Susan - 0
Today's hours in car - 3
Total Miles Hiked - 2.8

Cumulative total miles - 6,658
Cumulative miles from start to destination - 3,668
Cumulative miles on side trips - 2,990
Cumulative miles driven by Paul - 5,676
Cumulative miles driven by Susan - 587
Cumulative hours in car - 136
Cumulative Miles Hiked - 44.2