Our second National Park in Utah was Canyonlands. This was further away than Arches but took only approx 1 hour to get there. Canyonlands covers a very big area and only a part of it is accessible by normal vehicles. To explore most of it you need a sturdy 4×4 and a permit. And you would probably need a couple of weeks.We had less than a day.
We went to the visitors centre and planned our day to make sure we could cover all that we wanted in the time available. First port of call was Mesa Arch – an impressive arch of stone balanced on the edge of a precipice. I tried to get Rachel to stand on top for a photo but she declined! This was no where near as big or impressive as Delicate Arch in Arches but well worth the visit. The temperature was climbing quickly and it was clear that it was going to be extremely hot.
By the way, we (Rachel) nearly ran down a squirrel. However, it was very agile and ducked and dived between the wheels of the car, emerging unscathed before heading into the undergrowth. This is in addition to a near miss with a Jack Rabbit yesterday. This time I was driving. Our current road kill tally is 3 and counting. The last poor thing to bite the dust was something like a Prairie Dog. We have seen many killed recently. They run into the road, stop and when they hear you coming they sit up on their hind legs and look around at where the noise is coming from. And even when they see you they just sit there. It’s like they have a death wish or something.
Next stop was The Grand Viewpoint. This is further south again. This was by far the biggest view we have yet encountered -big in the sense that the distances and depths involved are too much for the eye to take in. Looking over the edge the next lowest level is a thousand foot below. Then another step down and it’s another thousand foot. And the Colorado River, which could not quite be seen was further down still. And we were stood at well over five thousand foot above sea level. The mountains on the horizon just fade into grey they are so far away. We took a mile walk along the edge of all this and it brought us out at a point of rock. I climbed to the very top and walked to the edge. It was like being in a plane. I could make out no detail on the ground without binoculars. I sat at the edge and was alone for about 10 mins (Rachel didn’t want to get that high). I was surrounded by rock and the silence was deafening. I could have stayed there all day. There are not many places in the UK where you can have complete silence, especially not like this. I’ll never forget it.
By now we were getting tired and the temperature was approaching 100 degrees. But our final stop was Upheaval Dome – a crater, whos origin is still a debate. Some believe it’s the action of salt rising and falling (there are mountains here called the Salt Mountains). Indeed, this is a place where salt is extracted for our consumption. The second theory is that a metiorite hit many millions of yers ago. We saw some photos from the air and it’s certainly like a crater. I like this account the most but we may never really know.
We had run out of water by this time and so headed back to the visitors centre. They say you should drink a gallon of water a day here. The trees that are here are in terrible condition, just hanging on to life. Even the Cacti look very forlorn and we were begining to feel the same way.
I should mention that we have seen hardly any animals while we’ve been here. A few small lizards and a number of birds – mainly very large Ravens. Of course, the rabbits, squirrels and Prairie Dogs we have encountered we’ve run down with the car or had a near miss. But we have seen no cattle and this land is an open range. And to think this used to be cowboy territory. Luckily we have not seen any Rattlesnakes.
In the car on the way back to Moab the temperature hit 101 degrees so we headed for our favourite bar – Zak’s. I had a 22 oz beer (that’s a wopper) and Rachel pushed the boat out with a diet Pepsi. This evening we have just sat in the RV, exhausted by the heat but giving me a chance to get up to date with this blog.
Again -apologies for the lack of photos but the internet here is still poor tonight.
Tomorrow we saddle up and head for Monument Valley and the land of the Navajo.
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