Thursday, June 22, 2017

Day 48 - Moab, UT

We got a little earlier start today since we had a 45 minute drive north to Canyonlands National Park. The first stop was the visitors center for the passport stamp and sticker and to watch the movie. I must admit that I really enjoy watching the movies. This photo was taken right across the street from the visitors center and you may notice the smoke. It's from the Brian Head fire that I had mentioned when we were in Cedar Breaks. The fire has grown quite a bit.

Our first stop was Upheaval Dome. This is an area where they say that a large salt dome was pushing up the area followed by a collapse. It was a moderate hike to the first lookout (pictured here) and there was a second lookout that required some scrambling to get there. We didn't make it to the second lookout as it was really feeling hot. By the time we got back to the truck it was already 94°F. For some parts of the trail the cairns were the only way to know where to go.

On our way to the second overlook, we stopped at a turnout as there was another great view. BTW, we spent our time at the most accessible section of the park, Island in the Sky, with paved roads on top of a Mesa. Every direction we looked there were great views.

The second long stop was Grand View Point Overlook. You can see the White Rim Road in the picture running along the rim. The park service literature states that traversing this road takes three to four days in a short wheelbase, high clearance, 4WD. They warn not to take an AWD vehicle and mention that the towing cost is over $2000. Today there was an additional warning about the Green River flooding a section of road 20" deep.

All of the trees in this area of the park look as gnarled as this. The NPS uses stacks of them to make small fences and barriers. We stumbled into a ranger talk here and she mentioned that there was a push in the early 1960s to put in a dam and flood this area. It didn't progress very far. The argument was that the only one using the area were a handful of hikers. If it was flooded, the number of users of the resulting lake would be much higher.

We thought about following Dom's suggestion of driving down Shafer Trail a bit but by the time we were heading out of the park, we were both pretty warm and tired. Next time...

The two panos were taken at the two overlooks. The first was Upheaval Dome and the second was Grand View Point.


11 comments:

  1. I personally found Upheaval Dome a bit of a disappointment...perhaps it was all the walking to get to it.

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    1. I find that I really enjoy the walks. I used to do a lot of hiking and backpacking and still really enjoy it. The more uphill, the better. I can do without the downhill. Too hard on my joints.

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  2. Charlie6-check out my blog on Upheaval Dome. It was an exhausting hike for me. Everybody else seemed to be dancing up and down the rocks. Of course, they were about 30 years younger than me. I do like my picture. Richard had been commenting on something about not letting my water bottle roll down the rock.

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  3. There is nothing better than Canyonlands NP to display the vastness of American wilderness. I found it impressive every time I visited. Great panos, Richard.

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    1. This was my first visit to Canyonlands and it definitely won't be a he last...

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    1. Utah landscapes are incredible. Thank you for commenting!

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  5. Great pictures Richard. Darn warm for hiking though. You two need camelbaks for the hikes. I am sure you had lots of water with you though.

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    1. Thank you! Pretty warm but I used to do this all the time when it was this hot and you just sort of get used to it. As long as you have plenty of water.

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  6. My husband and I were just talking about Canyonlands yesterday and I wondered what you thought. We loved it, and did a lot of hiking there, but in cooler temps. It's very wild and unspoiled, and I loved that about it. Great pics!!

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  7. Absolutely beautiful. Love seeing Bridget on the dome. Great shot.

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