CO - UT road trip, March '09 (Part II): Canyonlands

I left Tim's mid-morning on Saturday, the 21st, and I found myself at the Visitor's Center in the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park 4 hours later, roughly 20 miles from downtown Moab. It was an easy, beautiful drive. I spent the next 4 hours touring and hiking the park. My first stop after the Visitor's Center was the Shafer Canyon Overlook.



Next, I drove to the Mesa Arch trailhead, and took the half-mile hike to Mesa Arch. Stunning.







The next stop was the southernmost point of Island in the Sky, the Grand View Point. The hike to the Overlook was a two-mile roundtripper, with amazing views all along the way, and the occasional "low shoulder" and absence of handrails helped provide me focus.







I next stopped at the Green River Overlook for some photos

before taking a hike to the Upheaval Dome. Overall, this was a more interesting hike (roughly 0.75 round trip) than it was an overlook.

This was an excellent day.