A Day Above the Canyons
Months of planning led us to this day. Day 1 of our month long road trip through deserts, canyons, mountains, hot springs, lakes, and much much more. It was awesome to finally be waking up, in Moab, away from all the stress of moving out and finals! Finally ready to go explore all these new places, mostly to me. We first headed towards Canyonlands National Park, but not without a little detour first…
Instead of taking the direct route to Canyonlands from the town of Moab, we opted for the long way. The dirt road we turned off on, took us at least an hour out of our way, but the views were spectacular!
Once we finally did arrive in Canyonlands, the day was spent driving from one view to the next, doing short hikes at each stop. My first reaction to Canyonlands was jaw dropping…literally. Across the street from the visitors center, I looked down into the canyons from the Island in the Sky District, astonished by the views.
A quick pit stop at Mesa Arch (our first of many arches in the Moab area) was up next. Here we got our first real taste of the vast canyons filling the park.
Our next stop in Canyonlands was the Green River Overlook, where we had a beautiful, unobstructed view for as far as the eye could see!
Our first lunch of the road trip was spent on the edge of the crater of Upheaval Dome. Looking down at the mysterious dome, we learned about its unknown origin. There are speculations that the crater and dome were created by either a meteor impact or a giant salt deposit left behind from the ancient seas that once covered the area.
As we continued our drive through Canyonlands, our next short hike was to the top of Whale Rock, which obviously provided some scenic views of Canyonlands once again.
Our last hike for the day was Aztec Butte, leading us to ancient Pueblo granaries, beautiful views (shocker!), and a little scrambling to reach the top!
To finish our day in Canyonlands we stopped at one last overlook at the end of the road, Grand View Overlook. We walked along the edge for a bit and can confirm that yes the view was quite grand.
Then, as if we did not see enough of the canyons for the day, we finished the day off watching the sunset at Dead Horse Point State Park, just down the road from Canyonlands. From start to finish our day was filled with canyons galore! But this view may have been one of my favorites! Especially as the sun hit the rocks and brightened the reds in the rock.
