The Canyons

Onward into Utah and the Mighty Five – National Parks that is.

I found a nice little BLM campground called Horsethief Campground north of Moab. It was my first back-in site on this trip and I had to back in on my blind side. It wasn't pretty, but I got 'er in. It is a great location, I'm 15 minutes from Canyonlands NP and about a half hour from Arches NP. No hookups, but my solar is working great. When I got here on a Sunday there were still a few sites left. The campground has been full every night since then. Every morning, there is a parade of new campers trolling the roads through the campground looking for a site. You walk outside and there will always be somebody asking if you are leaving.

My Campsite

I thought I would start with going to Arches first. I get there fairly early, at least for me, around 10 a.m. and the park was full, they were not letting anybody in. Where are all these people coming from? Quick change of plans and headed for Canyonlands. I decided my new plan of attack would be to do Canyonlands in the morning and Arches in the late afternoon.

Canyonlands is huge.  There are actually three sections - Island in the Sky, Needles and the Maze.  I concentrated on Island in the Sky.  It is the most developed of all the areas.  I did several hikes in the area, the most fun was the one up Whale Rock.  Whale Rock is this huge rock outcrop.  When you look at it from a distance, it looks like a giant whale.  When you get to the top, there are views for miles.  I used to really dislike cairns - cairns are mounds of stones that people build to show where the trail goes.  I used to think they were just people messing with the landscape and I wished they would leave Nature alone.  Now I am grateful since these cairns have, more than once, shown me the way I needed to go.  I used them extensively at Whale Rock.

Guess What!!  Canyonlands has an Arch

The View From Mesa Arch

Another pointy tower

I guess this is why they call it Canyonlands

On the road to Canyonlands, there is Dead Horse Point State Park.  This is a pennisula of land, part of which overlooks Canyonlands.  The legend goes (and sensitive readers might want to skip the next paragraph):

"The point was once used as a corral for wild mustangs roaming the mesa.  Cowboys rounded up these horses and herded them across the narrow neck of land onto the point.  The neck, which is only 30 yards wide, was then fenced off with branches and brush, creating a natural corral surrounded by precipitous cliffs.  The cowboys then chose the horses they wanted and, for reasons unknown, left the other horses corralled on the waterless point, where they died of thirst within view of the Colorado River 2,000 feet below. "

There is an excellent trail that goes around the rim of this penisula. The views were some of the best I've seen in Utah.   I hiked with a woman, Kat, who was visiting from Denver.  It is amazing how fast the miles go when you are talking to an interesting someone.  

The white area in the picture are Potash Evaporation Ponds.
Potash is a potassium-containing salt used in farm fertilizers.
They pump it up from below the Earth's surface into these ponds. 
They add blue dye to speed the evaporation process which leaves behind the Potash
 

Colorado River