Saturday, November 7, 2015

Canyonlands' Island In The Sky, 1

Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est. Caesar would have said the same of Canyonlands National Park, identifying its three units as the aptly named Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze. There are three distinct units of the Park because the place is so remote and inaccessible that you can't really get from one to another. There are 4WD roads here and there, and that is how most travel occurs in this place. We spent a couple days sightseeing in Island in the Sky--atop a huge mesa jutting into the Park--the one unit fairly accessible to normal autos and RVs. Oh yes, there is actually a fourth unit of the Park, Horseshoe Canyon, which Caesar didn't know about, and that's where we really got our feet on the ground. I'll post on it in a few days.
From the Green River overlook; yes, that Green River, which
we more often associate with Wyoming and the Wind River
Range


















It's out there in the distance, a thousand feet below the White
Rim, which is a thousand or so feet below Island in the Sky
and its overlook; the Green and the Colorado  finally merge
a bit south of here, deep in Canyonlands


















Panning around
















Thus
















Ditto
















At Upheaval Dome, now thought to be a meteorite crater; it's
in the mid-40s, I am shivering, and a storm is moving in; and
"Heat Kills"


















Need to find higher ground as one of these approaches
















From The Neck, Shafer Canyon the other side
















Shafer Canyon
















Street scene
















At length, we camped at the Willow Flat campground, near the
Green River Overlook; note covered picnic table



1 comment:

Tawana said...

Awesome scenery. It's amazing what Mother Nature can do over a few thousand years.