Canyonlands National Park – Driving in Canyonlands

As we drove back thru Canyonlands, you might think that we had seen all there was to see, and the drive back would be rather boring.  Nope!  There are views all over the place in this wonderful National Park!

Take the Long View

As we came around a bend in the road, the view out from beyond the road was fantastic!  You can see the layers of rock formations starting at the road and out toward the distant mesa.  And, you can see layers of clouds and spots two different sections of rain with some bright clouds in between.

Lonely Tree

Here’s another of those wonderfully artistic looking dead trees that dot the park.  I love how weathered they look, yet still standing strong.

Rain in the Distance

It seems to be raining all around us at this point!  Here’s another view of rain falling in the canyon.  It looks like a silky curtain falling gently to the ground.  Was the rain actually falling gently?  I don’t know.

Rain Rolling In

In this image, the rain doesn’t look all that gentle!  The clouds look like they are leading the charge and the two rock formations appear like forts preparing to withstand the onslaught!  The rain is rolling in!  Time to get home to our RV!

Enjoy!



Canyonlands National Park – Orange Cliff and Grand View Point

At this point, we’re moving on to the farthest points in the Island of the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park – Orange Cliff and Grand View Point.  More wonderful views….but would the rain hold off?

Orange Cliff Overview

It’s hard to see why they call the cliffs orange in this view, but you can see how low the clouds are.  The elevation in this area of Utah is about 6,000 feet above sea level, so the clouds aren’t all that much higher than that.  I also love the definition in the clouds at this point. 

Brighter in the Distance

You can see more of the “orange” color of the cliffs in this image.  You can also see the sunlight peeking thru some of those clouds in the distance. 

Storm Clouds in the Distance

Altho this image was taken at Grand View Point, on this day, there really wasn’t much of a grand view!  The clouds were just too close, and some of them seemed to have little cloud fingers reaching even closer to the ground.  Still, no rain falling on us yet!

Enjoy!



Canyonlands National Park – Candlestick Tower and Buck Canyon

Our next two stops driving the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands were Candlestick Tower and Buck Canyon.  This entire section is one huge mesa above the Green and Colorado Rivers, and there are fabulous views along both sides of the road.  In the images in this post, you can see how wonderfully photogenic the stormy skies overhead were!

Wide View of Candlestick Tower

One of the things I most love about the Western area of the US is how grand the views can be.  In this image, the Candlestick Tower is off on the right side of the image in the distance.  The lighting at this point was really interesting – mainly cloudy and waiting for the rain, with just a touch of sunlight off the left of the Tower.  Just looking at this image, I can almost feel the promise of rain in the air.

Buck Canyon Overlook

A bit further down the road and on the opposite side of the road from Candlestick Tower, lay Buck Canyon.  I love the way the canyon sort of cuts thru pat of the canyon floor, seeming reaching out to us standing at the overlook area.  I also love the big view in this image – where you can see to the mesa in the distance.  And, if you look to the far right in this image, you can just barely see some rain falling in the canyon.

Rainfall

Here’s a better view of the rain falling in the canyon.  Because the views are so grand and expansive, you can really see the individual showers.  I grew up in the city, and throughout my childhood, I assumed that if it was raining where I was, it was raining all over because when I looked up, all I could see was rain.  But, here, you can truly see that rain in one location is just rain in that location!  I don’t know that I’ll ever get tired of seeing that!

Enjoy!



Canyonlands National Park – Shaffer Canyon

The third day of our Moab adventure was rainy and the clouds looked very stormy overhead.  We knew that off-roading was out of the picture for us, as the red sandy clay tends to be either very slick or very mucky, and it’s too easy to lose control and get very stuck!  So, Jeff suggested that we stick to the paved roads and check out the Canyonlands National Park section just a few miles away from Moab.  Canyonlands is actually very large and is split into three different sections – The Maze (which is very remote and wild with no facilities), The Needles (a diverse area of rock spires, arches, and canyons) and the Island in the Sky which has views to die for!  The Island in the Sky section is the area that we explored, and our first stop was along Shaffer Canyon.

Canyonlands View

The drive starts out innocuous enough, and it’s difficult to see at this stage what’s so special about Canyonlands.  But, just wait…….

Shafer Trail Overlook

Here’s our first view of the Shafer Trail.  Our original plan for the day was to drive the trail, but we had to be happy with viewing it from up high, something we hadn’t ever done.  Yes, it’s a long way down to get to the bottom of the canyon where the trail leads.

Stormy Tree

Before we get to more views of the trail, isn’t this a wonderful tree?  I loved the balance and symmetry of it, delicately growing on the very edge of the canyon rim.

Looking Down

We’re getting closer here to what I think is the best view of the trail.  This image gives you a good sense of how close to the edge you can get, and how wonderful the native growth and rock formations are right along the rim.

Shafer Trail

This is my favorite view of the Shafer Trail.  It literally winds via switchbacks up the side of the canyon wall!  It’s a really fun drive, as long as you don’t mind riding right on the edge of a long tumble down!  Looking at it made me disappointed that we didn’t get to drive it this time around.  Something to look forward to next time!

Enjoy!