First of all, Canyonlands is one word, not two. From here on out, I’ll get it right. Fairly good sleep last night. Like Zion, everything is hot or warm. It doesn’t really cool off in the evening. I slept on just the pad, no need for a sleeping bag. Unlike Zion, there’s no wind at night. It was very calm and still … until this morning. About 8:00 the wind really picked up. A tent rolled by like a tumbleweed just past my campground. I went to the site in the direction from which it came, and the older gentleman looked at me askance saying it wasn’t his. Then a woman wandered into view obviously looking for something. “Guess the rock we used wasn’t big enough,” she said. “Stakes are always good,” was my response. I enjoyed my French press coffee and then it was off for the day’s adventures.
I was a tad concerned about my back tire; I took the tube out and checked it. It seemed fine. Still, I think Canyonlands might be a bit ambitious for a solo adventure. It might be a fun place to go with support and with others. So I headed to the visitor’s center here at Dead Horse State park. They encourage mountain biking and have rated the trails pretty well it seems. The nice woman gave me a good option, so off I went. The ride was incredible. It wasn’t a dirt road, by any stretch and there were several places where getting off and getting up over that rock was the only course of action I had. Sitll the ride took me to some amazing overlooks of the Colorado River’s canyons. Just spectacular views. I got back in one piece, rubber sided down the whole way. After returning, I rode out the paved road past my campsite to “Dead Horse Point Overlook.” That location gives a wider view of the network of canyons. Then I rode back and had PP&Js for lunch. I gathered up things and headed out of Dead Horse for Canyonlands. I felt like somebody when I flashed the ranger my “all access national park pass.” I stopped at the visitor’s c enter to get bearings before driving on to my first stop.
The ranger at Dead Horse recommended “Upheaval Dome” as a good spot. A short hike to the viewing area revealed not a dome, but a crater. Something vaguely resembling a dome (more like a pyramid) was in the middle of this enormous crater. What caused the crater is still unclear. Was it an impact crater from a meteor, or did the bottom fall out due to seismic or subterranean circumstances? What is left is a big hole with rock that looks nothing like the surrounding walls. I walked to a trail that does the circumference of the dome / crater. It was a 9 mile circle, so I headed down and got to an interesting view and turned back around.
From there I drove to Green River Overlook. It was this river that William Powell went down. In Canyonlands, the Green River joins the Colorado River. Powell continued his exploration down the Colorado, and through the Grand Canyon, stopping shortly after that. The overlook provided an impressive view of the river valley and oddly cut banks and plateaus. The “Turks Head” may not be politically correct, but it is an impressive structure. After that I wanted to drive to the end of the top of the canyon. I was in the “Island in the Sky” area of Canyonlands. At Grand View Point, it was a 3 mile hike out to the convergence of the Colorado and Green river. Again the views were spectacular.
There is an arch in that area of Canyonlands, Mesa Arch. After the Grand View, I drove to the Mesa Arch and hiked in a half mile to see the famous rock. It was interesting watching others take selfies or pose in front. I did have water with me, but it was interesting how dehydrating it can be out there. The temperature was between 95° – 100°. The problem was that everything was warm. The weather was hot, my water was warm, nothing was remotely cool. My last stop in the park was the visitor center. I walked out a ways and looked over at Dead Horse State Park. There were no crowds there. It was very peaceful. The rocks there were beautiful.
I wanted to get back to my campsite fairly early because there was a ranger talk at 8:00 at the Dead Horse visitors center. Dinner was the rest of the pene pesto. I did a better job cooking it the second time. I had about 15 minutes before the talk started, so I drove to the overlook in the evening. The light as the sun began to set was amazing. I then drove to the visitors’ center, and there were two people sitting by the steps. When I walked over, I was the sole camper, and the two folks waiting were the ranger and his younger brother. We had a terrific talk about the geology of the canyon. It was fun to have a one-on-one conversation about the geology of the canyon with someone so knowledgeable.
I got back to camp around 9:00 as it was starting to get dark. There were two different thunderstorms I could see from my site: one was way off to the east, where I could see bolts of lighting, but hear no thunder and then even further away to the west there was another storm. I was slightly worried about it raining, but I didn’t put up my rainfly. The temperature was still very warm, and the fly would decrease my visibility and increase the temperature in the tent. As I went to sleep, the wind would pick up and die down significantly. Probably around 12:00, there would be very powerful wind gusts, stronger than I think I’ve experienced before. At one point I thought I felt rain drops so I scurried to baton down the hatch. It was more difficult in the dark in the wind than I expected. The wind continued to howl throughout the night, but the downpour I expected didn’t occur. It was a little disconcerting to sleep, but nothing more than several wake-ups occurred.
Pushing hard today ... 