I spent a second night in Moab and on Tuesday went to see Canyonlands NP, about 25 miles north of Moab. It's a park that gets few visitors compared to the others in Utah.
Canyonlands is made up of 3 different sections - Mazes, Needles, and Island in the Sky (not to be confused with the Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton hit "Islands in the Stream"). Since "Island" was closest, that's the one I went to. It's actually a giant mesa in the middle of the canyon and you drive out on top of it.
Most of the trails can be pretty demanding, so having a long drive ahead of me, I kept to the short ones with good rewards. The first was Mesa Arch - yes, another arch. It's a great spot to get a nice photo of the sunrise. I showed up few hours after sunrise, but was still happy with the shot I have.
The main road continues to the southern tip of the mesa to Grand View. As the name indicates, there is a "grand view".
I feel this is every bit as impressive as the Grand Canyon, only with fewer people. I think I saw a total of eight other people on the two mile trail.
I left the park around noon, headed for Great Basin NP just across the Utah state line into Nevada.
I-70 West climbs more mountains, where I got to pass several trucks pulling THREE trailers! I've seen two, but never three. Even crazier is that the gusts of wind were so strong, I thought I'd get blown off the highway.
I eventually made it onto US Highway 50, heading west into Nevada. At one point I realized the highway seemed to be pretty straight.
I checked the odometer and the next time I had to turn the wheel was 20 miles later! Talk about boring!
After stopping at one of the more creative Stop signs I've seen,
I arrived at Great Basin around 5 - which was actually 4 pm, because I passed into Pacific Time when I crossed the state line. I got a great site for only $12. It was right alongside Lehman Creek, surrounded by pines and aspens.
Only problem is that it rained on and off the rest of the night. Calling it a night early.
No comments:
Post a Comment