28-March-2024 Canyonlands National Park, Utah

After more than 30 miles of hiking over the last 3 days in 3 incredible places I was a little concerned that Canyonlands National Park might just be "meh" in comparison .... but thankfully it wasn't!

Today's story begins by me checking the weather and seeing that there are high wind warnings most of the day - I was prepared with my clothing but not for how challenging the wind would be at elevation!

Canyonlands National Park is actually a next-door neighbor to Dead Horse State Park where I was a couple of days ago. The road there is a 2-lane "highway" that has lots of warnings about cows being on the road as it is "open range", meaning there is no fence between the land and the road. Sure enough, a cow crossed the road not far in front of me (speed limit is 60MPH so a cow comes up pretty quickly!) Grabbed the phone and got a pic as the crossing cow joined its friends on the other side of the road as I passed. Too funny!

Canyonlands National Park is actually divided into 3 distinct districts by the massive canyons created by the Green and Colorado Rivers. The districts are called Island in the Sky, The Needles, and The Maze, and they are distinct from each other. Island in the Sky (where I decided to go) is about 40 minutes north of Moab, the needles district is about 90 minutes south of Moab, and the maze district is in the west part of the Park and is remote and challenging and all roads require a high clearance 4WD vehicle. It's HUGE!!!!!

I started my Canyonlands day by going to Glen River overlook. You feel like you are at the Grand Canyon – as far as the eye can see there are canyons, mesas, buttes and rivers. Stunning!

Then I headed to the northern part of the district to hike Upheaval Dome. I initially was debating between this hike and another and when I asked the Ranger at the visitor center which one I should do he replied "do both!" .... so I did. 😁

The Upheaval Dome hike is listed as "moderate" difficulty – it's not very long (1.2 mi RT) with an elevation gain of 225 feet .... but the wind sure put this one in the difficult category today!

Scientist believe that Upheaval Dome was created by a meteorite impact. There is a depression that is just over 2 miles wide, and the trail takes you up to the first observation point at the rim. From there the trail continues a half mile, much of it over bare exposed rock. This is where things got interesting! As I hiked around a corner there were wind gusts up to 40 mph and you really had to stay low and keep your feet wide to not have the wind blow you over. It was especially unsettling as I climbed up the steep rock and had nothing to hold onto and unsure footing. When I got to the top I had to sit down to take a picture and it felt like the wind was going to rip the cell phone right out of my hands. I took a little video on a plateau that was not too far from the top – I narrated my surroundings but you can't even hear me because of the wind. Clip is below. if you look closely at the bare rock picture you can see how tiny the people are on top – it's hard to give the feel of just how steep and large the slick-rock scrambles are.

My next hike was Whale Rock - a moderate 1+ mile round-trip hike that climbed the side of a sandstone dome (bare rock) that, you guessed it, looks like a whale shape from afar. When hiking, a trail is often marked by a "cairn", which is typically a pile of a few rocks. It's a way of indicating the trail without using paint or signs and is often done at national parks. I had to laugh that on whale rock since it is high and exposed the cairns were actually cemented to the sandstone Dome and each other – it's a good thing because they totally would've blown off the rock on a day liketoday!

My next stop was Buck Canyon Overlook - sweeping views over the canyon and it's many features. And a great place for my sandwich!

I then continued on to White Rim Overlook. It's a 2 mile trail out to a peninsula where you have 360° views of the canyon 1600 feet below. I went way out to the tip – it sure was scary when things got narrow as the wind was howling up there! It's so cool how some of the canyons look like they have a salt rim to them (margarita snyone?).

I tried going to Grandview Point Overlook but the parking lot was overfilled and I had seen similar views at my various other stops in the park and so I kept driving. Next stop of the day was Mesa Arch. This was a very short trail to a single arch – I thought I would be disappointed after having seen so many spectacular arches at Arches National Park yesterday. But this was actually a pretty cool arch! Mesa arch is made from a light colored stone and although it is neither high nor wide it is perched on the edge of a cliff so the view through the arch is actually a stunning vista towards the La Sal Mountains. I took a picture from far away to show the scale and the people and then included some close-ups that I liked peeking through the arch.

Final stop in the park was at Shaffer Canyon overlook. Here you can see some of the old roads that were originally used to move sheep from the grasslands down into the valley. Later the roads were used for mining and today they are mostly used for off-road vehicle tours. They also had a unique type of cairn here – three giant sandstone blocks – no windstorm is going to blow those away! With how many times I literally got blown by the wind today I couldn't help but think I was like piglet in the Winnie the Pooh tail of the blustery day! - sadly no one here to hold the other end of the rope!

I returned to Moab in the late afternoon and treated myself to a cup of cappuccino at a local coffee shop. Although it was cool and blustery up on the Mesa it was a balmy 60° and sunny down in Moab. I also explored the Food Truck Park across the street – they have more than a dozen food trucks serving a variety of food from breakfast through late night. In the middle a large tented area with picnic table makes for a perfect spot to grab a bite to eat.

Here's my "wind video" from a plateau area before the final push to the peak of my first hike at Upheaval Dome - CRAZY WINDY is the only way I can describe it - and the peak was worse!

Tomorrow will be uneventful - a 4-hour drive back to Salt Lake City where I will meet the 3 cats I will be caring for over the next week, so likely no blog post. My legs (and feet!) will be happy to have a day off from hiking!