Canyons: Upclose and Personal

Wednesday morning we found a fueling station (all pumps, no building), headed up highway 191 and took a little detour in a Canyon by the Colorado River where we looked up at sheer cliffs and formations on both sides of the flowing blue river which later would go through the Glen Canyon Dam, down through Grand Canyon and on to Mexico.  We drove with the window down enjoying the freshness of the morning air.

We returned to highway 191, continued to 313 and climbed to a height of over six thousand feet again, ending in a high grassy plateau.  We descended again within the canyons and entered the Canyonlands National Park.  We have found that the best thing we can do is stop at the visitor's center and talk to a ranger.  We get some good hints about how to see the most and we get information about anything special going on.  After that, we walked up to the Mesa Arch

Even though it was only ten-thirty, the heat was intense.  That was enough hiking for the morning.  We continued driving through the canyons on both sides of the park to the Grand View where we listened to a half hour talk by Park Guide Interpreter Gretchen Weiss who explained the various layers of rock--seven--and what forces  caused them.  It was awesome sitting on the large rock at the very edge of the rim looking out at miles and miles of the canyons, the backbone of the earth, in that serene setting.  We next drove to the overlook of the Green River which is the other major river running through these canyons.

After leaving Canyonlands we drove up to Deadhorse Point State Park where we got a good view of the Colorado river running through the canyons.

We also saw potash ponds down in the canyon which were so blue that we knew they were something created by man.  They were part of an operation which brings the minerals up from deep in the earth.

 

We enjoyed our trip back through all the territory we had climbed to earlier in the day as we wound our way back to the main road and then up to Price for the night.  We had delicious burgers at Grogg's just up the road from the motel, found ice cream at Coldstone  Creamery, and settled in for a good night's sleep.