27 Aug 2010--Went to Canyonlands National Park today, about a 30 minute drive from Arches National Park, but the 2 parks couldn't be more different. As the names would suggest, at Canyonlands you find yourself continuously looking down into canyons, while at Arches everything is above you. This 2nd picture shows the section of the park we went to today, the Island in the Sky section. Canyonlands is actually made up of 3 distinct sections, none of which you can connect to unless you go down into the canyons and drive/hike from one to the other. We will be going to the Needles section tomorrow...a 70 mile drive from here just to get to the entrance.
I talked about flash floods along the drive yesterday...at least here they talk about it.
We went to the far side of the park and made our way back over the course of the afternoon, so we started at the Grand View section. Because everything we taking pics of is in a valley, the pics don't come out as good as when we are shooting up. Everyone in the park was commenting that their cameras were not capturing how beautiful everything was. The literature told us that the initial drop off the cliff was 1400 ft, and then the 2nd drop to the Colorado River was another 700 ft...the pics really don't capture that. I'll start with a stitch pic, and then just single shots of the Grand View valley.
You drive from overlook to overlook, but then you can either just take pics from that sight or you can hike around the area for different looks. This is the Buck Canyon Overlook.
At the Green River Overlook...click on the stitch for the best view.
The Shafer's Point Overlook is actually at the beginning of the park...the 1st 2 pics show Cathy going out, and then up, to the point...you have to click on them to see her.
In the 1st pic here Cathy set the tripod and the delay on the camera and then ran over to me...crowding me at the edge of the cliff, so I made her go to the other side for the next pic...haha.
In these pics you can see dirt roads leading down to the floor of the canyon. We read that you can take a 4-wheel drive vehicle down there, but that it will take you 2 days to drive out. In the last pic here, notice the truck on the road heading to the floor. YIKES!!!
This is a video of the Grand View section of the park...really nice!!!
Just looking at that truck driving along that small road made my stomach turn!!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what these pictures look like in person, because they look beautiful.
also, I forgot to ask on an earlier blog,
do you guys just crash when you get home?
All that walking and climbing you are doing is either going have you in excellent shape or kill you!!!!!
WOW!!!! The difference in the terrain is amazing. i love all the different shapes!
ReplyDeleteI love the stitch photo and the one of Cathy leaning,pushing?? the tall mountain pieces. I say " keep it up. I believe you can do it'!!! How far away were you in the pic of Cathy up on the cliffs. Beautiful pic, love it. I love the looks of the deep cutouts in the canyons.
Lucky you.
Ellen, I don't know what shape we will be in, I am not losing any weight (haha), but if anything kills us it will be the heat!
ReplyDeleteMarie, I was probably about 150 yards away from Cathy when I took those pics of her on the cliff. And the deep cutouts are the additional 700 ft drop to the Colorado River...they look great in person!
ya'll need to stay away from the edge of the cliff, in that one pic if Paula had lost her balance both of you would have gone right over. you are making me nervous, mom
ReplyDelete