Canyonlands National Park
Monday - 17 June 2002: Moab, Utah - Well,
we made it in, and out, of
Canyonlands National Park. It was a very nice day - though 100 degrees -
but we were mostly in the shade. Our day started early - we had to be at the
tour office at 7:45 am for an eight o'clock departure. We were put into a
Chevy Suburban with a young family from Columbus, Ohio
(Mom, Dad and two adorable little girls ages 9 and 11). Our driver, Michelle,
22, was a local girl. She was a good guide and was knowledgeable about the
area and was a pretty good driver... if you consider driving 6 customers
down a goat track eating a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup while drinking a Pepsi,
a good driver. She drove us into Canyonlands, up a back road and our first
stop was to see petroglyhs on a cliff-side. The petroglyhs were very
interesting because you could see the difference in the designs (and the
quality of the markings) as time went on. The first, cruder petroglyhs were
made by the Anasazi and later the Utes came along and "redecorated" the
wall.
Petroglyhs
Canyonlands National Park
We drove into the park and spent time at the visitor center
and took off into Shaffer Canyon. This road was very frightening! Huge
boulders hung off the cliffs, waiting at any moment to fall onto our car!
The road featured sheer drop-offs to one side and solid rock walls to the
other. In the center were huge, sharp rocks protruding into the tires. But,
once you "got over it" and looked up from the road, you could see fabulous
rock formations above and an immense canyon below - thus "Canyonlands". The
Colorado River and The Green River meet in the middle of Canyonlands
National Park. Some of the best white water rafting in the world occurs on
these two rivers just north of the park. Millions of years of water, wind,
rain and sun have eroded this land into hundreds of red-sided canyons - the
rivers snake through the bottom, green trees along the sides. Amazingly
beautiful.
Canyonlands National Park
Canyonlands National Park
We were shown where Billy Crystal "jumped" to a rock
protrusion in City Slickers II and we also stopped at Fossil Point,
where Thelma & Louise made their big plunge. Many Jeep commercials
are filmed in the park too. At noon, we met the boat driver on the shores of
the Colorado and sat down to a nice picnic lunch - deli sandwiches, chips,
cookies, fruit and pasta salad.
Terry at Fossil Point
DT with petrified wood along the Colorado River
The afternoon was spent in a jet boat, with our boatman,
Gil, as our guide. Gil was probably in his 50's and had been a guide for
years. He was very nice and gave us an interesting afternoon. The river is
very, very low - at some points his depth-finder registered 1-foot, plus a
few inches! The Colorado is not dammed above this point. What they get is
what they get. At several points along the river, he shut the engine down
and drifted through the very shallow areas. Gil showed us an area along the
river where Indians had built storage bins for beans, corn and grain. Little
emergency cubby-hole stashes, made with brick and mortar. After docking
along the riverbank, we walked up a few hundred feet - through a field of
cactus - to see a few petrified logs sticking-out of the sand stone. There
also were many fossils of sea creatures to see here. We met other
adventurers on the river too - a group of about 20 high school kids were
leaving on a 12-day Outward Bound trip and we saw two couples, with 2 guides
leaving on a 5 day raft-and-hike trip. (Any combination you want - you can
find a guide for it in Moab.) There is a natural amphitheater in
Canyonlands, along the river! Each year the Salt Lake Symphony comes down
here and people drag pianos, chairs - everything - out here on boats and
only 200 people can fit in the amphitheater, but I guess it is quite a show.
Just a beautiful setting! Gil yelled into the amphitheater and his voice
came echoing back to us.
DT on the Mighty Colorado
We saw relatively little animal or bird life in the canyon.
Michelle had seen three Big Horn Sheep yesterday, so we were hopeful... but
no luck. She was quite surprised to see them during the heat of the day
anyway. Along the river, we did see a deer - from far away it was a strange
sight. The doe seemed to be standing in the middle of the river, but as we
came closer, she was standing on a sandbar in the middle of the river. Maybe
she was looking to cross? There are several places where you could have
walked across the Colorado River in Canyonlands National Park! We also
spotted several geese, a heron, swallows, chipmunks, a few lizards and many
ravens. I guess this is "wildlife", but except for the lizard, it is nothing
we don't see at home on a near-daily basis.
It was after 4 pm when we arrived back to Goldie - where we again had to
hose-off the red dirt from our legs! We had a rest, one of us had a run, and
then went into town to look through the shops. We ran into Gil at the gas
station - it's like we are regulars in this little town already. Later, we
drove out to the golf club to see about a tee time, and it was after 8 pm
when we arrived at our "usual hangout" - The Moab Brewery. We even have our
"usual" bar stools now. Tonight we dined at the brewery. They have the
typical-type of brew pub food. I tried their soup and salad... mostly
because I felt I needed something fresh and they are supposed to have the
best veggie chili around. The chili was really, really good - thick with
lots of beans, corn, potatoes and SPICY! The salad was a salad. DT had their
Gazpacho Salad - he said it was really good, and it was served with spicy
cornbread. His salad had the normal Gazpacho ingredients - served before
they are whirled in a blender! We met more interesting people in the brew
pub - a guy from Washington, DC on his BMW motorcycle on a huge 8-week tour.
He works near GW (for the Federal Government). Small world, eh? He told us
amazing tales of biking through a huge dust storm in Texas and of his visit
to the new Guggenheim Museum in Las Vegas - where they have a gigantic
motorcycle exhibit. We always meet the most interesting people on the road.
Everyone is always friendly at a tavern anyway (with the notable exception
of World Famous Woody's).
We have plans to golf tomorrow and then head back to Arches National Park to
catch the arches in a different light.
RV Park:
Canyonlands Campground
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