Canyonlands Wrap-Up

Dear Readers, 

I had to take a break from blogging due to our wonderful eight-night stay in Capitol Reef National Park, where we had no cell phone or Internet access. Today we left Capitol Reef and are now restocking groceries, cleaning the TI, and doing our laundry in Escalante, Utah.

We really, really enjoyed our time in Capitol Reef. But before I try to explain this special place, I need to quickly re-cap our time in Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park. We spent six days in the park unit south and west of Moab. If photos interest you more than does my blah, blah, blah, then click on the hotlinks below to see additional photos. Otherwise, here's the bullet points:

• We walked the Syncline Loop, a fantastic trail. Rex and I agree that it ranks in our top ten hikes ever, and Rex puts it even higher. The trail circles Upheaval Dome, which causes geological controversy: Some hypothesize that a meteorite created this syncline, or circular fold in the rock strata, while others argue that a “bubble” rose and collapsed in the layer of Paradox Salt deep beneath the dome. Either way, the Syncline is popular yet we saw only six other people in nine hours on the trail, as well as 25 different birds--which might be a record for us while day hiking.

• We also walked the Neck Spring loop, a shorter but very lovely trail that rewarded us with fantastic views of Shafer Canyon and the La Sals.

• We drove a few terrifying yards down the ShaferTrail road toward the White Rim road. I don't know when the Shafer Trail was created, but I suspect that, like the White Rim road, it was built during the uranium boom of the late 1940s and 1950s. Before Canyonlands was a national park, the Atomic Energy Commission encouraged prospecting by building roads like the White Rim. Now the 100-mile White Rim, a remnant of the Cold War, draws dirt bikers and four-wheelers.

• We took a half-day trip to Dead Horse Point State Park, situated just to the northeast of the Island in the Sky. The view from Dead Horse Point is famous, but we found the rim walk to be more interesting than the drive-up view. On the west, one can look into the national park’s Shafer Canyon from the east. On the west side of Dead Horse Point the Moab potash mine stands out and so do the La Sal mountains.

• We went to several ranger talks, as we always do. Consequently, I now know two grown men who go by Robby. Robby the park ranger has a very goofy sense of humor but represents the park exceptionally well. He serves as an interpretive guide by day and an on-call EMT by night. We greatly enjoyed our extended conversation with him.

• We took several shorter hikes and went to all the must-see view points and overlooks, including Grand View, Green River Overlook, Mesa Arch, and Whale Rock. And we were birding the entire time, of course. Three highlights include the Western tanager, the green-tailed towhee, and the lark sparrow.

Ranger Robby talks geology in a 40-mph gale near Grand View Point. We forgive him for removing his hat. We trust his employer will, too.

Even so, we only scratched the surface, which is an appropriate cliche when speaking of a former mining patch. For example, we missed the Murphy Loop Trail and the Aztec Butte Trail. If we had the right bikes, we would have ridden the Shafer Trail into Moab. We would have loved to have taken a float trip on the river, but that takes a minimum of three days. We missed the ranger talk on bighorn sheep! You get the idea: There’s never enough time.