Drive back to Salt Lake City

Just a few photos from the road as we drove back to Salt Lake City on Dec. 8, 2017, before heading home to Ottawa.  Utah landscapes never disappoint:

Route 128 and Negro Bill Canyon

Okay, it has obviously taken me six months to come back and finish blogging about the trip to Utah, which was 13 months ago now.  For some reason processing the photos from December 7, 2017, just never really grabbed me.  I never did finish, but here is what I did process, to wrap up my posts about that trip.

So for our last day in Moab, we took a scenic drive on Route 128 east of Moab.  Here are some photos from the road, they might not be in order:

We wanted to do a loop and go drive up in the La Sal mountains, but the road was unfortunately closed for construction:

We went back to Route 128 and did a hike in Negro Bill Canyon.  We had some trouble finding it, since the guidebooks all still call it Negro Bill, but the signage has changed and it's now called Grandstaff Canyon (Bill's last name).  Bill was the first mixed race (he was half black, and I think half native american?) rancher in the area, and he owned land where the hiking trail is now located.

The sun was already sinking behind the mountains when we set out:

We had to cross this little river numerous times, which the guidebook made sound so fun, but in December, when the air and water are much colder than when most tourists visit, it was a little more of a pain to do so without slipping and falling in:

Ed on the trail:

The trail ends up at this natural bridge, called Morning Glory Arch.  It's huge!

On the way back to the car, I took some photos of Ed hopping over the various crossing points of the stream.  I don't think either of us fell in, which was an accomplishment as the footing was rough and slippery:

And, just a few more photos from the road:

And that was our last day in Moab.  Next day it was back to Salt Lake City.

Canyonlands National Park: Green River Overlook

So, we arrived at the Green River Overlook for one last peek at the amazing canyons below.  However, the sun was getting low and the view was to the southwest, so the light conditions weren't that conducive to photos, at least not at my skill level.  The parking lot was lovely though:

Here's the canyon, I did try:

We headed back down the road towards Moab.  Got a few interesting sunset photos along the road:

Canyonlands National Park: Grand View Point

OK, I just remembered I had a blog.  Back to Utah.  These pics are from Dec. 6, 2017.  We drove to Grand View Point in the afternoon, and hiked the trail there that follows the rim of the canyon.

Ed confirms that the view lives up to its name:

Like the Grand Canyon, there are canyons within canyons:

We hiked west on what turned into a peninsula, and we could see other mesas to the north:

The end of the day was approaching, so we drove off to try to squeeze in one more spectacular view before it got dark ...

Canyonlands National Park: Mesa Arch Trail

A lot of Canyonlands National Park is backcountry, mostly accessible by backpackers on multi-day trips, or 4-wheel drive vehicles.  The Island in the Sky district is accessible to regular cars and day hikers though, and it's right near Dead Horse Point State Park, so it made sense to combine the two into one day.

After the visitor center, we stopped at the lookout for the Shafer trail, a dirt road that travels from the rim into the canyon.  Our car couldn't have safely handled it, but it was neat to look down at the switchbacks.

We then hiked the Mesa Arch trail, a fairly short trail, but with spectacular views at the arch:

Just some interesting rock formations on the way back after seeing the arch:

A view to the southwest on the trail back to the parking lot:

In Utah, often even the parking lots are breathtaking:

Next stop, Grand View Point.