Island in the Sky


There are not enough superlatives to express what we saw today…no I will rephrase that…what we experienced today.  As we entered Canyonlands National Park, we drove to the top of a plateau…’Island in the Sky’.  I have struggled to come up with words to describe our experience.  I have decided to simply quote the Park’s Visitor Guide…I know it is cheating, but so be it.
“Views from Island in the Sky reach from the depths of the Green and Colorado rivers to the mountaintops and above.  Across canyon after canyon they stretch to the horizon 100 miles distant.  Island in the Sky – a broad mesa wedged between the Green and Colorado – is Canyonland’s observation tower.  From it you see vistas of dimensions hard to comprehend.  Closest to the mesa’s edge is the White Rim, a nearly continuous sandstone bench 1200 feet below the Island.  Another 1000 feet beneath White Rim are rivers, shadowed by sheer canyon cliffs.  Outside the Park three mountain ranges break the land’s flat-topped pattern.  To the east rise the La Sals; to the south the Abajos; to the southwest the Henrys.”
Once again, I hope pictures can show a little bit of this unbelievable place!

Distance Traveled = 226 km.  Wildlife Sightings = Rabbit, Pronghorn, Harlon’s Red Tailed Hawk (light morph), Turkey Vulture, Western Kingbird, Bullock’s Oriole.


Shafer Canyon


Shafer Canyon with La Sal Mountains in the background


Mesa Arch


Mesa Arch View


Mesa Arch View


Dumb Canadian Tourist... there is a story behind the backwards hat


Holeman Spring Canyon


Candlestick Tower


Entrance to the White Rim Road - too bad it was 100 miles long and a 2 to 3 day drive or a 3 to 4 day mountain bike ride!

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