I left Monticello this morning heading north on US 191 to Canyonlands National Park. I entered the park on Utah Hwy. 211, which is the south entrance to the Park. The visitor center was about 35 miles from US 191 with parts of the Park interspersed with private land.
My first stop was Newspaper Rock, a collection of petroglyph stone panel about 20 feet square. According to the Park Service information at the site, we don't know much about it. How old, who did it, what does it mean???:
(As always, double-click on the picture to enlarge it and then click once more to enlarge it to maximum size. You should be able to read the plaque then.)
Anyway, the petroglyphs themselves were interesting:
From there, the sights in the Canyon got more spectacular. Here are some of the more interesting photos I took along Utah 211 as we entered the park:
The pictures above were all taken along the entrance road to the Park. From the Visitor's Center, the first stop is "Wooden Shoe Arch", which I thought was kinda interesting:
And then a few miles further on, at the end of the road, there was an interesting formation overlooking a seasonal creek that flows into the Colorado River:
And, leaving the park, I got a few more good shots just for good measure. Here's one:
The interesting thing about Canyonlands is that there are several entrances to the Park, but they are not inter-connected. So, seeing big sections of the Park involves travelling some pretty considerable distances along the access roads. Consequently, one would need several days to explore just the main formations in the Park.
From Canyonlands, I headed back up US 191 to Moab, Utah, and Arches National Park. I had visited Arches last year on my way back from Alaska, but got rained out after I had visited Delicate Arch. (You can see photos from that visit at www.rogersalaskaadventure.blogspot.com and look at August 19th's entries.) So, this visit I concentrated on the upper end of the Park, Devil's Garden. Here are some shots along the trail to Landscape Arch:
And, finally, Landscape Arch itself:
Having done this, honestly, I think the pictures from last year are better. Check 'em out!
I left Arches around 2:30 and headed north on US 191 and west on US 6 up through central Utah to Provo for the night. I'm actually sitting in a motel room in the middle of the BYU campus area. Tomorrow, it's through Salt Lake City and on to Wells, Nevada for the night. The races at the Flats start on Saturday, so I'm planning on taking lots of pictures.
Miles today: 366. Total: 3,673.
