Canyonlands

Some days are just a gift, and today was one of those. As planned, I drove out to Canyonlands NP this morning, not hoping for much because of the weather. The clouds were very low, visibility was low, and the roads were snow covered. You know it's going to be an interesting drive when the ranger at the park entrance looks at your car and says "That's a 4WD, right? You're OK to go then."

Thing is, they don't really clear the roads in this park and there weren't too many people around today (the ranger told me there were two people beside me inside the park), so I made my way through mostly fresh snow. Now that was fun! Especially when the road curves up an 8% incline. Yee haw.

Lots of wildlife around today though, mostly deer and cows crossing the road or just standing around on it. And, as always, raven.

As I said, visibility was low for a good part of the way into the park but as soon as I broke through the low cloud cover: Whoa! The sun warmed me and the park, and for the first time in days the temperatures soared to something around zero. Felt amost warm. The roads cleared slowly too, so driving was becoming easier. And then I came to Grand View Point or what a guide book called "an agoraphobe's nightmare". What a view! Then I hiked to the Mesa Arch, and later drove to Dead Horse Point, where the Colorado River makes a nice turn in the canyon. I was just happy to have made the decision to chance the road. Sometimes chances do pay off in the most beautiful way.

Canyonlands NP






Mesa Arch






Grand View Point





Corvus Corax



The Mesa




Dead Horse Point