Canyonlands -- Island in the Sky

This was a full day at the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands National Park.  Our idea was to hike a bunch of short trails, and poke our noses over the many overlooks to see the Green and Colorado Rivers far below.  We were successful at both.

We thought our first stop would be Mesa Arch.  Nope, the parking lot was full of sunrise photographers.  It is now a thing.  So, off we went to Aztec Butte.  

I hadn't done any planning for Canyonlands, other than the general, yep there are some overlooks and short trails.  So, after our epic failure on Mesa Arch, Aztec Butte was the first trail we came to.  I had no idea what to expect, but the interpretive sign said a mile and a half, and a couple hundred feet of up, so off we went.  The draw of this hike is of course getting to the top of a butte and there is the even cooler aspect of visiting granaries, ancient food storage containers.  At a couple hundred feet of up, it isn't a hard hike from that perspective.  I was to learn later that the getting back down is the sporty part of the hike.  I did part of it sliding on my butt.  Bob walked down.  Yes, my shoes were sticky enough, but my knees and courage weren't up to the task.  We very much enjoyed the different granaries, which were built and used by the ancestral Puebloans.  The were very cool and haven't been vandalized.  Wonderful.  The views were top rate as well.

Aztec Butte

An ancient granary.

I really liked this one.

Next we headed over to see Upheaval Dome.  The current best guess is that it is a meteor crater, or a salt dome.  Hmm, those sound like two very different geological processes to me, so it is interesting that what we see today could be the result of either.  Whatever caused it, it is mighty interesting.  It is another couple mile hike with nice views.  

Upheaval Dome Crater

We next decided to climb to the top of Whale Rock, a fun little slickrock scramble. I really enjoyed this one.  Nothing sporty about it, nice views, and not filled with people.

Whale Rock

The White Rim Overlook Trail was something that we had read about before the trip, so that was our next hike and lunch stop.  We had heard parking was limited, and it could be tough to get a spot.  Parking is four spots.  I guess that qualifies as limited.  We waited a few minutes and had a spot.  Very nice.  We headed out to an airy overlook, had lunch, and then visited another airy overlook.  While the overlooks are grand and imposing, they are so majestic that my mind can't seem to take it all in.  

Bob on an airy perch.

It is a long ways down.

Bob does a flying Rachel.

Cool ancient huge dinosaur footprint.  Or maybe it is just canyon erosion.

Those towers are so large and look so small from where we are.

We did stop at Mesa Arch on our way out.  What a zoo.  Lots of humans, most of which were well behaved, but definitely a few that should just stay home.  Yikes.  We probably should have braved the photographers.

Mesa Arch

And finally, Bob's video compilation from the day. Here's a link to the YouTube video for the email readers.