Canyonlands! (Part Drei)

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Today’s focus is hiking. The weather had calmed down with nice temperatures and little wind (how long could that last?). So Patricia reviewed the list of trails available that we could access from the main road and we set out. We had time to do Murphy Point, Upheaval Dome, Whale Rock, and Aztec Butte. Click on an image and it should allow you to step through the photos one at a time.

Those rock cairns again! What would we do without them? Get into trouble for sure. These lead us to the top where there are a couple of archaelogical sites.

Upheaval Dome is an enigma. Geologists don’t know if it was created from beneath by a salt dome, or from above by a meteor impact. The crater you see here is about 2 miles across.

We’ve been studying modes of travel for other adventurers. There seem to be two types. On the one hand, you have those ready for the Apocalypse, on the other you have those that just kinda go with the flow, you know?

But what about that view?

You don’t know what you don’t know, you know? And how can you see what’s too big to see, you see?

Well, we thought that maybe a short video pan might help. But….it took two separate pans to get around Dead Horse Point. There are two videos below, just click on an image and each pan will start in a new browser tab:

Clicking on each image will open a new window and play a short video pan.

What’s next?

Tomorrow is a big day! We talked to the rangers and they said we should be fine doing the Shafer Trail. And as long as we had 4WD and 8″ of ground clearance, we could venture onto the White Rim Trail with a day pass (which they promptly gave us).

I saw this back in the eighties and thought it would be interesting. The White Rim Trail is about 70 miles of 4WD road, you can see it in the videos I posted above. There are only two access points. One is the Shafer Trail, the other is where Mineral Bottom Road meets the Green River. So the total is about 100 miles and takes 3 days to do by vehicle or 4 to 5 days to do by mountain bike (a vehicle has to carry water for the bikers though).

So after our warm-up on Mineral Bottom, we think we’re ready. We just hope the new truck is too!