Spring 2012: Friday (4/6) thru Saturday (4/7) - Canyonlands

Friday was an easy day ending with a nice Mexican dinner in town.  Saturday we decided to go back to Canyonlands: Islands in the Sky but this time stay on top of the canyon.  This is where we drove down the Shaffer Trail two weekends ago.  Now I can show you what it looks like from a birds-eye view.  We also hiked out to Mesa Arch (which, of course, Vaughan had to walk out on) and Upheaval Dome (where we saw lots of Bighorn Sheep and a crater believed to be created by a meteor 60 million years ago).  We then drove out to Grand Viewpoint for another amazing view into the canyon.

Dinner was prime rib and fry bread at the Branding Iron and then a beer at the Moab Brewery in town.  We’re tired, a little sunburned, and ready to go do it all again tomorrow.  

This is one view of the Shaffer Trail - we drove down this to the road you see below.

Here is another view.  The sheep jumped in front of us on the middle switchback (left).

And yet one more view looking straight down from above.

This is Vaughan on top of Mesa Arch - it was maybe 3-4 feet wide on top.

The front side was a 20 foot drop but on the back it was over 500 feet.

I, however, stayed on the ground in front of it.

This beautiful creature was less than 100 feet away.  

He walked down from the top of the rocks and then lay down in front of us.

This is part of the Syncline Trail along side Upheaval Dome.

You can see the salt deposits inside the crater at Upheaval Dome

Vaughan promised a hot tub at the end of the hike but he never promised there would be water in it.

This is on the edge of the crater.

Here is the view you get from Grand Viewpoint at Islands in the Sky.