Making oatmeal and coffee.
We spent the night in Moab, and then got up early and drove up to Dead Horse Point State Park to have breakfast at a picnic spot.
Pretty nice view for breakfast.
We planned to visit the park before we left because, as a state park, it was not affected by the government shutdown.
Dead Horse Point is a narrow mesa with huge cliffs on all sides. As a result, the views are spectacular in all directions.
The view at Dead Horse Point.
The view from the Neck, looking west.
The view from the point features a large meander of the Colorado River 2,000’ below.
There’s several miles of hiking trails along the cliffs that form the park. We hiked the short loop from the point to the Neck.
A display of the fences used to corral wild horses.
At the Neck, which is only about 100’ wide, is a fence made of branches typical of those used by cowboys to corral wild horses.
Riding the Pyramid trail.
There’s also about 18 miles of mountain bike trails near the point.
The Pyramid Canyon Overlook.
A rocky section on the Big Chief trail.
The trails on the east side of the highway are pretty easy, with a few rock ledges and slickrock sections to play with.
The Big Chief Overlook.
We rode an eight mile loop, and then headed over to Canyonlands National Park, which had just reopened a couple of days ago.
The Shafer Canyon Overlook in Canyonlands. Yes, you can drive that.
Mesa Arch in Canyonlands.
Looking down at Monument Basin.
We drove to the end of Canyonlands on Grand View Point road, where there’s a one mile trail to the Grand View Point Overlook.
Starting out on the Grand View Point trail.
The viewpoint looks down on Monument Basin, a beautiful canyon of red sandstone spires with a distinctive white rock cap.
The Grand View Point Overlook
The end of the trail.
Canyonlands is divided into three areas, each of which is accessed from different roads.
We were in the “Island in the Sky” area, which is the closest to Moab.
Hiking back.
We were hurrying to hike out and back before the sun went down and just barely made it.
Sunset near Upheaval Dome.
We quickly drove over to the Upheaval Dome area, but it was getting too dark to see anything.
Moonrise
This area is just spectacular. I’d like to spend more time in the park and do some longer hikes and overnight camping.
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