Last night, I was woken up by police officers banging on the door of the RV at 1AM while parked in a McDonalds Parking lot in Moab, UT. The police officers were friendly and suggested that I drive out of the city limits and just park/sleep there. Driving north on the highway, I found a convenient location to park at the intersection of Highway 191 and Highway 211, about 25 miles away from Canyonlands National Park.
This morning I woke up at the graded dirt parking lot on the corner of Highway 191 and Highway 211. I was able to sleep until almost 9AM without any disruptions, which is much later than I expected to but it makes sense considering how exhausted I was last night. As soon as I woke up, I drove to Canyonlands National Park and stopped at the visitors centers to refill water and ask for suggestions of attractions/hikes in the park.
The ranger at the visitor center suggested that I drive through the park, while hiking 5-6 trails ranging from .5 miles to 1.5 miles each. The first stop was Mesa Arch. Mesa arch was a beautiful, low/wide arch, through which there was a beautiful, distant view of the valley below.
The next hike was a short .5 mile hike to the Gramary part of the Aztec Butte Trail. The “Gramary” was a simple brick wall that enclosed a naturally occurring cave inside a hillside. I’m not sure what exactly this shallow enclosed area could have been used for. The only uses I can think of are for sleeping and storage.
The next hike was the first and second overlook of the Upheaval Dome trail. At this point, the park started becoming monotonous and boring. After already visiting Colorado National Monument and Arches National Park, the formations/nature in this park were less exciting and unique, especially for this stop/attraction. One of the most exciting attractions in the park is the white rim Trail, a 100 mile dirt road on the canyon floor, 1400 feet below the main roads of the park. Because the RV couldn’t handle the terrain, I was forced to stay on the main roads like most of the other visitors.
Grand View Point, the furthest stop from the Visitors Center, was probably the most exciting/interesting attraction in the park. From Grand View Point Overlook and the hike, there is a beautiful view of the Colorado River Canyon and Monument Basin. The hike was beautiful and was one of the highlights of the day. Like Arches national Park, The popular trails in canyonlands national Park were very busy with European tourists.
After hiking the Grand View Trail, it was about 3PM and I was becoming a bit bored of the scenery at Canyonlands National Park. I stopped by the Visitors Center and asked them whether it’s worthwhile hiking one of the several trails that descend 1400 feet and reach the bottom of the canyon. The alternative was to head to Dead Horse Point State Park at 3PM rather than 6PM. Fortunately, I decided to head over to Dead Horse Point State Park at 3PM and ended up hiking 7 miles of hiking trails inside the State Park. At the suggestion of the park ranger, I hiked the East Rim Trail to Dead Horse Point and returned back to the starting point via the West Rim Trail. Additionally, I hiked several “out and back” side trails including Big Horn Overlook, which was in itself a very secluded 2.5 mile round trip in which I didn’t encounter anyone. Throughout the 7 mile hike, there were extremely strong winds and a mostly cloudy sky, which was nice and helped keep me cool and comfortable.
I’m currently in Moab and debating whether to head south to Natural Bridges Monument/Glen Canyon Recreational Area or to head west to Capitol Reef National Park.
Eventually, I decided to drive toward Capitol reef national park, and am spending the night in Green River, UT about halfway there. Tonight, I also showered at a truck stop which was surprisingly clean and convenient. It was nice to be able to take a non-timed, private shower especially since I haven’t showered since Ouray Hot springs.
Ehlo?