THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2010:
I would drive a total of 75 miles today.
All of the images below are thumbnails and can be clicked on for a larger image.
It was pretty cloudy Thursday morning when I took my scenic flight over Canyonlands National Park.
The very small Cessna aircraft bounced around quite a bit making it very hard to take pictures.
The mighty Colorado and Green Rivers divide Canyonlands National Park into 3 sections,
and millions of years or erosion makes it impossible to view by land.
By airplane we soared over the Colorado River past Island in the Sky and The Maze.
On our approach to the Needles area we flew over the Confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers
which can be seen in the picture on the lower left.
In case you didn't see enough of Dead Horse Point in yesterday's travelog, here's yet a third perspective.
The two picture below are Dead Horse Point State Park from the air.
The very small Cessna bounces a good bit and then there was the obstacle of the wing blocking my view. |
My morning adventure complete, it was time for some adventure on land.
I took a four hour Hummer safari in Moab's Slickrock Canyon.
We experienced first hand several remote geologic wonders and savored breathtaking
vistas into both the Colorado River valley and the Moab valley.
There are also bicycle trails in the canyon. We watched the group on the right for a few minutes.
This was my first experience doing anything like this. It was great fun but I do have
to admit that my southern half was a little sore the next day from the bouncing around.
We got a nice view of the Colorado River from one of the vistas.
We also had fun watching other off-roaders tackling some of the more difficult challenges.
We got a nice view of the town of Moab from the top of one of the hills.
But thankfully your backside won't feel them when you wake up tomorrow. |
I went back to Arches National Park later in the afternoon after finishing the Hummer trip.
The pictures below are the Park Avenue section again. A little more light than on Tuesday.
Next I went out to the Devil's Garden section at the northern end of the park.
It was a little over a mile hike out to Landscape Arch. Landscape Arch is considered to be
the longest natural arch in the world measuring just over 290 feet long.
Other Arches along the Devil's Garden Trail are Tunnel Arch and Pine Tree Arch.
After spending a couple of hours in Devil's Garden it was once again my favorite time of day, sunset.
Next I explored the Windows section of the park.
Below, left to right, is the North Window, South Window and then both Windows.
Turret Arch (lower left) is just across from the windows.
Almost completely out of daylight I attempted to photograph Double Arch.
With the sun very low in the sky, the two pictures below look back on the Windows section
of the park with the La Sal Mountains looming in the background.
Before leaving the park I stopped around Balanced Rock to enjoy the sunset.
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Hello folks, When I get home from this vacation, I am going to need a vacation. I seem to get up early and go to bed late everyday. Today was no exception. I had to get up early for a morning flight over Canyonlands National Park. Our pilot was a real nice retired federal Marshall. Canyonlands National Park is huge. Some areas can only be seen from the air. It was an hour long flight. It was a little cloudy this morning. The pilot said that was a good thing. It was a little hard to take pictures in the very small plane as we were bouncing up and down. Below is the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers. Below is yet another view of Dead Horse Point in case you didn't see enough yesterday. I think I have now photographed it from every possible angle. The flight was great fun. I'm happiest when I am in the air. But next it was time for some adventure on land. I went off-roading in a Hummer. We spent 4 hours in Slip Rock Canyon scaling rocks at grades up to 35%. Below is a view of the Colorado River from Slip Rock Canyon. Below you can see a jeep climbing up a canyon. We got a nice view of the city of Moab from one of the cliffs. Next I went back to Arches National Park. Below is Park Avenue again, but this time with a little more light. Below is Landscape Arch. It was a two mile hike to get here. Below is Tunnel Arch. Below is Pine Tree Arch. Sun was setting pretty fast at this point. I love the color of the rock during sunset. Below are the north and south Windows. Below is Double Arch. Sun has almost set at this point so it's kinda dark. Below are the La Sal Mountains behind the rock pillars of Arches at sunset. The middle rock pillar is Balanced Rock as the set had completely set. No more daylight so it was time to end today's activities until sunrise tomorrow. That's all for now, Tim |
Click on the arrow above to see tomorrow's adventures!
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