Meghans Adventures: DAY 2: CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK THEN ON TO ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

You cant see, but my tent is covered in frost from temperatures being in the teens last night.

But the view is stunning with canyon vistas in the distance

Crow hanging out at the campsite

This is the most popular shot of the Mesa Arch.

wow

This arch sits on a ledge that drops off into the abyss

Crow sunbathing at Mesa Arch Trailhead

Geologist aren't sure what created this massive mound of salt, however one possible explanation is listed below. Click to read the sign!

Panorama of Upheaval Dome (click to enlarge)

Cairns marking the trail along the sandstone

looking across the valley floor from the Upheaval Dome Trail

My last hike in Canyonlands takes me to the top of a butte and into some old Indain graneries

catching my breathe at the top of the butte, with an amazing view

Im literally walking on a ledge covered in icy snow! Kind of scary

view from granery

Before 1300 A.D. there were many Anasazi Indians living within the boundaries of Canyonlands National Park. They generally lived in the canyons below the mesas where water was more abundant-particularly along the Green River. But they also made frequent trips to the mesa tops for the purpose of gathering food, and there is still a great deal of evidence of their habitation on the Island in the Sky Mesa. The best place to see the remnants of these prehistoric people is here on Aztec Butte, where the Anasazis built a number of granaries for storing the food they collected. Here is one

I didnt stay long here, as I got a little scared being in here by myself, and also felt I was intruding on someones home. So I took some pictures and showed myself out

Leaving Canyonlands, along The Neck Viewpoint

There is the Shafer Trail again...

Only an hours drive away I reach Arches National Park. Hurray!

first stop, Park Avenue. These rock walls look like something you would see in a movie, hard to believe they are real.

View from the La Sal Mountain Viewpoint. If you look hard you can see Balanced Rock out there

Balanced Rock in the distance

Balanced Rock

Balanced Rock with the moon to the right

The end of the trail for Balanced Rock had a great view

Skyline Arch

Delicate Arch from the viewpoint

After hiking straight up sandstone for 45 minutes, you turn the corner and she's sitting right in front of you. I wanted to stay longer, however there were 2 older people who wouldn't shut up, and were talking so loud it was bouncing off all the walls. So after 15 minutes I left.

Delicate Arch with the La Sal Mountains making for a beautiful backdrop

PETROGLYPHS!!! In this is drawn Bighorn Sheep, Native Americans on their horses and a dog like animal, perhaps coyotes?. They had a wide range of dates these could have been created from 1300 AD to 1850 AD. They were created by the Ute Indians. Click to get a better look at them

John Wesley Wolf settled in the location in the later 1800s. A nagging leg injury from the Civil War prompted Wolf to move west from Ohio, looking for a drier climate. He chose this tract of more than 100 acres along Salt Wash for its water and grassland - enough for a few cattle. The Wolfes built a one-room cabin, a corral, and a small dam across Salt Wash. For more than a decade they lived alone on the remote ranch. In 1906, Wolf's daughter Flora Stanley, her husband, and their children moved to the ranch. Shocked at the primitive conditions, Stanley convinced her father to build a new cabin with a wood floor which is what we see today along with the root cellar. The reunited family weathered a few more years in Utah and in 1910 returned to Ohio.