Day 32 (7/30) Canyonlands National Park and Mesa Verde National Park. (Lin) Last night was a unique experience at Moab Under Canvas. Glamping in a luxury tent high in the Utah Desert. No electricity, no AC, but the comfort of a king bed and cots, all under heavy canvas tents. It was warm, but during the night the cooler breezes began to blow, and by morning we were woken by the sound of light rain on the canvas. It was actually really nice, since we all love camping. The rain didn’t last long at all, and by the time we actually got up, it was all dry again. We ate a quick breakfast, packed up, and were on the road a bit later. (Jo and I have not been feeling well recently – throat for her, and chest cough for me; we were able to get meds today, however.)
Our first stop was Canyonlands, which was not far from where we slept. Canyonlands is quite large, and has three separate sections of canyons, and three separate entrances. We went in the north, to the Island in the Sky section. The sky was a bit overcast, but even so it was really a neat place. We drove the whole way down to the Grand View Point Overlook, where we had sweeping panoramas of the canyons below. Canyonlands was formed by two major rivers that actually come together in the middle of the park: the Colorado and the Green rivers. We couldn’t actually see the rivers, as they are hidden by the canyons and are 2,000 feet down from the rim where we were. A few sections had a lot of monuments, buttes, and mesas down in the canyons, which was cool. The colors were also neat – a lot of reds, but a few sections with other colors and whites especially.
We took a short hike to see the Mesa Arch, which was much smaller than the Double Arch we saw yesterday at Arches, but still neat.
After Canyonlands, we drove back into Moab for lunch. We then began the trek to Mesa Verde, in Colorado. We will return to Utah for the fifth and final time tomorrow at Four Corners! What a terrific state.
We drove through heavy rain in eastern Utah and western Colorado, although only for a bit. We could see large storms and lightning strikes in the distance, since western Colorado is really wide open. On the way to Mesa Verde, Jo and I decided to change our plans a bit to allow for more time at Mesa Verde. We arrived later than expected, and I underestimated how large the park is! I booked a hotel in nearby Cortez and canceled the hotel in NM.
It was neat to see Mesa Verde from quite a distance – a huge green mesa rising up from the Colorado plateau. The kids were like: that’s where we are going? Yep. We stopped by the visitor’s center and then headed in to do a little driving tour of the main houses and palaces in the walls. The Mesa Top Loop and the Cliff Palace Loop both gave us really great views of a dozen or so houses in the cliffs. The largest is the Cliff Palace, of course – the largest such cliff dwelling in North America. I teach about the ancestral Puebloans and Mesa Verde in my classes, so it was really great to see it all in person. (Tomorrow will be like that as well, at Chaco Canyon.)
The descent back down off of the Mesa was beautiful with the sun setting on what I assume was part of the Rockies. We saw a few deer on the upper part of the mesa as well, and up close. A late swim and dinner, and we called it a night.
Harrison and Helena completed their ninth Junior Ranger programs to receive badges today. Harrison especially is so into it – we finally bought a vest at Zion and, today, a hat at Mesa Verde. He wears the vest everywhere, with all of his Junior Ranger bling on it! Too cute. Helena says she wants to be a Park Ranger someday. It seems like a sweet (if low-paying) gig, to be sure.
(Click on the pictures for bigger versions.)
Fisher Family Travels 