Dead Horse Point & Canyonlands

The day for our visit to these two next-door areas had a milky, high, thin cloud cover all day so distant views were bluish & vague — still just amazing tho. These huge formations north of Moab, on the way to our destination to the west, are called The Monitor (left) & The Merrimac (right) for the infamous Civil War ships which they resemble.

Click on any of these photo to view the whole album.

We first visited Dead Horse Point State Park — named for the natural corral used by local cowboys for accumulating wild horses. Supposedly, after taking selected horses after one round-up, the remaining horses were just left barricaded on this point to starve & die of thirst. The views were just surreal.

Then we went farther south to Canyonlands National Park. This is a huge park with three distinct areas. We visited the only one that is easily toured by auto, The Island in the Sun. The most impressive points in the Park are the Mesa Arch & the overlook of the confluence of the Colorado & Green Rivers.

 

In spite of the bad sunlight, the light breeze & temperature were perfect for comfortable up & down hiking thru rocks & sand to get to the arch & a few other overlooks. We didn’t have much company on the roads or trails either since this is definitely not the normal tourist season.

After a week at a small RV Park in Moab UT, we’re heading south today to see The Four Corners, Monument Valley, & Gooseneck State Park. We’ll see how far we get before running out of energy & daylight today.

We are wandering around & thru the Southwest during Nov, Dec, & Jan to see as many national parks & other notable sights as possible while we’re in the area & have the chance. Life has definitely taught us to take advantage of every opportunity we get since tomorrows are never guaranteed.