Before you actually see it, it would be easy to dismiss Utah all together. Don't.
Our drive began through the Southeastern part of the state and we can say in all seriousness that every inch of the area is covered with amazing incredible rock formations. So much so that you may as well consider what amounts to several days of driving, one epic park. Instead the beautiful land is broken up into several different ones.
Canyonlands itself is so large we drove two different sections of it, separated by hours. The park is actually divided into four different divisions but with no road that connects them. We spent most of the morning on the eastern edge, driving through the vast canyons and enjoying some incredible views as we went.
In between the tours of Canyonlands was Arches park which features arch formations so magnificent they are featured on Utah license plates.
Some were visible from the road, many others required hikes. There were plenty of hikes with pleasant sounding names but we chose Devil's Garden. In the garden we found two arches, formations galore and many hikers, which I didn't mind as this meant a panoply of langauges, including a domestic dispute between two angry Germans (Though don't all German sound angry? It's OK for me to say that, I spent some time in Germany. And I may or may not have pissed some off. They don't look kindly on vegetarians). We didn't spot Satan. But the heat was severe.
We spent the early evening exploring the southern portion of Canyonlands trying to find a bathroom. Well, we saw many glorious sites, but the persistant call for the bathroom dominated. It was after 6 and the visitor's center had closed for the night. We finally found an outhouse amongst all the beauty at the camp grounds, but without parking. Desperation led to a critical miscalculation. I pulled off to the side of the road. The shoulder turned out to be sand. As was worried, trying to drive our way out turned out to be a bad idea. Isaiah turned his white shirt brown underneath the van shoveling away sand, but digging our way out turned out to be impossible. A man, a small 4x4 and a towing rope helped only a little. A ranger and two other passerbys, me on the gas, Isaiah pushing and we were finally free.
Then on to our campground for the night, the free and unofficial one, only to find the road there looking not much more substantial than the previous sand trap. We managed to make it down the road and collapsed in gratitude and sand bailing exhaustion.
Canyonlands Park
Canyonlands Park
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