Land of Canyons

While waiting for coffee one morning, I happened to look out the window and saw a strange object waving in the wind on a nearby bunch of brush.

On closer examination, it was found to be a helium balloon that had come floating in overnight.  It was trying to take off again as the morning sun heated up the contents, but I captured it and brought it back for Hailey – mostly because it was Hello Kitty balloon!

I’ve actually seen a remarkable number of such things in the desert (mostly burst).  Not sure if it is because they are more popular or escape-prone down here, but I suspect it is just because there is no where for them to hide in the desert, unlike in the miles of bush further north?  I drove out the Elephant Hill road one day, and found where the trailhead leads into serious 4x4 country.

The sign says that the trail is one of the most difficult in the state.  It looked pretty decent at the start, so I thought I might just give it a try for a ways.  I was only part way through the gate leading on to the road when I changed my mind.  This is also a trailhead for several long hiking routes in the area and this rather ‘unique’ bin was in the parking lot!

I did do a bit of 4x4ing on another road in the park, and you can check out the video here.  It is actually a lot rougher than it appears!

Risking being attacked by the raven clan again (!), I went for a hike on the Slickrock trail that leads out from the end of the road in this section of Canyonlands.

In the distance, you can see the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands – which is the section that most people are familiar with.

Outside the park, in BLM lands along the road are miles and miles of sandstone cliffs that are very popular with the rock climbing crowd, and parking lots and roadside pull offs are full of vehicles on weekends.

I did another ‘photosphere’ back while I was in Colorado, but Google did not get it online till now.  Check for it here.

Make sure that ‘show imagery’ is activated at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.  This may not be available on tablets, phones, etc.  When this is activated, you may see one or several images across the bottom of the screen.  Ignore any from street-view or photos, or panoramas, but click on mine which shows up as a ‘photo sphere’!  There’s mine, and another one from someone else.  You can then see in all directions from that spot – including up and down.