Finally I am in the land of canyons. I woke up 5:30am in Mountain time, and started driving on 6:00am. At the I70 entrance, a sign said "No Service Next 109 miles". Yeap, I am getting into the no man's land. The I70 cuts into the canyon land, literally. Every 10 miles, there was a scenic point inviting drivers to see the glimpse of what Utah can offer. Whew, I am already impressed.

Green River Overlook: The overlook located just a few hundred feet away from the campsite. And it offered a wonderful view of canyon made by the Green River. It was, of course, as grand as that of Grand Canyon. But it was closer and I could see more details of the canyon.

Upheaval Dome (1 mile): I wanted to go to the visitor center but took a wrong turn. I ended up at the Upheaval Dome trailhead. Oh well, I started hiking. It was a very interesting dome made of salt. A white and greenish salt dome sits in a big crater-like canyon. People are still debating how this dome and crater were created. Well, it was not beautiful nor breathtaking but it was certainly interesting enough to visit.

Visitor Center: On the way to the visitor center, I checked my tent to see if it was still standing. It was a little windy day. At the visitor center, I bought some books and asked for good trails with medium length. She suggested a few trails that have a great view without getting down the cliffs.

Mesa Arch (1 mile): A short hike lead to the arch right at the edge. A great vista of the eastern side of the canyon that looks very different from that of western side. It is interesting to think that nature can create vastly different canyons even if the 2 are practically next each other.

Gooseneck Overlook: This vista point also offers the eastern side canyon view. Not bad but. I talked to an old couple who used to live in the SF Bay Area. The lady is from Switzerland 50 years ago. Traveling alone can be fun when I talked to people on the way.

Murphy Point (2.5 miles): This was my best hike in the park that offers a panoramic view of the Green River. The point reaches far on to the canyon, offering much better view than that of Green River Overlook. This hike is mostly level and maintained, except last few hundred feet I had to follow cairn and make my way. The trailhead is about a mile into the unpaved road from the main road. I parked my car right at the main road; making the hike to 4.5 miles. But that was not bad at all. There were many wild flowers along the trail.

Another view of the Green River Canyon from the overlook nearby the campsite.

Grand View Overlook (0.5 mile?): Literally it offers the grand view of canyons made by the Green River and the Colorado River. As much as one can see, the entire area is protected as part of the Canyonland NP. I could see The Needle and The Maze sections, a different part of the same NP but too far to visit this time. It was the sunset time. I brought out a relaxing chair, the books I just purchased this afternoon, and a notebook to write a travel note while enjoying the sunset. (Well, it turned out the mesa behind me covers the sunset. It got quite cold and canyon was covered by the shadow. So, I left after an hour or so.)

Green River Overlook: I visited the overlook one more time. It was the best thing to do at the Canyonland NP. The canyon right beneath the overlook was illuminated by the sunset. A breathtaking. OK, I am sure the Murphy Point would be better. At least at this overlook, there is no worry of walking back in the dark.

Canyonland National Park offered the most impressive view of canyons. Not quite as grand as the Grand Canyon NP, but this park has canyons with the right size I could feel with my senses. Canyons are complex in shape and spectacular. In particular, the Grand View and Green River Overlook were the most impressive views of canyons without any hassle. For hiking, the Murphy Point hike was my favorite hike and vistas. This national park offers many choices for a wild ride with your 4WD/offroad vehicle.

Woke up before dawn to see the sunrise. First I visited Buck Canyon Overlook. Not bad. The sun rose behind the La Sal Mountains. Unfortunately, the Buck Canyon were in the shadow for all the time. So, I went to the Grand View Outlook. Oh, this one was wonderful. There were about 10 or more photographers. They seemed to be a group of photo class or something, a guide was giving tips of the sun light, etc. One of them: polarized filter to remove the haze. I tried with the photos I took. Can you see the difference? Definitely, this point looks better in sunrise than in sunset. Got a quick breakfast (coffee and c I forgot.

Then headed to Arches National Park. My impression of the park from guidebooks was something like "a neat little park with some cute and interesting arches to watch." Well, the park was definitely much more than just many cute arches.

Courthouse Towers (drive through): The very first thing in the park is this Courthouse Towers. The road winded between bunches of tall (a few hundred feet?), red, thin, wide, and majestic walls. Wow, that was fun! Somehow this changed my impression about this park completely.

Balanced Rock (0.3 miles): The least impressive object I saw in this park. It was nothing but a strange medium sized butte with a large rock on top of it. Butc it could be interesting, if I think about it 3 weeks after the visit.

Fiery Furnace Overlook (0.3 miles): This offered a nice view of the Fiery Furnace against the Salt Valley canyon. Unfortunately, hiking in the Fiery Furnace requires a registration at the ranger station. It could be a very interesting hike in this complex place.

The Windows Section (1 mile): A short drive off the main road to the Windows Section is certainly worth a visit. I stopped at Garden of Eden on the way. I could see strange buttes sitting on a single line. Then, I met an old couple. They asked me to shoot their camera for them. I asked him to take my photo. The short one-mile trail leads to 3 windows/arches: North Window, South Window, and Turret Arch. All of them were large, big, and impressive as you can see in the photo (there are people in the window.) But this place is very popular.

The big arch at Windows Section. The people below the arch looked tiny.

White flower seen at the Windows Section.

Yellow flower at the Windows Section.

Double O'Arch seen from the below.

Utah128 (43 miles drive): I also took a short excursion onto the Utah 128 that runs next to Colorado River for 43 miles. I drove only 5 miles into it but that was an interesting drive. I wondered why the Arches NP does not include the entire region.

Sand Dune Arch (0.3 miles): There, I met the old couple again, just came back from the trail. They said "Oh, I know you will like this trail" with full of smile. This short hike lead me through a narrow canyon sandwiched by tall thin wall (like Courthouse Towers or Fiery Furnace). The canyon bottom was covered with sand. Then there was the arch in the wall. Only if I visited here 2 hours earlier the sunlight would have illuminated the arch. Still this short hike was full was fun.

Devils Garden Section (4.2 miles to Double O Arch): The time was running short. I also wanted to see the Delicate Arch before the sunset. I hurried to the Landscape Arch, the first arch along this trail at 0.8 miles from the trailhead. Then, I met the old couple again. We talked nearly 30 minutes. Now I know they are from Maine. They kindly invited me to their home when I arrived Maine. Thanks! I will definitely visit them and Maine. Landscape Arch was beautiful. It was amazing such a long arch can hold itself on the air. Unfortunately, the afternoon sun was behind the mountain. This arch would look much better in the morning. The temperature was soaring that day, unlike yesterday. The old couple was already exhausted. Well, I had to walk more. So, I continued to the Double O Arch, 1.3 miles more to go. The trail suddenly got exciting, or difficult to follow, or somewhat disappeared. Some part, I had to walk on top of a narrow wall just like the one in the Sand Dune Arch. Very exciting trail. Just before the final destination, I passed by with 2 ladies. Boy, they were exhausted; they must have taken the Primitive Trail. "Take a lot of water, if you are going the trail", one lady told me. "There are lots of ups and down." They seemed to be very fit and use to walking; it must be really a tough trail. Anyway, the extra 1.2 miles (for me) was well rewarded with the Double O Arch. The arch itself was interesting but the trail also was another fun. Also the arch was in the shadow; a cool place to be in this hot day.

Delicate Arch and Me.

Delicate Arch (3.0 miles): The main attraction of the day. The ranger told me this morning; leaving 6:00 pm would be right to see the arch in the sunset. Sounds exiting. Before the main trail, I visited the Delicate Arch Viewpoint where I could see the arch in far. Hmm, it was really far. I saw a little arch looked just like a tiny pinhole (?). For me, it was a very uninspiring view. The trail was the toughest 3.0 miles I ever walked. It was hot, steep, no shades, and I was quite exhausted even before I started the hike. At least these were my excuse. After hours of struggle (at least I felt that way) I finally reached the arch. There were about 50 people. But the arch was much larger than I imagined. The setting was also intriguing; it was right on the edge of a canyon, La Sal Mountains with snow covered at far. I sat down and waited for the sunset. Meanwhile, I heard some Japanese voices from behind. It turned out there were 2 Japanese: one was a student living in the town of Promo, Utah; the other was visiting the US to take CPA test. It sounded like Japan has changed quite a bit since I left 12 years ago. After talking for about an hour, they left the arch. It took me only 10 more minutes to decide going down. Suddenly the arch did not look interesting. On the way back, many people were still climbing the trail. This arch is used in Utah's number plate.