Land of Canyons

I went into Canyonlands National Park expecting to be able to hike through the smooth-sided slot canyons that I've seen so often in canyoneering pictures. However, I realize now that those are more the arena of Bryce Canyon or Zion National Parks. Must be a different kind of sandstone or something. Even though my expectations were not fulfilled, the region was awe-inspiring on a completely different scale. The Island in the Sky district of the Park is so named because the canyons formed by the Green River and the Colorado River come together forming a sort of peninsula in the sky. Then there are two levels too, since there is a layer of "white rim" caprock that is more wear resistant than the surrounding stone. Thus the view from several viewpoints was incredible: deep canyons as far as the eye can see.

For my activity in this Park, I took a hike around the Syncline Loop. The loop was a little longer than 11 miles and took me through some pretty amazing country. Spectacular! I started in the dark, but quickly realized that I needed to stop and wait since I was missing the amazing views of the canyons. The trail was hard to follow in many places, as advertised at the trailhead, but that added to the experience. It looped in and out of several dry washes and creek bottoms. I could find my way by spotting cairns and tracking previous hikers. I took the side trail into Upheaval Crater to find myself in this crazy area with piles upon piles of eroded sandstone of all different colored; a giant storage closet for the materials to create the fantastic sandstone formations of the surrounding area.

Upheaval Crater

Back on the Syncline trail I hoofed it back to my truck, drove to the Grand Overlook, to try and spy the confluence of the Green River and the Colorado. There was a kiosk that pointed out where the two rivers came together, but I couldn't really see it. From my view on the Island in the Sky, I just had to take their word for it that there was water flowing, carving, shaping the landscape thousands of feet below.

Looking down from the Grande Overlook. Notice the white edge of the canyon in the right/center of the photo: it's the edge of the "second tier" of the Island in the sky. The next level down would be the river level.