Canyonlands NP

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Our 6th park this trip.
Ready to go!
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Our first impression is that Canyonlands is well named.
Look at the scenery!
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The road on the right winds around and down to the floor of the canyon.
You can see it going off into the distance.
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Gary wanted to take a Jeep on the FWD road down there.
Hanhan vetoed the idea.
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Right in front of your eyes is 100s of millions of years of geology, layer after layer.
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One of our favorite photos.
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Looks just like a Western movie.
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Hanhan sneaking in some shade time!
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The Mesa Arch, absolutely magnificent.
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View through Mesa Arch.
Hard to imagine with only a photo, but you get the idea.

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We didn't want to leave, so we stayed a while.
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We're going over there Hanhan, come on!
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Looks like a fortress or cityscape.
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The colors here were amazing, look at the reds and oranges here.
The ground looks like it has been torn open.
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A grand view from here. Hanhan is looking at the 'Needles' disctric of the park.
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Wow! Strangest landscape we've ever seen.
Sandstone capped with limestone, add water and wind. Wait millions of years. Serve to stunned tourists.

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Closer view of the previous photo.
See the white rock caps on many of the spires?
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As far as the eye can see, nothing but deadly beauty.
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The aquamarine pools are not a natural feature.
They are salt evaporation ponds for a salt mine.
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Wind sculpture, smooth as silk.
Horseshoe Canyon glows just before sundown.
The horseshoe that inspired the name 'Horseshoe Canyon'.
Boating the Colorado River from Moab, UT.
Looking at the canyons from a boat is a different experience.
We found an arch along the way.
A great campground along the river.
We may have to come back and try this one day.
Vertical rock climbing is really popular here.
If the climbers are going all the way to the top, they have to spend the night on the cliff face.
Relaxing on the boat taking in the sights.
Jar Handle Arch.
The only vertical arch we saw.
When the sun goes down it is rapidly night time on one side of the canyon.
The salt mine that uses the evaporation pools we saw earlier today.
The Earth's crust has been exposed by the river over the eons.
You can see how it is composed. Hard rock on top, softer rock below in many layers.
Hard to think…
There were even beavers along the way.
We caught this one as he was looking for dinner.