Not sure what the day had in store for us, we headed west towards the Moab area. I wasn't confident what to do or where to go, but I knew there were a few national parks so we couldn't go wrong. We stopped at a few vista points along the way and eventually made our way around mid-morning. For whatever reason, we decided that seeing Canyonlands would be the best way to spend our first day.
Our first experience with Canyonlands was an hour wait to get into the park. I'm not sure why there was such a delay, because once we got inside the park, it wasn't too busy. The first thing we did was heading straight to the visitors center to get some sunscreen; we didn't plan for the beautiful weather in store for us. As we made our way, we stopped at the many viewpoints soaking up the grandeur before us.
Our first hike of the day would be to Mesa Arch. It was a short hike, but the sun made it feel much longer than it was. Once there, we were pleased by how few people were around and how easy it was to get the shots we wanted without too many "tourist." There was a guy shouting "GoPro, take a photo" a little more than I preferred, but it was ok. I tried not to make Brittany too nervous by getting close to the edge where all the good photos hide.
Next, we made our way to the end of the Grand View Point Road, and we were not disappointed. Brittany took a short break to soak in the surroundings while I scurried around taking pictures. This area was a bit busier, but with not too much effort we were able to get to a place for some alone time.
After swinging by and hiking to Upheaval dome, we started to make our way back, but we had one more adventure in store for the day. Instead of taking the main road to Moab for dinner, we decided to make the 2,000 foot decent via the old dirt road down the canyon wall known as the Schafer Trail. The trail was super exciting and full of fantastic views, but not for the faint of heart. There were many sections where hitting the gas instead of the breaks could get you a oneway ticket to the bottom. Once we were off the cliff side, the trail was much more enjoyable.
Photography Date: 5-13-17
Writing Date: 5-24-18
