Canyonlands National Park: Island in the Sky
We woke up several hours before sunrise, on a mission to witness the infamous Mesa Arch sun-star morning show. I had heard stories that mobs of photographers set up long before sunrise to get the iconic shot, but I didn’t know what to expect on a 0°F day in the midst of a national holiday and a global pandemic. I’m someone who prefers an awesome shot of a not-so-famous spot, but I will always still try to get the iconic shot if given the chance – just to say I did it and have the picture to show.
We were the second car to pull into the parking lot with a series of headlights trailing us. Everyone sat in their car waiting in the pitch black. It was about -5 degrees outside with windchill and not a trace of light in the sky. We sat in the car for about 10mins, defrosting in the heat for as long as possible.
Finally, the first person started the hike and we knew that was our queue. We packed up our gear and headed out on the trail.
The thing with desert trails is that they’re a little trickier to follow than forest trails, especially in the dark. There isn’t an obvious trail line in front of you – instead, you’re looking for stacks of rocks, known as cairns, to lead the way. This can make things a little tricky in the dark when you’re sweeping your flashlight around looking for the next cairn!
When we finally found Mesa Arch, the faintest glow from the sky provided just enough light for our eyes to see the canyon below. I had read that Mesa Arch was small (photographed to look large), so my first thought when I saw it was, “looks about right!”. I have to admit that the view was much more majestic than the arch itself.
We set up our tripods and waited for the sun, slowly turning into popsicles. We waited and waited… and waited. And then, to our dismay, the sun never came. The entire sky was blue, but a sea of clouds hung on the horizon, withholding the sun from displaying its show.
By then, my body and limbs were beginning to hurt from the cold. I was having trouble walking and knew it was time to call it. We snapped a few photos for memory’s sake before heading back to the car to defrost.
I’m not sure I’ve ever experienced that type of physical pain from being so cold before. My body was straight up hurting!
After Mesa Arch, we drove around the area of Canyonlands known as “Island in the Sky”. The area sits about 1,000ft higher than the rim below giving it the exact feeling of being on an island in the sky. Canyonlands National Park is enormous. You could drive for hours within the park boundaries. That being said, most visitors only visit the Island of the Sky section due to its proximity to the city of Moab, UT and paved roads. Much of Canyonlands is accessed via world-class 4x4 roads.
Along the drive, there are short hikes to overlooks and various viewpoints. Looking out at the layers of the canyon never gets old.
Dead Horse Point State Park
After lunch, we headed over to Dead Horse Point State Park; a small state park nuzzled on an overlook of the Colorado River, next to Canyonlands. In fact, you see a lot of the same surroundings at Dead Horse Point as you do at Island of the Sky, but just from a different angle and with a much more intimate view of the Colorado River.
We watched the sun’s golden rays illuminate the canyon, with each second of the desert landscape morphing into a variety of pastel colors as the sun began to sink below the horizon.
The sun disappeared from view and the canyon began to fall dark and fill with flat evening light. The show was over… or so we thought. I turned to begin walking back to the car and suddenly saw the La Sal Mountains; tall, snowy, bright, and pastel as all get-out. It was a magical sight.
We ran across the parking lot to the other side of the overlook to marvel at the stunning mountains and grab a few photos. The mountains quickly turned purple before being dismissed into the evening.
Although we missed out on the infamous Mesa Arch morning show, we still experienced an incredible display of our country’s lands throughout Island in the Sky and Dead Horse Point State Park.
Tomorrow would be dedicated to exploring a lower section of Canyonlands known as “The Needles District”.