Island in the Sky, Moab

 There are no cows here. No doe crossing the street with fawns in the tow. After weeks of desolation and solitude, not counting the stops at Blanding for a moment, Moab may as well be the New York City. It's a bustling tourist town lined with motels and restaurants and other conveniences of civilization. 

The first stop was at the Best Western hotel. It's better to use a clean hotel toilet rather than the one at a national park visitor's center. It was an excellent decision; Canyonlands visitor center had rows of compost toilets.  And I can have the car charged while taking care of the morning business. 

Islands in the Sky district of Canyonlands is another 20 miles from Moab, or a mile from Dead Horse Point State Park. I'm skipping Dead Horse; being so close together, it's probably just an outgrowth of Canyonlands rather than something different. There is a nice long hike down to the rim from there, but it's not going to provide a view any different than from White Rim Overlook or Grand View Point. Having to pay $20 for it is not that palatable either. And kkipping it for now will give an execuse to come back for it in the future.

Island in the Sky is a smaller version of Grand Canyon. You drive through the road on the mesa, which is why it is named the "Island in the Sky", stop at various view points, hike short hikes, take photos, and move on to the next view points. The difference is that the drive, being on a mesa, provides views on both sides of the road. One is the canyons of Colorado River and the other of Green River. This two rivers join at Confluence Point in the Needles District and flow down to Arizona to form Grand Canyon. In the "Neck" section, you can view both sides at the same time while driving.

The Grand View Point is at the end of the mesa. It forms promontory akin to Angel's Landing in Zion NP providing 270 degree view of the plateau below and the canyons carved out from it. Toward the West, you can see Maze district beyond Green River. I won't be able to make to Maze district in this trip; you need high clearance four wheel drive to go there. They won't let me go on the White Rim road below Island in the Sky. I told them I did the Hole in the Rock road and the ranger said White Rim road is a lot rougher. I could rent an ATV or Jeep and do the Chicken Corner, White Rim and Maze. But doing that is not too cost efficient. I'll just come back for them, and Dead Horse Point, when I have a high clearance AWD, possibly Ford F150 Lightning EV.

The total hike for the day probably is no more than 5 miles. I could go back to White Rim viewpoint which I missed and add another 2. Or go to Unheaval Dome and add 1.5. I started going back and it occured to me I could do Arches National. It is by Moab on the way back and I could do the rest of it in one day if I take care of the one or two trails near the entrance. I turned back and headed to Arches.

Arches entrance is somewhat unique. The visitor center is located by the highway. All you have to do is make a left turn into it from US 109. Then it climbs from the visitor center immediately winding up in Park Avenue high above the visitor center. 

And, just like that, Arches National stuns you right off the bat. You walk into Park Avenue colossal walls lining the wide gulch will greet you as victorious Roman generals may have been greeted in the monument-lined Capitol. I walked down into the gulch for 2 mile hike to/from the Courthouse Rock. The temperature gauge of my car said it was 105F outside and inside Park Avenue wasn't any cooler. It was 5PM though, and the walls started casting shadow in some sections. The trail seems to go on, but I turned around at the Courthouse Rock and came back.

I went back to Moab where I started this morning, plugged car in, and went for the dinner at a near-by Thai/Pho place; it was getting late and I'll have enough time and energy to take a bath. to cook when I get back at the camp. At $20, it was the most expensive pho noodle I've ever had. But the salty soup hit the spot just right after getting deccicated all day in the sun. Back at camp temperature was at 73F and dropping. I took a quick 1 gal path and the day was over.