Yesterday...well, we don't want to brag or anything, but we accomplished quite a feat...for us at least! We decided to go on a hike that was labeled as moderate by the park, in Canyonlands NP and it was called Neck Spring Trail. This took us down into a canyon and was really quite nice and pleasant, with a few signs of ranching along the way...nothing to tough to start out, some gradual downhill, a few up and then back down and we traveled around the bottom of the canyon...though were disappointed we didn't see any "springs" - guess it was a bit too hot and dry for that this time of year. Well, as we walked around the bottom, with really no bearings as to which was we'd come from when looking up...we knew that at some point we had to climb up...and then it came...steep slickrock going up and up and up...yikes, the climb up was not at all gradual, like the descend down had been...and it was HOT, HOT, HOT at that point. Finally, we were up top and looking back down into the canyon, but now had to walk completely around the top of it, to return to where we started...it was about a 6 mile hike and took just about 4 hours...phew, we were pooped by the time we finished, but quite pleased we made it...of course, had we known what it was really like, not sure we would have done it, but it felt great to have accomplished that...something (for us!) that was longer and more challenging than we'd ever done before. I think we burned enough calories for the day to not feel guilty about whatever we ate during the day!! LOL
After that and lunch...oh and LOTS of water (don't worry, we kept hydrated during the hike)...we headed to Dead Horse State Park for a sunset view of the Colorado River that is 2000 feet below and offers a fabulous view of the canyons and beyond. Although the sunset wasn't anything to write home about...it was still pretty amazing to see and of course, a few (okay, more than a few!) photos were taken. We enjoyed talking with a man from Georgia while waiting for the sun to set...he's a photographer (and software and web developer) who travels around photographing the landscapes of the country...and he was really interesting to listen to and was very knowledgeable...it was much better than ALL the foreign languages we had been hearing. Seriously, we ARE a minority down here...with probably 80% or MORE of the people being from other countries...and most of them NOT friendly...what is it...on vacation, shouldn't you be enjoying yourself and at least say hello (they are in the US and you'd think at least understand the basic greetings?!?). Anyway...it was 8:30 when we got back from sunset and unloaded, washed up (we were quite gritty after our day out) and headed for a quick dinner...it was another great day...different from the others, but still great! So...here are a few of the MANY photos we took...hope you enjoy!
All the cactus we have seen has been small, like these, nothing like we saw in Sedona a year ago.
At the top of the canyone...as we hiked around it.
Looking into the canyon as we started out...little did we know how much work this would be!!
Some remanents of the cattle ranching that was done many years ago in the canyon.
View from the canyon looking up during our hike.
2000 feet down, it was REALLY high and scary...don't worry, we were very careful climbing up there!
We saw a TON of geckos the past few days...and man, do these little creatures move FAST!!
Sunset from Dead Horse State Park
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