Mississippi River Trip: Canyonlands-lands-lands

We headed for Canyonlands National Park the day of the bird incident because Larisa wouldn’t stay in the campground, just in case the baby bird was going to starve to death overnight.  Canyonlands is a huge park with three areas – the Needles, Island in the Sky, and the Maze.  We started at the Needles because it was on our way.  It’s a great drive.  Then entrance takes you through the canyons to the campground, and the bright reds and yellows of the sandstone give sharp contrast to the dull grays of the miscellaneous rocks.  Every time we drove along a canyon center I found myself wanting to stand on the roof of the car and shout to see if I could hear an echo. 

The road also takes you past Newspaper Rock, a huge stone wall etched with petroglyphs thousands of years old, as well as a little graffiti only 50 years old.  Scientists say that they cannot translate the meaning of the petroglyphs, but I found that I can translate one:  To the right side of the rock, down near the bottom, the inscription “Trish and Family - 1996” indicates that a small tribe of morons passed through only a few years ago.  Hopefully it has died out.

Our campground, picked by Larisa (she made me say that) had a great view of the canyons and plains.  We set up camp and ate dinner, and then Larisa took off for pictures while I focused on guarding camp.  About half an hour later she came running back to camp and told me to climb the huge rock that made of the back edge of our living area.  I did, and got to watch a gorgeous sunset in the peaceful quiet of the American west.  Such a treat to see.