UTAH'S NATIONAL PARKS

Travelling through Arizona, we pass the Glenn Canyon Dam.

This behemoth was built to supply big cities with their power demands.

As we enter Utah the landscape takes on beautiful shapes and colors.

On our travels in Utah we plan to visit the following -

Zion National Park

Bryce National Park

Capitol Reef National Monument

Arches National Park

Canyonlands National Park

Dead Horse State Park

If that sounds like a lot of territory, it is.

80% of the land in the state of Utah is under public domain.

Wide open spaces!

                At Zion National Park, we meet up with our friend Gene, who is camping in the park.

We go for a hike in "the narrows", a steep gorge cut through solid rock by flash floods from the Virgin River.

                                                  We pause at the confluence with another stream.

From this point the gorge is less than 50 feet across!

The wildlife is abundant in the park. On a hike to Emerald Pools we spot a deer feeding below us.

                    In Bryce Canyon National Park, we hike down the Queens Garden trail.

                         The trail is adorned with rock formations called, spires, fins, and Hoodoos.
                 Hoodoos are rock formations that seem to defy gravity.
They have been created over eons, as the softer type rock is eroded away, and the harder one remains.

An awesome rock garden!

We drive through Capitol Reef National Monument on our way to Canyonlands and Arches.
                                      It is a spectacular ridge of uplifted rock.

    
                    Dead horse State Park is one of the largest state parks in the U.S.
                                                It has an amazing landscape.





Canyonlands is a unique park with 3 areas - the Maze, the Needles, and Island in the Sky.

         From the Island in the Sky, the view is greater than the distance across Rhode Island!

This amazing network was the work of 2 rivers carving out rock.

We can see the Colorado to our north, while the Green flows south.

They eventually join and find their way to the Glen Canyon Dam - the first picture in this blog.

Arches National Park has over 2200 natural arch bridges.

           Landscape arch is one of the longest arches in the world.
It is over 3 football fields long and only 6 feet wide at it's narrowest point.

       Delicate arch is reached by a steep uphill trail.
       It is sometimes compared to a pair of cowboy chaps...
       or maybe women's bloomers! lol

As we rest by Mesa arch, we think about our next trip to Yellowstone.