Friday, 9/22/17

Left our Mesa Verde around 9:30 AM, stopped in nearby Cortez for groceries, gas, and a second cup of coffee and headed north, about 150 miles to the southern entrance to Canyonlands National Park, which is near Moab, Utah. 

Along the way, we stopped in Monticello, Utah, buying some sandwiches for a picnic lunch at “newspaper rock”, the site of 2000 year old petroglyphs.  The “rock” was right along the road, with a small National Forest rest area providing toilets and parking for the the curious.  Just as we arrived here, it started to rain, so we ate inside our van, but the rain stopped so we were able to enjoy these remarkable wall sketches in sunshine.

The last 30 miles of our drive into the park were incredible.  We kept asking ourselves how beautiful could the park be, if these multi colored canyons were so amazing, but once we arrived in the park , we were not disappointed.  Our photos speak for themselves.

Leaving the southern part of Canyonlands, we had another 90 mile drive through the bustling town of Moab, and eventually finding a campground not too far outside the entrance to the northern part of Canyonlands.  We did not have a reservation, so finding a vacant campsite was a challenge, since this is such a popular area, but eventually we found an empty group site with spectacular views called “Lone Mesa” campground.  As we set up our site, a German family in a huge rental RV pulled up and asked if we would share our spot.  We happily said, “yes”.