RHH's photos with the keyword: island in the sky

Aztec Butte is in Canyonlands National Park, Island in the Sky District. We spent only one morning in Canyonlands on our recent trip, watching the sunrise at Shafer Canyon Overlook and Mesa Arch and hiking at Grandview Point. The photo was taken in the morning after hiking the short trail to Mesa Arch.

Taken at Shafer Canyon Overlook in Canyonlands National Park where we stopped to take photos on our way to Mesa Arch for the sunrise. We had car-camped just outside the park the night before and had an early start next morning. Shafer Canyon is in the north part of Canyonlands, the Island in the Sky District.

We are at a guest house in Blanding, Utah, and here is a photo from our trip. We spent yesterday morning in Canyonlands and did the short hike to Mesa Arch at sunrise. It was spectacular with the La Sal Mountains in the distance and the canyon of the Colorado River below. We've been in Goblin Valley State Park, to Moonscape Overlook and Factory Butte, Arches National Park and the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park. We are headed for Monument Valley today and Antelope Canyon tomorrow and then to Death Valley for a week.

Taken in the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park.

Taken from Grandview Point in the Island of the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park.

Green River Overlook is at the end of the main road in the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

Taken along the Upheaval Dome Road in the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park in Utah.

As I mentioned in my last posts, we celebrated our 48th anniversary this past Sunday. Here we are in Canyonlands National Park camped at Murphy Point after backpacking in earlier in the day, We are wondering whether the storms moving through the area were going to affect our plans to sleep under the stars, since our daughter, who took the photo, had the tent. We had a few drops of rain, but mostly wind and survived the night, though our sleeping bags were covered with sand when we awoke next morning.

Here is the view from Murphy Point in the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park. We were camped at the point in order to do some hiking the next day, but had to contend with wind, some rain and storms moving through the area.

When backpacking in Canyonlands National Park, the Island in the Sky District, this is where we spent the night. It was a windy night with some rain moving through and my wife and I slept under the stars, but we survived and did some hiking down into Murphy Basin the next day.

One of our hikes in the Island of the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park took us down this steep cliff. We dropped nearly 1000 feet (300 m) in less than a mile (1.5 km) and then, of course, when finished with our hike had to climb up again. The trail was the Murphy Trail which started on the mesa above and dropped down into Murphy Basin. The photo shows the area we descended though the trail is not itself visible.

The Murphy Trail, one of our hikes in Canyonlands National Park, descended this cliff alongside and sometimes on the smooth, water-worn area visible in the lower part of the photo. We had backpacked to Murphy Point on the rim and then hiked to another area of the rim and were beginning our descent when I took this photo.

Photographed along the Slickrock trail in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, these wildflowers are Desert Indian Paintbrush and Navajo Tea.

These Desert Indian Paintbrush were photographed along the Slickrock trail in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.

After picking up our daughter in Salt Lake City, we traveled to the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park, found a campsite, set up camp, had our evening meal and then went out to some of the viewpoints. We also hiked the short trail to Mesa Arch and watched the sunset there. The mountains in the distance are the La Sal Mountains on the Colorado border.

The mountains in the background are the La Sal Mountains on the Colorado border. The photo was taken from the Shafer Canyon overlook in the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park.

This was the view from our campsite in the Island of the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park. We had backpacked in to Murphy Point and day-hiked down to the basin below. That was another grueling descent of 1600 feet (488 m) over one mile (1.6 km). Back up was even more difficult! We had a lot of wind during the night, though very little rain, and my wife and I, sleeping under the stars (our daughter had the tent) were covered with dust in the morning.

Last summer we visited Canyonlands National Park in Utah and loved it. We will going back in a little over a month and staying longer. We'll be hiking and backbacking there with our oldest daughter.