Thursday and Canyonlands NP

I always thought that driving motorcycles required a certain amount of dexterity and control.  Apparently, I was wrong: check out the handicap sticker in the windshield.

Some of our bikers went biking while the rest of us headed for Canyonlands National Park. All the pictures that follow were made there.

Here's just one of many stone trails that always seem to lead up...

Some vistas are just beyond words: this one has to have a 1000' drop.  Check out the 'Jeep' trails on the left and right side of the picture. I'm not sure I would try the trail on the right.

At the top of many mountains are these mesas, relatively flat areas of rock and little vegetation. As you get further away from the canyon itself, vegetation like scrub bush and grasses grow and look quite similar to our Saskatchewan prairies.  It would be hard to imagine these colossal canyons anywhere near some of these prairie-like places.

Stunning vista yet again.  No matter how many times you see one, the first word is WOW.

Next are three clowns on the top of a very high peak.

These best  buds are much more picture worthy...

Here are two Raven that seem to love the desert life.  You can often see these very large bird picking off dead bugs off the fronts of cars where they park at the pull-offs.

This centre stone of a different colour was apparently caused by a salt upheaval underneath. This stone just rose in the middle of these canyons to quite a height, complete with its own dry moat.

Blair pointed out this struggling tree where you can actually see light between the trunk and the root system.

The dark zig zag on the valley floor is caused by the chiselling of stone by the Green River, which you can just see in the third picture. Look for reflections...

At another vista point was this great display of hoodoos.

The dead trunks and root systems of pine and juniper bushes are used here to make a pretty effective fence.

Wednesday & this and that in Moab

Wednesday, the guys went on a 6 hour ride in the La Sal Mountain Range. This first picture contains a small portion of the mountain range.

After they were dropped off, I had hours to find things to photograph. The temperature in the mountains were much cooler [mid 50's F] and I never walked very far from the car.

Next is a field of wild iris, about a week past prime but still impressive.

The Aspen grove below is just one of many in this mountain forest.

Flowers and plants of all kinds seem to grow well in this protect forest.

Here's a very small chipmunk gnashing on a yellow flower.

The local wild rose.

The dirt roads had serious washboard issues.

There were also cattle on the loose on the roads I travelled.  This little one didn't know whether to move forward or backward or just cross the road again.

Its branding marks still looked painful and quite over the top.

This bird  had a bright blue under its wings, I'll have to check it out later.

There were many small waterfalls in the forest, just miles away from the stone dry desert.

This little bird was signing just for me...

Dandelions grow here too....

Thos dirty white patches in the background are snow!  Yes, at the end
 June!

There are vultures and Ravens almost everywhere.

And even the occasional deer.  We had one of these guys just behind our hot tub, but I digress...

I was slightly early at the pick-up point, in time to see the early group arrive.  This is Rory,

and Lincoln.

After a half hour wait, the last three showed up: it seems Phillip had not one but three flat tires...

Here are Phillip,

Ian,

and Blair.

All in all, another successful day in Moab.