5th Stop - Canyonlands National Park

4/2/09

After my drive through Arches, and a quick stop to set up camp at Dead Horse Point State Park, Olympia and I ventured into Canyonlands National Park. I hoped to catch sunset at one of the many overlooks. The late afternoon sun made the spring growth glow with color and light. And I saw many opportunities for hiking at a later date. We parked at an overlook and had dinner in the back of the car. Cold wind blasted us every now and then - and to think, earlier in the day I had contemplated putting on my shorts.

There is a certain beauty in the desert. I had fallen in love with it a few years earlier on my first trip here. It's almost a sense of complex simplicity. The colors and textures of the land elicit both a tension in your sight and a calming presence in your soul. And then there's the ability to see for miles. In western Washington, trees get in the way of the views. That's one of the reasons I love hiking in the alpine zone - no trees. I love the trees, the green, the moisture of life. But the desert tugs my heart to a different view of life.