I feel so lucky to be able to run down here so often. I love the desert. I love how it looks, the familiar colors of the sandstone and the dotted palette of green on red. I love how it smells— sage and juniper and sand. I love seeing lizards sunning themselves on rocks and hearing desert birds singing in the trees and plants. I love how water and wind has cut through rock in the most spectacular and interesting ways, carving out hidden places to explore. I love how the vegetation around the rivers are so green and lush. Life can survive in really beautiful ways in some of the harshest environments, and springtime in this place is just pure magic.
I finally visited Canyonlands National Park. That place is definitely underrated, but that’s fine. The Grand Canyon and Arches can keep all the crowds 😜 Canyonlands is jaw dropping and the views are ridiculously good. There’s so much protected land, which is good because you can see the mining scars left from 50+ years ago from a lot of the viewpoints. I also didn’t know how many backpacking trails there are down there! Looks really exposed and intimidating, but I can’t wait to go back.
Also…go visit Island in the Sky. It really does feel like you’re on an Island in the Sky. It’s the perfect name for a spectacular place.
