Canyonlands

We did our 13th (and final of the trip) visit to a national park yesterday at Canyonlands.  Canyonlands is near Arches, and the terrain is like a combination of that park and the Grand Canyon.  It is the park that recently received some fame when the hiker Aron Ralston amputated his own arm to escape from a crevice he had become trapped in. 

There is no canyon like the Grand Canyon, but the ones in Canyonland are still pretty grand.  We got a fairly early start, but the day was hotter than on our trip to Arches.  There were also clouds of annoying little bugs.  They didn't bite, but they were a nuisance nonetheless.  We hiked the rim of one of the major canyons and a trail to "Upheaval Rock" -- an interesting ancient crater that may have been formed millions of years ago by a meteor or shifting salt deposits.  We decided that the bugs and heat would be too much after lunch, so we packed up and headed for Grand Junction, CO.  There was nothing in particular in Grand Junction that we wanted to see.  It was just the first good-size city on our route through Colorado.  We arrived fairly early in the afternoon and resupplied at the Walmart Supercenter.  We had dinner at the kids' favorite, Golden Corral.  Then Natalie and I saw another movie (Bad Teacher), and we made camp at the local KOA.