The 40 mile detour I'll never regret

Travelling down US191 towards Canyonlands National Park, my eye was drawn to a sign labelled 'Needles Overlook'. The Needles are one of Canyonlands most famous areas, stuffed with fins and spires, so I thought it would be worth a look. When I turned off at the indicated point, I was met with a sign saying Needles Overlook, 20 miles. No prizes for figuring out that's a 40 mile detour there and back...

The long way to Moab

One of those occasions when turning the sat nav off (I never tire of shouting at sat nav lady that it's 'calculating root' not 'calculating rowt') and following my nose proved inspired. I should have just sat on US50/I70 freeways and pointed West. Instead I took the long way round, travelling down US141 through a small place called Gateway, then heading across the Paradox Valley into Utah.

From mountains to red rocks

Leaving the high mountains behind after my long trip up the Million Dollar Highway, I arrived in Grand Junction to a different world. The temperature difference was massive for starters. From the air-conditioned comfort of my car I had no idea how hot it was until I got out to get some fuel (body + car). Even late evening when I arrived the heat just hit me like a wall. With no nice shady spots or lakes to hobo camp out in I caved and booked into a motel with air con.

What 2000 feet straight down looks like

Day 3 finds me teetering around the edges of the deepest/narrowest canyon in North America. Black Canyon National Park is just east of Montrose in Colorado. It's hard for the eyes to get a handle on just how far down the floor of the canyon is. At it's deepest it's 2000 feet down. How deep is that? You could get get the Empire State building in and still have 500 feet of headroom....

More Photos on Flickr here