My husband and I arrived in Canyonlands National Park mid-afternoon on a cloudy, rainy day. We were disappointed to discover that the promised endless vistas from the top of the Island in the Sky area were almost completely obscured by the low-hanging clouds and soft rain. We drove from viewpoint to viewpoint and could occasionally see some of the canyons below, but the colors were very muted. The only patches of brightness were the profusion of desert wildflowers along the road brought to full bloom by the wet weather of the past week.
We drove to the end of the road and pulled into the mostly empty parking lot at Grand View Point. I grabbed my umbrella and camera and went to peer into the clouds at the edge. The trailhead for the walk along the edge of the mesa is nearby. My husband convinced me to start down the trail for at least a little while to see if there was anything worth seeing. I reluctantly joined him.
The trail is an easy, level walk marked by stone cairns, about 1 mile long. I’m not the least bit afraid of heights, but without any guardrails, this trail can conjure up images of what would happen if somehow one tripped on a loose rock near the edge - it’s a long way down! This feeling was intensified by the mist that would roll in and out, sometimes completely obscuring all but a few feet around us. Gradually, though, the rain stopped, the sky started to lighten, and the clouds began to part below us. Shafts of sunlight would illuminate far-off canyons, and I began to shoot more and more photos. The colors really became vivid in the late afternoon sun as it sunk below the clouds. Small clouds stubbornly hung on to lower mesas, really intensifying the scene. As I suspected would happen, a partial rainbow began to become visible in the distance. Even the far-off snow-capped mountains withdrew from the grayness, completing the scene of awesome beauty.
We will absolutely return to Canyonlands to explore much more of the park. Chances are that we will experience the typical hot, sunny climate on future visits, so I will cherish the different view we had of the park on this day.