Its almost as if we stand still now and this amazing landscape moves beneath us, showing us new vistas and marvels every day. Its hard to believe coming from Australia that there could be so much to see in such a relatively small area... mesa verde, monument valley, natural bridges, arches national park and now onto the poetically named "Island in the Sky" in the canyonlands National Park.
All these places are similar... Yes its just rock we're looking at mostly, and yes its just red mostly... yet from point to point on the map, with each park we progress through this red and this rock is put together in so many variations that its almost every material of every colour, built in the most grand fashion that the eye can hardly take it in on viewing, we constantly have to remind ourselves that what we're seeing is *real*, its here in front of us.. 
if I could brave the miles, if my feet could leave this viewpoint or this roadside stop and step onwards into that red wonderland I could, if I wanted just walk on out into into vastness before me and never stop.
Unless that is, its Canyonlands that happens to lie before me, the Island in the Sky. It would take a great deal of stupidity to venture out into that vista, firstly the incredible drop would surely kill you, and if not, then the untouched, winding morass of ragged ravines, crevasses and dusty rubble filled washed would turn any soul brave enough to venture in hopelessly around like Theseus with no string...
Theres not much walking to be done here unless you're very fit and very adventurous... much to the girls delight as we viewed a lot of this incredible world from the cool confines of the car... and even I had to admit that this was not the kind of place to strike out on some foolhardy trip from an unknown trailhead, this is harsh and very hot land.
Yet looking out upon it from the grand view brought a kind of peace that more than made up for the lack of physical activity. You can see so far, you can see so much, and of such variety and wonder that its very heartening to know its there... that such places exist - even here in America and its overpopulated National Parks, this is one place where far less than 1% of visitors get into the heart of. And yes, we didn't get near the heart of this wilderness on our visit, but from that vantage point we could glimpse it, imagine it and carry it away with us so that when we're back in some office or classroom back in Australia we can remember it and recall that wonder and peace we felt as we looked upon it for real, the soft wind sighing through the gaps in the rock, the heat shimmering on the plains below and the 99% of other visitors who were experiencing it with us.
