Started in: Moab, UT
Ended in: Canyonlands National Park, UT
Total Distance: Hiking: 1.5 miles, Driving: 45 miles
The slow leak in the tire was due to a small nail. We took it in to get a patch and we were off to the races. Canyonlands is really beautiful and has just vast landscapes. The night got exciting because of a near storm (there were three flashes of lightning and we were waiting for the fourth as a sign to go to the car, but it never came) that ran in the evening. The campers next to us seemingly evacuated in the middle of the night, possibly due to the lack of a rain fly.
Other than that, the oppressive heat--103 today--really made it hard to want to do anything. We set up our tent in the one campground in the Island in the Sky side of Canyonlands.
We went on one hike near sunset, Whale Rock, which was all of a mile. We quickly realized there was exactly one other pair of hikers on the trail, a child and his dad. We had a lovely talk with the dad--a special ed teacher--over rounds of "Can you take our picture?" as the sun was lowering in the background. Funnily enough, he was returning to Fort Worth through Albuquerque and was looking for tips having just come from Colorado, our next destination.