Saturday, February 18, 2023 was our final afternoon of adventure on our return trip to Moab, and Sean and I spent it having a look at a few last views from the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands National Park and from Dead Horse Point State Park. It had been a huge trip, even if, because of the weather, we had done significantly less hiking than we’d initially thought we would. But seeking alternatives to hiking led to our exploring further afield. Without the snowstorm, we probably would not have ended up at Natural Bridges or Bears Ears. It was yet another example of unexpected conditions in the National Parks leading to remarkable experiences.

After our late morning hike, we drove over to Buck Canyon Overlook on Island in the Sky’s east side. The views were similar to what we’d seen six days earlier at White Rim Overlook, only much snowier now.

There were a bunch of college-aged kids at the overlook. Some of whom were climbing up on rocks above sheer, thousand-foot drop offs. Others were climbing over the log fence to the drop off side to take photos.

Sean and I stood off to the side with another couple, watching these shenanigans with concern. Finally the woman of the couple we were with said that she couldn’t watch them anymore, that it made her too nervous. So they left.

Shortly afterward, thankfully, the kids left too.

We weren’t totally sure where to go next. There were a few mesa-top trails, Whale Rock or Aztec Butte, that offered possibilities. But as we drove past them, their parking areas were completely full. The woman at Sweet Cravings who had warned us it might be busy because of some sort of canceled race had been right.

So we stopped for a few more photos as we headed back toward the Visitor Center.

We lingered for a bit at Shafer Canyon Overlook, gawking at the terrifying dirt road that snaked its way up a practically sheer cliff face from the White Rim. From where we were standing, the road heads east until it becomes Potash Road on the north bank of the Colorado River outside of Moab. We had explored the Rock Art and dinosaur footprints along that section of the road several days earlier.

Just looking at the road made me feel woozy.

With the snow and ice, the road was definitely closed that day.

From the overlook, we drove the short distance to the Visitor Center to use the facilities and have one more look around.

While we were there, we overheard the Park Rangers talking about how the combination of snow icy conditions with an unusual number of people in Moab for a February weekend—who now had nothing to do because of the event cancelation—was causing a bit of a mess in both Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.

At Arches, the trail to Delicate Arch was a snowy, icy mess with people slipping and needing assistance.

And although Shafer Canyon Road was closed within Canyonlands National Park (and rightly so), the Bureau of Land Management doesn’t close its portion of the road and someone had already had to be rescued that day.

We said goodbye to Canyonlands National Park and drove over to Dead Horse Point State Park, east of the Island in the Sky. Before checking out the Visitor Center, we ate our sandwiches in the Jeep.

Off to the east, we had clear views of the eerie TexasGulf potash ponds between the park and Moab. They were a reminder of the extractive industries that threaten all of the area’s Parks and public lands. And the planet.

The Visitor Center area was fairly chaotic. Boys throwing snowballs on the edge of the cliff, people taking selfies with their dogs, girls running down the road into oncoming traffic.

“This place is sinister,” Sean declared. He did not like Dead Horse Point State Park one bit.

We drove out across a hair-raising neck with drop offs on both sides to the actual Dead Horse Point to see the views.

The Colorado River was much more visible here as it wound closer to the mesa.

Across the Colorado, we were staring into the northernmost part of Bears Ears National Monument.

People were walking and running along the path at the top of the cliffs. There was also a wedding party having their formal photos taken.

From here we could look west at the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands.

We could also contemplate terrifying Shafer Canyon Road from a different angle.

By a quarter past three, we were in the Jeep heading back toward Moab.

We did make one more stop on the way back, though, outside of the Parks: La Sal Mountain Viewpoint, with sweeping views of the region north and east of Canyonlands National Park and into Arches National Park.

That evening as we packed and finished up eating our leftovers, Sean was feeling increasingly poorly. He would end up getting full-blown sick, unfortunately.

Next morning, Sunday, February 19, 2023, we were up and on the road before sunrise, heading back across the Wasatch Range to Salt Lake City for our flight home.

And when we got home, Elsa was very happy to see us.