continuing our tour of the parks

We stuck with the early bird schedule on Sunday as well, out the door at 8 a.m. to go to Dead Horse Point State Park.  H's folks commandeered a picnic spot not far from the overlook pavilion while H and I did an 11.4 mile MTB ride around the Big Chief loop of the Intrepid trails.  We saw practically no one, although a new overflow parking lot near the first set of yurts does seem to send riders clockwise on that loop - whereas the MTBers coming from the main parking lot tend to go counter-clockwise.  Once I remembered to look ahead (and not at my front wheel), I felt like I was riding pretty well.

Gorgeous day up at DHPSP

Next stop was Canyonlands National Park.   We actually had to wait in line at the entrance station to get in!  It was only for about five minutes, and there were only ten cars ahead of us, but I think that's the first time we've had to queue up for Canyonlands.  Dang tourists!  We headed out to the Grand View Overlook, and had to park at the Orange Cliffs view lot and walk down down to the overlook.  The view was indeed grand - and quite a bit more visible than when we had been there last.  We watched the ravens doing their barrel rolls for a while, then continued on our tour, stopping to peek over the edge at the Gooseberry trail so H's parents could see what hikes we like to do.

Viewing the grand view

Back in town, we hit Walker Drug for various supplies, then Twisted Jeeps to reserve a jeep for Monday.  And then, to continue our tradition of taking H's parents to dive bars, we stopped by Woody's Tavern for beers and margaritas.  It was Cinco de Mayo, after all.