Without denying these riders their hard-earned bragging rights, Canyonlands is best appreciated at a slower, more reflective pace. A wild and desolate place that defies adequate description, this rugged country is magnificent and stunning. An uncompromising landscape summoned directly from the imagination of God, this is the kind of country that can turn heathens into believers. Peering out from the edge of high canyon rims, it's possible to see a hundred miles across jagged canyon walls and distant mesas without detecting a single trace of humankind. Echoes from frequent rock falls reverberate through the chasms and bounce off the vertical walls of mile-long red rock cliffs.
Huge cracks permeate the fragmented edges of high cliffs.
Occasionally, sections of these cliffs succumb to the forces of gravity and fall to the ground in what must be magnificent explosions of shattering rocks and flying debris. Desert bighorn sheep reside in this country and, with luck and a sharp eye, can sometimes be spotted in the groves of pinyon and juniper that dot the landscape. Worn down on both sides by the Colorado and Green rivers, Island in the Sky is a huge triangle of mesas, canyons and pinnacles. The author pedals through the outstretched expanses of the trail. Sitting atop a slightly harder and erosion-resistant layer of white sandstone, the White Rim Trail is relatively flat and solid.