Days 78–79: The Canyonlands Adventures
Day 78: Saturday. Canyonlands Day 1: The Needles. Hannah and I left relatively early today to head to the Needles district of Canyonlands (there’s three — Needles, Island in the Sky, and the Maze). The drive down was nice, passing by the route we took to the Abajo La Sals a few weeks ago, but this time going farther into the desert, through Indian Creek (a great climbing spot which I may be talking about later…). The hike we decided on was a 6 mile round trip hike to Chesler Park, with an extra mile(ish) into the park loop before turning around. The hike was super neat! We walked over mushroom top rock formations and into the actual needles which give the district its name. At the end of the 3 miles in there was an overlook point which had stunning views!
We tried seeing how the loop around Chesler Park was, but soon ran into too much water on the trail to want to continue. Instead we ate our lunch and talked about how we’d like to learn more geology of the area before heading back. There’s a nice spot about half way through which is totally protected from the sun, making it about 15 degrees cooler than the rest of the exposed trail. Naturally, that was our favorite part. There were also oodles of “potholes,” small dips in the rock that fill up with water. Some larger ones can sustain life, so we checked many of them without success. But it was still neat to see them, considering they’re often dry.
Heading back we decided to stop at Cave Springs, an old cowboy outpost which Vince had talked about so much that we felt we needed to go see. At the start of the mile hike was a sectioned off area with actual cabinets and tables that ranchers used way back when (1800s). A little farther was a natural spring in the rock — a very small trickle of fresh water came out of a crack in a rock underneath an overhang. Not enough to drink from any time soon, but it allowed for a lot of plant life in that area of rock. The rest was just playing around on ladders and rocks, which I’m always down for. After a decent hike and a pre-planned early morning for the next day, we had a quiet night watching The Americans (such a great show).
Day 79: Sunday. Canyonlands Day 2: Island in the Sky. If you haven’t guessed yet, the second day of our Canyonlands adventures took place in the Island in the Sky district. This time, we set out early to watch the sunrise at Mesa Arch — known for its amazing sunrise views. It’s become a popular place for amateur photographers to go and capture the sunrise, so by the time we arrived there were already at least 30 people. After we had set up camp, another tour bus full of people arrived, making for a very crowded viewing. But it was very much worth it. The sun rose behind the La Sals, and you could see it through the arch.
We did a couple shorter stops as well. Most of the longer hikes here involve hiking down into the canyons, which we didn’t want to do because that meant you had to come back up (they’re also long hikes — most are over 10 miles). First was White Rim Overlook, from which we were able to make out Needles. We also did a 4 mile round trip hike to Murphy Point, which had a beautiful view of the surrounding lands.
Such an early day means that I go to bed early. Especially because I need to be well rested for the last week of camp!