Canyonlands' Needles

Our campsite on Lockhart Rd with a view of Six-shooter Peak

After Bluff, we make a fuzzy plan to head north through Moab to I-70, then west for a few miles and back south down Highway 24 to Highway 95 to view Natural Bridge National Monument and the Valley of the Gods.  It's basically a loop from Bluff that will bring us almost full-circle.

Our first stop is Canyonlands National Park, the Needles District.  There are three districts in Canyonlands: the Needles in the southeast which is not as heavily visited because of its distance from the highway and it's one road in and out; the Maze in the southwest which is even less visited because it has only 4-wheel drive roads and hiking trails in it; and Island in the Sky in the north and the most popular district.  These three districts are naturally divided by the Green and the Colorado Rivers which meet within the park and divide it like a pie into the three sections.  One district is not accessible from any of the others, so you have to drive in, have your visit, and drive back out and around to the next district.  However, Canyonlands is a beautiful park.  We were here in 2009 for a one-day visit and managed only to drive the scenic road through the Needles District.  This time, we will hike the trails and spend more time soaking in the spectacular views in at least the Needles and Island in the Sky districts.

Because we are somewhat remote where we camp, we let Grady out of the trailer for walks.  However, one day he chases something out from under the shrub next to our trailer.  I see it out of the corner of my eye and realize it's a small snake!  I grab Grady, who tries to outrun me by circling the tiny plant the snake has coiled up in the middle of, and I hear a rattle!  Yikes!  The stupid cat wants a rattlesnake.  I manage to grab Grady and put him in the trailer.  The snake is only about 8 inches long and as big around as my finger.  We later learn from a park range that it's a Midget Faded Rattlesnake and definitely poisonous; would likely have killed the cat because of Grady's size and the amount of venom injected.  It would only make us sick.

Grady's Midget Faded Rattlesnake

Climbers are popular in Canyonlands because there are so many vertical ridges and mesas.  These are a very dark reddish-brown and usually covered in "varnish" - a dark staining from high concentrations of iron oxide in water runoff.  In this varnished rock, you often can find petroglyphs which are ancient drawings and symbols chiseled into the rock.  Pictographs are wall paintings and can also be seen here.  Like much of the southwest, nomadic groups of hunter-gatherers inhabited these areas from 8,000 BC to 500 BC.  About 2,000 years ago, people began to farm crops and keep livestock.  They are known as the ancestral Puebloan (formerly Anasazi) and Fremont people.  They lived here from about 900 AD to 1,200 AD.  These are the people who built the dwellings and ruins we see on cliff walls.  It is not known why they left; it is thought that persistent drought was the cause. In more recent years, ranchers used this parched, unforgiving land to graze cattle and their evidence is everywhere.  Many horses and cows are still here today.  Some areas also experienced mining booms (and busts).  But everywhere, there is history - cultural and natural.

Marilyn overlooking the Needles

The Needles District is full of rock formations called - surprisingly - needles.  They are formed in the red and white striped sandstone by water and wind erosion.  There are several long hikes here in excess of 8 miles.  Brad and I max out at about a 7 mile hike, especially if there is a big elevation change.  Remember, if you go down into a canyon, you have to come back up; and vice-versa!  After a long chat with the ranger at the Visitors Center, we decide to take two hikes (on different days): Chesler Park Viewpoint (6 miles) and Squaw Canyon/Big Spring Canyon loop (8 miles).

How does a rock balance like that!?!

The Squaw Canyon trail meets Big Spring Canyon trail about 1/2 way around the loop.  Even though this trail is long (7.8 miles), we decide to tough it out!  The hike through the two canyons is pretty, but not spectacular.  However, in the very middle of the hike, to get from one canyon to the other, we have to scale up the "slickrock" (smooth sandstone which is very grippy and easy to scale) and cross the ridge between the two canyons.  The elevation rise to get over this ridge is probably about 400 feet.  We scramble up a dry water run-off (it looks more like a smooth, slow water slide), and the view from the top is magnificent.  We can see "Six Shooter Peak in the far distance, which we also have a great view of from our trailer.  It's a huge triangle of rubble with six spires on top of it at an elevation of over 6,000 feet.  The desert floor is about 5,000 feet.  Here at the top of the ridge, the rock is dark red with stripes of white and orange below.  These stripes represent the numerous times (apparently 30) that ancient seas have covered this landscape and receded, leaving behind mud or sand deposits which compact into stone with their own weight over millions of years.  But now we have to descend.  The description of this trail follows: "The route between the canyons climbs steep grades that are dangerous when wet and may make people with a fear of heights uncomfortable."  Uh - yeah!  Fortunately, it is neither wet, nor are we afraid of heights, but walking on such steeply sloped rock is terrifying, and the drop is far to the canyon below.  No railings, no cables to hold onto - nothing!  But we survive and actually feel exhilarated.  We did it!  Walking through Big Spring Canyon is prettier than Squaw Canyon, but by mile 6 I just want to be back at the parking lot!  The entire hike takes us almost 6 hours, although we stopped along the way for lunch.  AND, right before this hike we took a short 1-mile hike just after sunrise to get the best photos of the Needles.  So it's been a long day and we've tallied almost 9 miles of hiking - beyond my limit!

Taking a break before climbing up near the peak to cross this ridge

This is steeper than it looks and quite scary!  Called "slickrock"

Red rock formations in Chesler Park

Ahh, Chesler Park.  It's "only" a 6-mile round trip hike with fantastic views of the Needles and Elephant Canyon throughout the entire trek.  There are a few spots where we hike through a narrow split between two humongous rocks just barely wide enough for our shoulders.  we look up about 100 feet to the full height of these rock walls.  Wow!  There is also a lot of scrambling up and down water runoffs, some of which are smooth slickrock and others are thin layers of red clay hardened into rock at a 45 degree angle.  To get to the Chesler Park Overlook we have to hike up and between two needle formations through a steep pass where the wind just whistles through.  At the top, we see the expanse of a valley surrounded the red and orange sandstone needles and spires eroded at different levels.  Some are still tall and others have eroded almost to the ground.  Even the sand here is dark pink because the rock is such a dark red colour.  Such beauty and solitude, although we see a lot of people on this hike today.  It is probably a more popular hike because the scenery is so incredible.  There are also several backcountry campsites out here and we see people at them.  All water has to be carried in - I have trouble carrying the weight of enough water for just me for a few hours.  Some of these guys are carrying 60 pounds of gear!  I prefer my tricked-out trailer!

Brad in a crevice along the Chesler Park Overlook trail

Marilyn in a water runoff on the Chesler Park Overlook trail

Our view for our picnic lunch near Chesler Park

Returning from Chesler Park, the trail climbs through a narrow pass

For the Needles District of Canyonlands, I highly recommend the Chesler Park trail from the Elephant Hill parking lot.  Elephant Hill is a-whole-nother ball game.  This 4-wheel drive road requires a permit and a beefed-up, special 4-wheel drive, high clearance vehicle, as well as a driver with lots of technical experience driving in these conditions.  Some sections require you to go up a steep incline by driving forward, then backing up the next section, then forward, then backwards, because full turns are impossible.  No thanks.  But it's supposed to be quite the adventure!

Next, we'll head to the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands to the north.  Tomorrow - stock up on supplies in Moab.

No Bluffing!

We spend a day shopping, doing laundry and getting the oil in our truck changed in the town of Durango, Colorado which is in the southwest corner of the state only a few miles from the New Mexico border (New Mexico the state, not Mexico the country).  To get to Durango from the Great Sand Dunes National Park, we take highway 160 west, which winds us through the San Juan National Forest.  There is a scenic overlook at a series of steep switchbacks, and we stop for a view of the aspens in full fall colour and the valley below.  What an unbelievable sight this is.  In the Great Sand Dunes National Park, the aspens are finished for the season, having peaked almost two weeks ago.  Here they are late, perhaps because we are at a lower elevation.  I would never tire of seeing these brilliant trees.  Farewell Colorful Colorado!

Colourful Colorado!  The aspens are in full colour in the San Juan Mountains

From Colorado, we head south into New Mexico, but after an hour of driving change our minds and decide to go to southern Utah instead where we know the elevation is much lower (for my migraines because the interesting parts of Northern New Mexico are still in the Rocky Mountains).  Our route from Durango, CO takes us in a semi-circle, south to New Mexico, then west to Arizona and north again to Utah, but it is a nice drive just the same and only a few hours.  We have been to southern Utah twice and loved it both times.  Our original plan is to go to Gooseneck State Park, a cliff which overlooks the San Juan River where it meanders through a canyon, but we detour slightly into the town of Bluff for fuel first.

We spot a Visitors Center and decide to drop in.  This turns out to be the best Visitor/Tourist Information Center we have ever been in.  The woman staffing the center tells us about some great hikes just off the highway a few miles outside of town, but she also gets us to watch a 20 minute film about the settlement of the town of Bluff.  In 1880, Mormon settlers from Cedar City, Utah were "called" by their church to establish a colony on uncharted land southeast of the Colorado River.  There were previously two routes to this area, one to the south into Arizona, and one circling to the north.  Both routes were considered much too long, and the settlers attempted a new, more direct route due east through the then established towns of Panguitch and Escalante.  The video, which our host stopped periodically to narrate being a descendant of these Mormon settlers, depicted how the settlers built roads in the rock crevice big enough to fit their wagons through.  At one location, referred to as "Hole in the Rock", they literally created a narrow trough that descended into the canyon below; this pass now lies beneath Lake Powell because of dams.  A blind team of horses had to make the first two trips down because the other horses would not make the steep descent; but these horses finally followed the blind team!

Their hardships were many - food supplies, weather and the brutal landscape which ranges from slippery clay when wet to hard rock with deep crevices and steep canyons and gullies.  Finally, after six months (!!!) they reached their destination of land situated between the San Juan River and a high bluff; hence the name of the town, Bluff.  Two hundred and fifty settlers made the journey and not one person died during the journey; in fact two babies were born.  The average age of the group was 18 years old!  The livestock and the people were exhausted; although some returned to Cedar City and others continued further on.  It is an amazing tale made all the more special by our host who knew many personal stories of the strife that beset these brave adventurers.

Driving through Comb Wash

Along Comb Wash Road

We decide to stay a few days here near Bluff and find BLM land beside Comb Wash where we can camp.  We drive four miles along the creek at the foot of Comb Ridge on a sand/dirt road, park at the fork where the road goes to the river, and hike the rest of the way not wanting to take the truck up a steep, rugged, rocky incline.  Thanks to a map from the Visitors Center, we find the "Rincone" (Spanish for corner), an old trading post from the early 1880s beside the San Juan River.  Only a portion of the stone wall of the milk house and remnants of the water wheel structure remain.  Today, the river is much lower and does not reach where the water wheel would have been.

He looks like a leopard lizard!

Rafters on the San Juan River at the "Rincone"

We sit on a rock-ledge overhang above the San Juan River as four rafts full of supplies and rafters make their way past us.  They are on day 2 of a multi-day journey from the Sand Island BLM Campground to Clay Hill, some 50 miles.  We chat back and forth while they drift past us; this would be a peaceful way to see the views along the river, except I'd never last a week sitting in a raft, nor could I camp out along the river without my luxury trailer conveniences.

We continue along the hike and soon come across cliff dwellings.  A sign tells us that they were inhabited by Pueblo farmers between AD 900 and 1200.  They are in remarkably good shape, with many rooms still intact.  I am amazed that we are allowed to wander among them without any Ranger supervision like at Mesa Verde in Colorado (where we did not go) or the Gila Cliff Dwellings in New Mexico (where we did go two years ago). 

Ancient cliff dwelling

About 3/4 of a mile further down the road, we are told there are hundreds of petroglyphs carved into the varnish on the sandstone wall face.  Unfortunately, others in more recent years have carved their names, initials and dates into the rock also, but the original artwork still stands out.  We can identify many animals - snakes, lizards, dogs or coyotes, and pronghorn antelope, as well as people, some in ceremonial head-dresses and jewelery.  What an historical find!  We wonder what stories they are supposed to tell.

Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs in Butler Wash

We also hike Butler Wash on the east side of Comb Ridge.  Fortunately, this requires a short drive on a fairly decent dirt road and a short hike down into the wash.  There are many petroglyphs on the cliff walls beside an overhang area that looks like it used to be an ancient dwelling.  From the top of the ridge, we can see Pueblo ruins on the other side of the wash.  They are in pretty good shape.  On another trail across the highway we hike down into the same wash and try to find the petroglyphs that the woman at the Visitors Center told us about, but it is a difficult walk scraping past shrubs, bushes and trees alongside the creek and we give up after about a 1/2 mile.  The hike down the red and yellow sandstone rock is amazing though as are the views.  Brad finds a tree branch that has carved grooves in the sandstone rock beside it while the tree is swaying in the wind.  That's pretty cool!

Erosion in motion