More Utah travels, September 2020 – Canyonlands - Island in the Sky; Arches NP; Canyonlands NP – The Needles; Deadhorse Point

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Canyonlands National Park – Island in the Sky

We are staying at the Canyonlands RV Park in Moab, other places we had hope to stay were already booked and this place is full too; fortunately I made reservations a few months ago.  It is a convenient location for Canyonlands – Island in the Sky, Dead Horse Point and Arches.  We visit each of them.  First we have to do laundry, find produce for the refrigerator and restock the dry ice.

There is some major road construction going on at the north end of Moab.  That along with a 30+ mile drive to Island in the Sky visitor center makes us decide to start our day at 4 AM.  Startled by the alarm, we are wondering who thought of this; then we spring into action; making coffee, brushing teeth, dressing, eating breakfast, checking camera equipment, then pack and go, not necessarily in that order.

Mesa Arch gang

No traffic going through the construction at – 545.  By the time we get to the Canyonlands turnoff only one vehicle is behind us.  Within a few miles several people are tailgating wishing I was doing more than the posted speed of 50.  A few miles later the first brave one passes us, then the rest follow and we are alone again.  Another five or so miles we come to the almost full parking lot for Mesa Arch.  One of my coworkers had been here a few years ago telling me how this is one of those spots one goes to for one of those iconic images.  Judging by the number of vehicles a lot of iconic images are going to be made this morning.  A short hike and we arrive.  We know where the iconic image is made, stacks of people are already there.  The sun hasn’t risen yet so people are still jovial.  The serious photographers are there with cameras on tripods, checking settings, making adjustments then checking settings again.  The next group of photographers have their cameras in hand, they are not quite as serious as the first group but still want a nice image.  They are followed by the phone photographers.  I jump in and out shooting an image, not optimum, but just to show what everybody is here to photograph.  I am just as interested in showing the click of photographers (click – the collective noun for a group of photographers) waiting for the sun to show up.  Nicida and I find our respective spots to collect our own iconic images and enjoy the unfolding scene.  Watching, I can feel the tension building as the sky brightens.  The ‘click’ is very quiet, except for their shutters.  The terrain opens up with brightening light.  It is spectacular.  We don’t know where to look, there is so much beauty.  After 15 minutes a number of the ‘click’ call it a day making room for others to make their iconic images.  We hang around for a while enjoying the views, the sun keeps opening up the shadows revealing more formations on the mesas and in the canyons.

View from Mesa Arch

Grand View
Point Overlook

Grand View Point Overlook is further down the road from Mesa Arch.  It has equally beautiful views.  The haze impedes the overall views so we have to use our imagination to fill in what we cannot see.  Close to the base of Island in the Sky we see a white ribbon, the White Rim Road, a 100 mile road looping around the base of the Island in the Sky.  One needs a 4WD vehicle and permit to take the road.  There are a number of campsites along the road and one has to register to stay.  At Shafer Canyon Overlook we see where the White Rim Road begins winding its way to the base of Island in the Sky.  We even see bicyclists making their way up and down the switchbacks.  Another route to explore on our next trip.

Shafer Canyon/
White Rim Road

Start of White Rim Road

Deadhorse Point

Colorado River from
Deadhorse Point

Leaving Canyonlands we stop at Dead Horse Point, our last stop on the mesa.  We have the same great views as from Island in the Sky.  We are perched over the Colorado River watching the river gooseneck around mesas on its way to meet with the Green River.

Arches National Park

Balanced Rock

Returning towards Moab we stop at Arches.  The last few times we saw lines of vehicles setting outside the visitor’s gate waiting to enter.  Not so this time.  We stop at the visitor center to get a lay of the land, pick up maps, then view a few of the sites, allowing us to plan for tomorrow.  We drive to Balanced Rock, about 10 miles into the park.  It looks impressive, but its size doesn’t hit home until we see someone standing beneath it.

After our introduction to Arches we head back to our campsite preparing for another 4AM wake up.  Our goal is to catch Delicate Arch at sunrise.

Three Gossips

Slickrock climb

4AM sure comes around early, especially two days in a row.  Today our road trip is not quite as long.  The parking lot at Wolfe Ranch, trailhead for Delicate Arch, is fairly full.  Looking back from the trail we see the line of cars heading for the parking lot getting longer.  A steep 200’+ slickrock climb greets us about halfway into the 1.5 mile one-way hike.  After that we skirt rocks trudging through loose sand.  Past that we hike on 5’ wide ledges with a wall on one side and steep drop-offs on the other before arriving at Delicate Arch.  There are already many people admiring the view.  There doesn’t seem to be an official place to view from so people are scattered all over the little amphitheater.  We admire the view, shoot, and admire some more.  While admiring I heard a ‘tink’; swiveling my head in that direction I see a plastic canister bounce on the slickrock; start rolling at an ever increasing pace – disappearing - over the edge…….  “What was that?” - “Your lens”….  I heard gasps, including mine, from the people that saw the events unfolding.  About an hour later we notice the couple working their way down the slickrock heading towards the missing lens.  We never could tell if they had found it.  We stay a while longer trying, really trying for some nice shots of the arch.  The problem is more people are constantly arriving.  Each one needing to pose with or on the arch.  We shake our heads heading back.

Delicate Arch

The parking lot is full, people are waiting for us to empty our parking spot, some asking if we are leaving before we even arrive at our camper.  We continue on further into the park, stopping where we can.  Skyline Arch is impressive, part of the arch collapsed in the 1940’s making the arch twice the size.  I didn’t appreciate the size until we got below the arch seeing the boulders setting where they landed.  We make it to the end of the road, Devil’s Garden.  We have to loop through the parking lot twice before finding a spot. We are tired from our morning hike so we are doing a truncated version of the eight mile trail.  We hike enough to see; Tunnel Arch, Pine Tree Arch, and Landscape Arch.  Afterward we take a break from the heat eating in the truck with the A/C running, it’s sunny and hot, mid 90’s.

Below Skyline
Arch

Skyline Arch

Landscape Arch

Double Arch

Our final expedition into Arches is visiting Garden of Eden, Parade of Elephants, Double Arch and a stop at Panorama Point.  We are happy with all we visited and are strongly considering returning.

Panorama Point

Garden of Eden

Returning home we pick up some Indian food.  It is very tasty but it seems a bit odd to be eating white, red and pink basmati rice.  We take an evening walk along main street Moab stopping in a few tourist shops and native American trading posts.

Canyonlands National Park – The Needles

Today we are on our way to the Needles portion of Canyonlands.  First – we need a cinnamon roll fix.  We have had cravings for a cinnamon roll for the past several days.  We are astounded when we stop at several bakery/coffee shops; there are no cinnamon rolls.  Donuts, coffee cakes and scones but no cinnamon rolls.  Finally we find one, we are content.

Newspaper Rock is on the way to the Needles.  It is a large rock face with over 650 petroglyphs etched into the rock.  The first petroglyphs, consisting of humans figures, animals and various symbols are over 2,000 years old.  A few miles further down the road, outside the Needles entrance, we find the BLM, ‘Superbowl’ campground.  There’s just a few campers, nice trees, open skies and quiet.  Our new home for the night.

Slickrock hiking trail

The Needles visitor center is quite small.  The ranger watching the door allows only four people in at a time.  After stamping our Passport books we quiz the ranger about hiking and off-road excursions within the park.  We receive a number of hiking suggestions.  After pointing out the truck camper we receive a strong suggestion to stay on the paved roads.  Off-roading here is for small wheelbase Jeeps and such, not big heavy truck campers.

Heading off to the slickrock trail we notice the air is clearer.  Rain clouds surround us  but are far away.  Shadows crawl across the formations making sunlit ones stand out against those in shadow.  This is the first real slickrock we will be hiking on for any distance.  While on the slickrock we quickly learn to spot the next cairn before moving on.  There are many formations, each in a different state of erosion.  The actual needles are quite some distance from us, we catch only glimpses of them.  In some areas it looks like random gashes were made on the tops of the slickrock.  Almost like the scoring made in Italian bread before it is baked.

Gashes in the slickrock

Back at our campsite we prepare for a quiet evening.  Our nights of Milky Way photos are finished for this trip, the moon is too bright.  Seeing a number of jets flying east, as we relax; we think of the rest of the world; hurrying to events, seeing loved ones, going home from work, going to work…  We wish them safe travels.

We are hiking part of the Squaw Flat Trail.  We got three different suggestions from three different rangers this morning.  We went with ranger #2’s suggestion.  The trail goes up and down a number of slickrock formations leading towards the Needles.  We set out with cooler temperatures although 90 degree temperatures are forecast by afternoon.  I have the Garmin along with a park map so we know which of the multiple trails to take.  Once on top of the formations the views are vast.  We get intimate views of the rocks when in the bottoms of the small canyons.  We are in a layer cake of rock, white above and red below.  We see swirls in the rock from when the sediment was laid down and when the surfaces eroded millions of years later.  This is a fun hike, it is not strenuous but it is a challenge finding our ways up and down the formations.  One last bonus on this hike is diverting to the other campground instead of the parking lot where we left the truck.  We climb up and over a high point giving us a commanding view of the area.  On the way down we use the cable set in concrete aiding and guiding us down the steep rock face.

All the trails we hiked here are well marked with cairns so we never feel like we wandered off-trail.  Our thanks goes out to the people that keep up these trails.

Wooden Shoe Arch

Wooden Shoe Arch

Leaving Canyonlands – the Needles, we make one more stop for a different viewpoint of Canyonlands.  We head to the Needles Overlook.  We head back north on the road between Monticello and Moab taking the marked turnoff continuing another 20+ miles to the overlook.  It is worth the drive.  Sadly the haze we have been experiencing the past few weeks has returned.  We stay at the Windwhistle BLM campground along the road to the Overlook.

More coming....

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark