04/11/01:
Last night after moving to the Natural Bridges National Monument because of heavy snow, the snow naturally stopped. We did get another inch later on during the night. This morning was cold and blustery as I headed for Canyonlands National Park about 75 miles away. The roads were not good. A thin layer of frozen slush and some black ice kept my speed at 45-50.
Nearing The Needles, the southern section of Canyonlands National Park, I came to Newspaper Rock. I had no idea what that was but did know I was hoping for some free camping there. As it turns out, Newspaper Rock is a large panel of the best petroglyphics I've seen to date. I found mountain goats, elk, bison, hands, feet, shamans and lots of other stuff. It's believed some of these go back BC (before Christ) and some are as late as the 1800's. Of course a few aren't too old, making them graffiti. And yes, there's free camping across the road.
When I got to the park the first thing I noticed was a sign for showers at the Needles Outpost, just outside the Park. Cool! The next thing was the campground was full in mid-April in the middle of the week. I passed several trail heads on the way in leading off into canyons on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) so there's plenty of opportunity there.
Cave Spring Trail is .6 miles and goes around a couple of giant rocks with large overhangs making them appear as mushrooms. Seems to be plenty of room for lots of people to live. Dunno about drainage though. Cowboys used to camp here and there's quite a bit of paraphernalia on exhibit. There's also supposed to be some petroglyphics but I missed them. The trail leads up to the top of the rocks via a couple of ladders. From here are some great views of the surrounding bluffs and buttes.
I spent another couple of hours just driving around admiring the terrific scenery in every direction and distance. I found the trailhead for a couple of 10 mile hike at Salt Creek and several more at Elephant Hill. I called it quits after that. I just can't take too much of a good thing... and I'm thinking I might be here for a while... and this is just a small part of Canyonlands National Park. Good things ahead!
The Green and Colorado Rivers intersect in Canyonlands National Park and have much to do with formation of colorful canyons, mesas, buttes, fins, arches and spires in the 527 square mile park. Lots of prehistoric rock art and ruins are located throughout the park and trails.
04/12/01 Hiking Druid Arch Trail:
What an exceptional trail! The drive to the Elephant Hill picnic area was gorgeous. The picnic area was gorgeous. The trail was gorgeous. The Druid Arch and that entire basin was gorgeous. The only thing that wasn't gorgeous was the weather.
I had a 22 mile drive to the Canyonlands National Park and a couple more miles to the trailhead at Elephant Hill picnic area. The entire drive is overlooked by towering red buttes which serve as some of the gateways to the many, many canyons. The Elephant Hill picnic area is surrounded by tall red sandstone walls.
I started up the Druid Arch Trail at 8:30am under cloudy skies and temperatures in the 40's. The trail led to a plateau of rocks with great views of the Needles, a series of red, sandstone spires and pinnacles from which this part of the park gets its name.
1.5 miles into the hike I hooked up with a carpenter from Iowa heading the same direction. The easy trail followed a canyon 5.4 miles to the arch. The last mile became a little hilly and the last 1/4 mile required a lot of scrambling as we climbed a couple hundred feet over boulders. And there was the Druid Arch.
150+ feet tall and kinda like a pointy horseshoe. The surrounding area was all tall walls with some caves in them, big pinnacles and other great looking formations. Some gave the feeling of standing outside a cathedral. Great stuff!
While sitting on an outcrop having lunch and admiring the views, dark clouds moved in and the temperatures dropped. Then snow, sleet and cold rain dumped on us. Fortunately we were both well prepared with Gortex jackets. The real danger lay in all of the wet rocks and ledges we'd now have to cross. 20 minutes later the sun was out and 20 minutes after that the snow and rain hit again. We passed several people on the way back and they all seemed to have adequate gear for the weather.
04/13/01 Hiking Confluence Trail:
This morning only the back window was frosted so I guess the temperature was in the upper 20's. It was in the 40's under a bright sunshiny sky when I hit the Confluence Trailhead at the Big Spring Canyon Overlook parking area. This is a 5.1 mile hike to an overlook of where the Green and Colorado Rivers come together. The overlook is 1000 feet above the rivers.
The most difficult part of the trail is right at the beginning. The trail dips 150 feet or so into Big Spring Canyon and then winds its way back up the other side. Every step I took down reminded me of what I'd have waiting for me at the end of this 10 mile hike.
I got sidetracked (not lost) a couple of time for following footprints instead of the cairns. Many of the cairns were on ledges above when the trail turned upwards. I even found one cairn in a tree. No sh**!
1.5 hours brought me to the top of some slickrock and there I found a great view of The Needles, a series of jagged spires and pinnacles stretching for a mile or so. Much of the trail is through valley floor with red soil. Cliffs and rock formations are always present but sit back .25-.50 miles or so. Most of the ups and downs are in the 50-100 foot range but are of moderate difficulty.
The last 1.1 miles is along a 4X4 road to a picnic area and toilet (very important information). Another .5 miles brings you to the overlook. From a distance you can see red sandstone walls sinking into the canyon but not the bottom. Finally you get to see the Green and Colorado Rivers merge together. Ho Hum! Both rivers are slow moving and only 150 feet wide. On this day, the Green River was brown and the Colorado River was green. Go figger. Three double kayaks drifted down from the Green River. At least I think they were kayaks. From that distance they were awful teeny.
04/14/01:
I planned on today being a rest day, for both my body and my mind. That was just as well as I got some kind of stomach bug and threw up all last night and until 10am this morning. Dunno if it was something I ate or what. So today I drove into Monticello for gas and some munchies and to locate a Laundromat for when I need one.
Last night more than 50 cars & trucks came in after 5pm. Since the campgrounds were full I guess they all stopped on BLM lands. Jeeps and ATVs are a very big thing here. That's another reason I planned on taking today off. I don't really want to be out there with them.
When I got back to the campsite a bunch of good old boys had moved in next door complete with dogs, motorcycles and the music was blasting already. I didn't wait for them to break out the cases of beer. I moved up to BLM land. Hot, dusty, windy but what do you expect in the desert? Next time I'll camp on up side of the road from which the prevailing winds blow. As it is, I get all the dust from the traffic as it blows my way.
04/15/01:
Still pretty woozy today. Didn't get up until 9:30am and that was because the sun was shining in my face. Drove around a little bit in the morning but dozed most of the afternoon away. Only two pieces of toast for breakfast and a couple spoonfuls of lentil soup for supper. Tea and coffee burn my chest. Barfed a couple times last night and only once today.
04/16/01:
More of the same.
04/17/01:
Going into my fourth day with almost nothing to eat or drink, I thought it about time to start forcing the issue before I was too weak to do anything about it. Forced about a quart of water into me and then went to Monticello where I bought some skim milk and some yogurt. Bought some Mylanta at the local drug store and went and did laundry.
I drove to Moab looking for a campsite. NM 128 runs along the Colorado River between red canyon walls towering a few hundred above. BLM has lots of camping spots along this beautiful road. $10 for developed campsites with good toilet but no water or electricity (RV types), $5 for less developed and a pit toilet and less developed for free but you're supposed to have a porta-pottie. I didn't want to be hassled by the pottie patrol so moved on.
I got up above Price and began looking for a campsite again but everything's closed.
04/18/01:
I had been kinda drifting north towards Provo with the vague idea of updating the web site while I wasn't feeling too well. After another bad night I turned around and headed back to Price where I had seen a small hospital on the way up. I got there about 7am and was actually being treated before they had my name and lack of insurance.
When they found I was into my 5th day of not eating or drinking the started the IV's. Then came abdominal xrays and then ultrasounds to say nothing of the number of blood and urine tests. Five hours (and close to $1000) later they determined I had some kind stomach bacteria, the kind that often produces ulcers. $100 of new medication had me feeling a lot better and I headed back south to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Lake Powell.
That was 165 miles away. Driving down UT 24 and then UT 276 I had a nice scenic view of red sandstone buttes, cliffs and canyons. Everything was red, including the never ending dust. Not sand, dust. These deserts are all dust that gets in your nose, mouth, eyes, ears and any other orifices that happen to be exposed at the time.
There's lots of open range here. That is cattle grazing land that isn't fenced in. You could be driving along at 60-70 mph admiring the views and several cows could appear right in the middle of the road. And they don't move. Or if they're off to the side of the road they might just as well stampede into the middle of the road.
I saw several places where someone had gone off the side of the road and into a canyon or arroyo or whatever. Cow related? Tired, going too fast, arguing with the wife? I dunno.
What was really strange was seeing long rows of houseboats and other power boats lined up out in the desert and no water in sight. The place was called Offshore Marina, supposedly with tongue in cheek.