Needles District, Canyonlands National Park

I took off for the first camping trip in over a year this past week.  Alpine School District spring break was last week, but I had classes on Monday and Wednesday, so I took off with Joan and her friend, Sophie on Thursday morning.  Evan and Alan joined us on Friday.

We left town around 8:00 a.m. and drove to Price where we stopped at the Walmart to buy a couple of campfire sandwich cookers as we had left ours behind in the shed.

The next stop was Sego Canyon where we saw some really cool rock art.  I've always wanted to go see these panels and the leisurely pace of the trip down made this an ideal stop.  There are four panels here with both Barrier Canyon Style figures and Fremont figure.  The fourth panel is Ute rock art.

Panel #2 Barrier Canyon Style Figures

Overview of Panel 2, Enhanced with DStretch LDS Filter

Fremont Figures from Panel 3

After this we drove to Moab and hiked up the hillside at Courthouse Wash to see the panel there.  It was in full sun and hard to see the figures very well, but still quite worth the short hike.

Courthouse Wash Panel

Detail of Barrier Canyon Figures Enhanced with DStretch LDS Filter

We ate a very nice lunch at the Moab Grill on the south side of downtown and then headed over to the Golf Course petroglyphs.  These are right next to the road and we looked around in the wrong area further up the road for far too long.  We gave up, but noticed them on the way out.

Moab Golf Course Panel

Petroglyphs

From here we drove south stopping at Wilson Arch and Newspaper Rock.

Wilson Arch

Newspaper Rock

 We camped at Needles Outpost which is a private campground just outside the park boundary.  There are several camping spots at the campground in the Needles District of the park, but they are available on a first-come-first-serve basis.  Arriving as late in the day as we did they were all full.  Fortunately, we were able to reserve a very nice spot at Needles Outpost and we enjoyed it alot.

For dinner we had pizza sandwiches cooked in the sandwich makers we bought along the way.

On Friday, Joan Sophie and I drove around the park.  The driving range is small relative to many of the other parks in Utah and you really need to get out hiking or in a good 4WD vehicle to see the sights here.

We hiked the short trails at the roadside ruin (a granary actually) and Pothole Point.  We also did the two-and-a-half-mile Slickrock Trail.  This has some very good views and hiking on slickrock is always fun.  We also drove to the Elephant Hill trailhead just to see things, but didn't do any hiking.

Roadside Granary

The Aptly-Named Wooden Shoe Arch

View Looking North at Island in the Sky from the Slickrock Trail

View of the Needles from Pothole Point

Mushrooms at the Elephant Canyon Trailhead

 When Evan and Alan arrived later in the day we went to Cave Spring and did the short hike there.

Old Cowboy Storage Box

Pictograph Enhanced with DStretch YRD fFlter

Handprint Pictographs

Dinner Friday night was my ever-so-unhealthy Dutch oven potatoes with bacon, cheese and Polish sausage.  I filled up the oven and there were no leftovers.

Saturday we hiked along the trails from Elephant Hill.  All of us made the two miles or so to the trail junction at the bottom of Elephant Canyon.  I went on alone to the Chesler Park Viewpoint which was another mile away, while the kids went up the canyon to Druid Arch which was another 3.5 miles or so.  Due to a lingering ankle injury my left foot no longer fit well in my hiking boots, so I did this hike in my Crocs, the only other shoes I had with me.

Hiking in Crocs

Along the Trail to Elephant Canyon

The Needles

Path through a Crack in the Rock

Looking Back from the Trail to Chesler Park

Needles near the Chesler Park Viewpoint

Druid Arch

Panorama from the Chesler Park Viewpoint Looking South into Chesler Park

We got back to camp in the mid-afternoon and snarfed down a bunch of sandwiches. Dinner was Rice-a-roni au gratin mix with canned chicken cooked in a Dutch Oven.

The plan for Sunday was to rise leisurely, fix pancakes, break camp and drive home.  However it was raining and we had no dining fly set up.  So instead we packed up camp including some very wet and muddy tents and drove to Moab.  Apparently it was the beginning of Jeep Safari Week or something and all the restaurants were packed.  So after some thought we drove on to Green River and ate breakfast there.  We were home just after noon on Sunday.