The drive from Capitol Reef to Canyonlands took us about 4 hours. The campground we are staying at in Canyonlands is in the Needles District of the park and is located about 75 miles from the nearest town, Moab, Utah. Needless to say, the Needles District is remote.
After the obligatory stop at the Visitor Center for a passport stamp, and a discussion with Rangers Spencer and Jonathan, we picked up some trail maps and headed out to set up our tent. We enjoyed a relaxing evening in the solitude of Canyonlands.
I was in Canyonlands with my son Matt and his friend Patrick seven years ago, but since we were backpacking, we stayed in the backcountry and not in the campground, so I did not know what to expect. Beth and I were both pleasantly surprised. Our campsite was very spacious, there was an outhouse toilet adjacent to it, but even better, there were modern restrooms with flush toilets and running water about a quarter mile from our site. It was an easy walk to these modern conveniences. I’ll walk a quarter mile any day to avoid an outhouse in Utah in late June, where the temperatures are in the mid 90s. Need I say more.
The weather forecast for Thursday included a good chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon so we decided to hike 3 or 4 of the park’s shorter trails in the morning, including the 2.5 mile Slickrock Trail, which gave Beth her first taste of the Canyonlands’ landscape. The scenery here is very different from what we saw in Capitol Reef. In all directions there are rock formations called “mushrooms” which do look like giant mushrooms, right down to their grayish color and rounded tops. In addition to the “mushrooms,” the other dominant feature in the park is “needles”, tall, round cylinders of red rock of various sizes. And there are two mountain ranges flanking the park to complete the other-worldly setting.
We got back to our campsite in time for lunch, then played a game of skywatching, as the summer clouds began to billow and darken, and the wind picked up. We were not going to venture too far from our site in the event the predicted thunderstorms did in fact materialize.
A very neat feature of our campsite is the mushroom formation behind it. This created a cavelike setting with a significant overhang that provided both shade from the searing sun, and protection from rain and wind. As the skies continued to darken, we retreated to the safety of the mushroom. In the sun, the temperature was in the mid 90s. In our shady oasis, it was at least 10 to 15 degrees cooler. We read, relaxed and watched the clouds roll by most of the afternoon. At several points, it did rain lightly, but we stayed dry and comfortable.
After supper, we drove over to the amphitheater to hear the ranger talk about tumbleweed, that’s right, tumbleweed, apparently the bane of many a park. It was an interesting and fact-filled discussion led by a very enthusiastic park ranger who educated us on the dangers of this invasive plant from Russia. It turns out, tumbleweed is not the cute little ball of fun rolling along, but it can cause major problems for native plants in areas it has invaded. We will never look at it the same again.
Our plan for Friday was to hike the 11 mile Chesler Park Joint Loop Trail. Given the heat expected for the afternoon, we decided to set the alarm for 5:30 with the hopes of being on the trail a little after 6:00. We hadn’t factored in the 25 minute commute from our campsite to the trailhead, so we actually didn’t get onto the trail until about 6:45. The temperature was cool, in the mid 60s, and we started out from the Elephant Hill parking lot to begin this five to seven hour hike with great expectations of the sites we would see. We were not disappointed.
The first quarter to half mile of the trail is straight up, including ascending numerous stone stairs carved into the trail. In total, the Chesler Park Joint Loop Trail climbs a total of 1,700 feet over its 11 mile course. By the time we reached the top of that opening climb, we were wide awake and fully limbered up.
The great views began almost immediately. Needles and mushrooms surrounded us in all directions. The beautiful blue sky framed them perfectly and made for wonderful photo ops for Beth. As with all of the hikes we have taken, we didn’t really care about how long it took us. We were there to enjoy the scenery and not race through. Besides, with the up hill climbs, we had a good excuse to take it easy.
Matt, Patrick and I had really enjoyed this trail when we hiked it back in 2017. I remember saying to them I hoped to be able to get Beth out here to see it herself some day. I guess someday is now. Thank God, the two of us had the chance to hike this together. I could tell she was really enjoying it.
The trail was one of the more difficult hikes we have taken so far. In addition to the elevation increase, it also required some significant rock scrambling in many places. That made it all the better as we don’t shy away from a good rock scramble. One of the neatest features is the trail section we refer to as the “narrows.” This portion, perhaps a quarter of a mile in length, is at times no wider than the width of our bodies, with sheer rock walls towering high above. I could barely get through some spots with my backpack on. We loved it and took some great pictures of this stretch.
The portion of the trail called Chesler Park is really pretty. As you reach a high spot through the needles, the park opens up in front of you with a green meadow in sharp contrast to the grays and reds of the surrounding rock. Interestingly, this portion of the trail is plagued by guess what – tumbleweed. Yes, that’s right, there were times when the trail itself was blocked by the stuff, and we had to clear it away before continuing forward. No wonder the ranger dislikes it so much.
We stopped at an overlook at this point for a bite to eat as it was approaching noon. The view from the overlook was amazing. I remembered back to my earlier trip here with Matt and Patrick and was so grateful that Beth could share this moment with me. I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to see this amazing scene twice in my life. Perhaps we can come back for a third time with our grandchildren. That would be nice.
We finished our hike in just under 6 hours, and I congratulated Beth for a job well done. We are not young anymore, and an 11 mile hike with a 1,700 foot elevation change in warm weather is a great accomplishment. I am so glad we were able to complete it.
As I write this post, we are on day 59 of our escapade, almost two thirds through. I’ll say it again, where has the time gone? I assume the remaining 31 days will go by as quickly as the first 59. On the bright side, we still have a dozen parks to see and more great adventures ahead of us. Keep reading and enjoy your day.