Wilderness Wandering

September 27,28 and October 2,3

We left Black Canyon of the Gunnison and drove southwest passing through Grand Junction, CO. 

The countryside looked like desert, parched with no trees. 

All of a sudden, the landscape changed with red mesas appearing on the horizon. The day got warm – into the upper 80s. 

Canyonlands NP has 4 districts. 

Two of the districts pretty much need a 4WD vehicle. Since that is not Calypso, we will only be investigating 2 of the districts. 

We drove into Canyonlands – Island in the Sky about 2:15 PM.  The park has only 1 campground. It’s FC FS and only has 14 spaces. So, it was a real long shot to get a spot. But, we drove straight to the campground and were blessed to get a spot!

The campground is really nice! Since it is hot and sunny here, each site has a wooden sun shelter over the picnic table. A great touch. There is no electric or water in the campground. Bathrooms were basic (pit toilets and no sink).

But, fantastic views from the campground. We were .1 miles from one of the best scenic views in the park, which worked out well for sunset and sunrise.

After making camp, we did the Aztec Butte hike. We really liked the hike. As you climb the butte, you’re hiking on stone, so there are cairns to mark the way, and you’re scrambling up steep inclines. The indigenous people used part of the butte for food storage, so we were able to see the remains of the granaries. We were off trail a bit and there were two young ladies in the same situation. We worked together to get back on track. One was from Australia and the other from New Zealand.

We went back to the campground and made dinner. Then I walked over to the Green River Overlook and sat out on a stone outcrop and watched the sunset. It was magical.

It’s almost full moon, so the sky was too bright for great star gazing.

Next morning, I got up for sunrise. The view from our campsite was lovely. We have our first hotel of the trip reserved for tonight. I wish we didn’t have to be leave the campsite, but we are both eager for showers.

Our first hike of the day was The Mesa Arch. It’s a very short hike to an amazing arch. Therefore, it’s very popular!

Next we drove to the Upheaval Dome trailhead and hiked 2 miles round trip to see that canyon. It’s an unusual one. Scientists believe it was created by a meteorite. 

We had a little break under a sun shelter at the view point before we continued on. 

Our last hike at Island in the Sky was the Grand View Point. It was an easy 2 mile out and back showcasing the views along the canyon ledge. Super pretty and super warm!! 

As we ate lunch in the van with the door open to the view before we departed, a woman walked by and said she was excited to see a Wayfarer van. She said owning one is a dream of hers. 

Dead Horse Point State Park is adjacent to Island in the Sky. While planning the trip, we agreed we would try to incorporate great state parks if they were on our way. This is a great one! It is a beautiful narrow strip of land leading out to awesome views of the other side of the same canyon you see from Island in the Sky. 

The final scene from the movie Thelma and Louise with the convertible sailing off the rim of C the canyon was filmed here. 

We did the lovely West Rim hike. Again, you’re hiking on stone. The hike was well marked. We would have stayed here if there had been room. They have rental yurts! That would have been a fun option! I should also mention the park is mountain bike heaven and the entire area has MANY mountain biking options.

Next we visited The Needles District.

One loop of the campgrounds can be reserved but was full. The other loop is FCFS.  We arrived in late afternoon and all the camp sites were taken, except for the group one. The camp host happened to be outside, so I got out and went over to talk to him, and he said it was OK for us to camp there for the night.  

The Needles Campground is exceptionally beautiful! I was thrilled to be able to enjoy sunset and sunrise from our beautiful camp site. Before we made dinner, we drove the scenic loop and walked out to Big Spring Canyon Outlook. Spectacular! You would think one would get tired of looking at canyon after canyon, but honestly, the views are all breathtaking! I don’t get tired of it at all. It’s going to take me a long time to go through all my photos of the days we were in Canyonlands!

The thing that makes The Needles District unique are duh, The Needles!

They are red and white striped spires that jut into the air in one section of the park.  The red and white stripes are bands of red rock alternating with layers of sand from when this was   an inland sea. 

There are other cool rock formations that were named such as the Wooden Shoe Arch, the Sixshooter and Molly’s Tit (no further explanation needed).

Canyonlands is a dark sky park, so the star gazing was great and it was super quiet as well!

We got up had some awesome oatmeal in the morning. We set out and did the 2.4 Slickrock Interpretive Loop. Another great hike. 

After that Tim felt the need to clean the van, so I set out for a solo hike. I did 5.5 miles to Lost Canyon. I loved it. I only saw 7 people there entire hike. It was challenging, but not too hard. I did some scrambling up hill and was kind of wondering if I would make it back down. Luckily, on the return, I was able to use 5 points of contact and descend safely!

We were hoping to snag a different camp site for the night. We found one that was supposed to be departing and hung our receipt on the hanger. When Tim went to park there, the people hadn’t left. Tim talked to Jim, the camp ground host and Jim told Tim that guy was kind of a problem. He actually had a reservation on a different loop, but wanted the site we tried to get so he had more sunshine for his solar panels. Jim helped us out. He said if no one handicapped showed up by early evening, that we could have one of those spots.

We did 2 more short hikes here: Pothole Point – a pretty view and Cave Spring. Both were less than a mile. Cave Spring has several cool features – a sort of overhang that cowboys used to use for shelter, a spring that is sacred to the native people and  some prehistoric pictographs. 

We returned to the campground and got settled in to the spot Jim reserved for us. The view was spectacular!!

It was such a great day. We celebrated with Old Fashioneds. And roasted marshmallows over our campfire!

We also met some wonderful campground neighbors! We are really enjoying meeting  people while camping. Other people have very unique, cool vans and tips about camping and their favorite parks!

As we left Canyonlands, we stopped at Newspaper Rock, a wonderful petroglyph panel. Really amazing stuff!

Canyonlands is exactly what the name implies…a land full of canyons. Everyone of them is gorgeous! Definitely one of my favorites! I would love to come back and do more hiking someday.