The Needles District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah

There's not much to say about the first day of the trip except that it was long. I awoke about 4am and, too anxious to get back to sleep, I hit the road instead. Up through Lampassas, Abilene, Lubbock into New Mexico, through Clovis, north to Santa Rosa, west on I-40 through Albuquerque and Grants to Gallup, then north again into Colorado and my motel in Cortez. I arrived before sunset after 927 miles and it didn't take long at all to fall asleep. About the only thing of note were the west Texas wind farms. . . more windmills every time I pass through there.

This is the view looking north from Utah 191 about 6 miles north of Monticello. The Needles District of Canyonlands is west of the highway. The group of peaks ahead make up the LaSal Mountains, about 45 miles away. Moab, UT bears a little west of there, about 55 miles.

The morning was cool, 40 something degrees as I passed through Monticello. There was three day old snow on Abajo, the main peak that looms to the west over the town and gives its name to the group. The snow appeared to be just a dusting in the early morning light, but it was 11,360 ft (more than 4200 ft higher than the town) so it could have been more substantial.

The road here starts weaving in and around the hills and domes. The mountain in the background is Shay Mountain, part of the Abajo group, standing at 9974 ft and is a little apart from most of the group. The group itself, like the LaSals is an igneous intrusion from the molten core up through the layer upon layer of sandstone that makes up most of the Colorado Plateau.

The chill in the air, the deep, early morning shadows and the new, already lush spring growth in this section make this visit much more pleasant than the last time I transited the area. It had been in the 90s early that day, and without the hint of a breeze. The tourists baked, right along with the sandstone out in the canyons. I'd skipped this Utah 211 excursion then - too miserable to believe there might be some relief this close at hand - and scurried south to Cortez. What brought me this time was nearby Newspaper Rock, one of the largest, best preserved, and most accessible collection of petroglyphs in the southwest. The carvings, many about 2000 years old, were made through the years by people from the Archaic, Anasazi, Fremont, Navajo, Anglo, and Pueblo cultures.

This location, looking back the way I had come, was where Shay Canyon and Indian Creek led. Continuing NNW, the close countryside opens up, the lush growth of the upper canyon giving way to the low sage and cedar (juniper) prevalent in the majority of the Canyonlands.

I'd put the windows down back at Newspaper Rock when it was still chilly. When I moved out into the wider valley, still in shadow thanks to the mesa walls, the temperature was perfect and it was hard not to think how wonderful it would be to live out my days right here. Of course, then you think how it might be at 110 degrees with no movement in the air at all. . . and you move on.

This is the view looking north along 211 at the Dugout Ranch gate (to the left). The lake on the right seems perfect, but at the same time somehow incongruous considering all the bare rock in the area.

On the drive in, after stopping to take a few shots with the lake, I started up the road watching the lake shore. I saw something, but couldn't tell what it was or whether I should get my camera to reach out (my binoculars were two feet away on the floor of the truck - it would have been nice to have thought of them) when the light and shadows resolved themselves and became a blue heron taking flight. Too late for the camera, but a nice exclamation point for my judgement: Perfect!

Looking SE from 211 across Squaw Canyon. Just in from the right edge of the frame is the Wooden Shoe. There's a pull-off for picture takers, but it's too close for someone in my frame of mind: Grand Vistas, that's the ticket!

Canyonlands is divided by the Green and Colorado Rivers, which form a "Y" in the center. The Needles District is comprised of the eastern section of the huge, open canyon south and east of the Colorado, and some of the fringes of Colorado Plateau overlooking the canyons (e.g., Needles Overlook). West of the Green River and west of the Colorado south of their confluence, the other part of the vast canyon is known as The Maze, one of the most remote and inaccessible areas in the country. North of the confluence is the extensive mesa known as "Island in the Sky", and for good reason. Atop the mesa one feels detached from the canyon, 2000 feet below, and floating above it, unlike anything I've ever felt. The area between the mesa and the two rivers is referred to as the White Rim, for the (calcite?) deposit about midway between the mesa top and the valley floor. A fourth small district, separate from the others and west of The Maze is Horseshoe Canyon.

This view looking NE from The Needles shows the unerroded Colorado Plateau extending across the frame from the right, and the LaSal Mountains rising behind it. Out of frame to the left, at the edge of the plateau is Needles Overlook.

When you grow up looking at the horizon it's almost impossible not to be drawn to the heights like the LaSals and the Abajo Mountains. I become a little self-conscious of it when every second or third image seems to feature one or the other. Same thing farther west, where the Henry Mountains command the same attention. Even when I was able to focus on features closer at hand, the geography is exceedingly interesting and beautiful. Adding geology to the mix sets the mind spinning.

View from Utah 191 looking north at the LaSals. Church Rock is just left of center marking the junction with Utah 211.

Is this out of sequence? Actually, no. When I started out, I thought I had enough gas to do the "211 Excursion" and the "Needles Overlook Excursion" and still get to Moab. However, all the time I was making my way through the Needles, stopping to take pictures at seemingly every bend in the road, in the back of my mind I was wondering exactly how my Sierra calculated "fuel remaining". If it takes the instantaneous fuel consumption and applies it to fuel consumed, does it assume you'll continue driving at that speed - or that you've been driving that speed for the whole trip? Did you zero the fuel consumption meter when you filled up last? The point is, when I finished in the valley I had no confidence that I could do Needles Overlook and still get to Moab. So I detoured the 14 miles back to Monticello for gas and, because I'd spent all morning and some of the afternoon groovin' on this fine drive, a Subway sandwich to eat up at Needles Overlook. So, the similarity of the pic above with the first pic in the post notwithstanding, it's not out of sequence.

This view from Needles Overlook looking NW at "The Loop" in the Colorado River. Lockhart Basin, out of frame to the right drains into Lockhart Canyon which drains into the river at The Loop. Horsethief Canyon also drains into the river at The Loop a few hundred feet south. All of this is about 13 miles away. The viewpoint is about 5974 ft and the river at The Loop is 3927 ft. Behind the loop is The Island in the Sky.

So I got gas and a sub, ate at the Needles Overlook, and took a few more pictures. The whole time I was thinking of my first, serendipitous visit to the overlook on a cold, wet afternoon in 2008. Also, I needed a nap.

Long before lunch I had decided to streamline my timeline and axe the "Island in the Sky Excursion". I'd spent more time than I'd expected in the Needles and I'd just move on to Arches NP, since I'd never been there. These simple changes to my routing gave my new GPS fits; it knew where I was, but I wasn't going where I said I wanted to go, and THAT upset the little tyke. The fact that these things happened for the next several days simply gave me the opportunity for on the job training. And that's a GOOD thing, since the Garmin owner's manual is woefully bereft of useful information. By the time I got back to Austin, it gave me the information I needed - grudgingly - but has stopped begging me to "turn around; go back; make a u-turn". I'm glad we came to terms; that was getting to be annoying.

Alright. If you want to see more of the Canyonlands Needles District, this LINK should take you to my Canyonlands NP Album on Flickr.