Scott Chandler
Wildness is a necessity- John Muir
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2014
- Messages
- 1,099
As I lie on the couch wondering how done this recent series of storms truly is, I am reminded of how nice it was just a week ago...
The first dawn of the New Year was chilly but clear. My father and brother were visiting and I had the day off to do something. We decided to venture to The Needles and hike to The Confluence Overlook of the Green and Colorado Rivers. It had been on my hit list since I got to the area, my dad didn't think it was a spot a casual hiker could see.
Sadly, it takes FOREVER to drive to The Needles. It is seriously flummoxing how it can take so long to drive to a place that is "right there." Driving in we didn't reach the trailhead until a bit before noon.
Logistical stock was taken. We had about 5 hrs of sunlight and another bit of twilight, my brother and I had headlamps and the hike was over "level" ground, perfect for a speedy pace. We all felt good enough to go for it.
The term "level" is not an appropriate term for this hike, and the multiple descriptions I had read that implied that would be better editing that impression away from them. While nothing was that hard, only stretches of levelness existed between pretty good ups and downs.
Luckily, the first down and up was the worst and was really not all that bad.
I've only hiked in The Needles once before but the geology out there is some of the most fun around in my opinion. Ups and downs, winding, open views and intimate spaces the area has everything.
After making it about half way we finally got views into The Needles proper. Pretty dramatic.
After all the winding around we hit a big valley and open country at a 4WD road. From there it was a quick mile or so to the Overlook itself.
Pretty darn neat, seeing two major drainages of Utah merge in the heart of desert backcountry. Ice flows were even making their way down the rivers.
Our pace got us to The Overlook in a little under two and a half ours. After half an hour at the overlook, we were off to the car and hopeful victory over the descent of the sun.
Cyclone Canyon
Fairly quickly we entered what I've come to call the "Sunset Glory Period." Rock walls were glowing and contrasts with shadows made everything pop. It's not my favorite time to hike, knowing that darkness is coming, but it's definitely not a bad time to be out.
As we neared the top of the final canyon rim, a scrim of clouds blew across the sun. Looking back yielded a view of a couple rainbows caused by refraction within the clouds. It looked like if the cloudcover had been extensive enough in that quality, the rainbow may have spanned the sky. A pretty cool phenomenon that I had never seen before.
And with that, we descended into and then huffed up to the parking lot. We had 5.5 hrs of useful light when we started our 11 mile hike and hit that exactly. Twas a great day out welcoming in the New Year!
(PS: The photography is actually my dad's with editing from me. Kudos to him for taking some great pictures. Anyone who has never gone through the creative process with someone else's work should try it. I had a blast playing with his art.)
The first dawn of the New Year was chilly but clear. My father and brother were visiting and I had the day off to do something. We decided to venture to The Needles and hike to The Confluence Overlook of the Green and Colorado Rivers. It had been on my hit list since I got to the area, my dad didn't think it was a spot a casual hiker could see.
Sadly, it takes FOREVER to drive to The Needles. It is seriously flummoxing how it can take so long to drive to a place that is "right there." Driving in we didn't reach the trailhead until a bit before noon.
Logistical stock was taken. We had about 5 hrs of sunlight and another bit of twilight, my brother and I had headlamps and the hike was over "level" ground, perfect for a speedy pace. We all felt good enough to go for it.
The term "level" is not an appropriate term for this hike, and the multiple descriptions I had read that implied that would be better editing that impression away from them. While nothing was that hard, only stretches of levelness existed between pretty good ups and downs.
Luckily, the first down and up was the worst and was really not all that bad.
I've only hiked in The Needles once before but the geology out there is some of the most fun around in my opinion. Ups and downs, winding, open views and intimate spaces the area has everything.
After making it about half way we finally got views into The Needles proper. Pretty dramatic.
After all the winding around we hit a big valley and open country at a 4WD road. From there it was a quick mile or so to the Overlook itself.
Pretty darn neat, seeing two major drainages of Utah merge in the heart of desert backcountry. Ice flows were even making their way down the rivers.
Our pace got us to The Overlook in a little under two and a half ours. After half an hour at the overlook, we were off to the car and hopeful victory over the descent of the sun.
Cyclone Canyon
Fairly quickly we entered what I've come to call the "Sunset Glory Period." Rock walls were glowing and contrasts with shadows made everything pop. It's not my favorite time to hike, knowing that darkness is coming, but it's definitely not a bad time to be out.
As we neared the top of the final canyon rim, a scrim of clouds blew across the sun. Looking back yielded a view of a couple rainbows caused by refraction within the clouds. It looked like if the cloudcover had been extensive enough in that quality, the rainbow may have spanned the sky. A pretty cool phenomenon that I had never seen before.
And with that, we descended into and then huffed up to the parking lot. We had 5.5 hrs of useful light when we started our 11 mile hike and hit that exactly. Twas a great day out welcoming in the New Year!
(PS: The photography is actually my dad's with editing from me. Kudos to him for taking some great pictures. Anyone who has never gone through the creative process with someone else's work should try it. I had a blast playing with his art.)
