AKay09
Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
- Messages
- 96
Hey everyone, originally this was going to be my first solo vacation but a few weeks before I was to start my drive from the Chicago suburbs my dad called me up and asked if he could tag along. So it became our first father son road trip, thankfully it went smoothly! His plan was to camp in Dead Horse Point State Park for the four days I hiked around the needles. It was my first time ever out in a desert terrain and my dads first time out to Utah and we both loved it. It truly is a beautiful and unique place! We spent two days exploring the area before I would start my hike, so these first few pictures are from Dead Horse Point and the northern portion of Canyonlands.
The morning of my hike I asked a ranger about water availability while I was out there and she looked at me as though I was crazy. She told me I would be lucky to find any and that I should carry at least 9 liters to start the hike. I only had the capacity to carry 7 so I filled them all up and took off. I had read about a few areas that would have water so I knew I would have a decent chance of finding some. At the trail head I also talked to some people who had just finished up basically the loop I was doing and got more conformations of water, so that calmed the nerves a bit. I would be doing a loop through Lost Canyon, up to Chesler Park and then back past Elephant Canyon and through Big Spring Canyon back to the trail head. The green lines are side hikes I did after setting up camp, with plenty more off trail exploring as well in Lost Canyon.
Day 1:
My dad walked with me in for maybe a half a mile and then I was on my own. This was my first time solo backpacking so it was pretty exciting to get it started. The terrain was gorgeous and I only past a few day hikers on my way out to Lost Canyon site #2 I believe. Took a few hours and wasn't bad at all, though the ladders were pretty intimidating when I first came across them. When I got to the site, I set up camp and had some nice ant neighbors that I watched for a bit as they did their thing. I explored the area for a few hours, climbing up on rocks and just enjoying the view hoping to see some wildlife, no luck on that front. It got pretty windy in the canyon as the sun set, so as it got dark I climbed into my tent and started to read. I got out in the middle of the night hoping to see some stars but sadly some light clouds and rolled in.
Here is the friendly guy who pointed out where some water would be for me.
Day 2:
I had found some water a couple hundred yards away from camp so the next morning I topped back off and headed towards Chesler Park. The walk was nice through the canyon with a decent amount of running water as well. I didn't see anyone for a few hours which was nice. The one thing I wasn't expecting was how much sand I would be walking in. Not just sandy trails but trails that were just like walking on the beach, it made the walking a tad bit more difficult but not bad. Day two would be my longest by far at close to 7 miles I believe. The thing that was the most difficult for me was the amount of scrambling that was needed. I had an idea there would be a bit but it ended up being more tiring than I was anticipating. All went smoothly but I was pretty happy to make it up to Chesler Park. The last two miles were starting to take a toll on me, especially with the sun beating down on me constantly. For most of the day I wore a light wind breaker to keep the sun off me and thankfully it doesn't retain much heat at all, so I made it out of there without any sunburns.
Before making it to Chesler Park there was a small section of the trail where you have to squeeze yourself between to big rocks and the gap you had to squeeze through also went down, so it was a very tricky spot to get through with a pack. I ended up taking my pack off and holding it out in front of me as I pushed it through the opening. Was pretty damn challenging but a nice memory now! After making it to Chesler Park I took a little nap, had some snacks and then explored. I wondered around the Joint Trail, which was really cool and I definitely recommend checking it out. The sunset on the needles was beautiful and was perhaps the quietest place I have ever been.
I found some evidence of bigfoot...
It kind of looks like a....oh nvm...
Joint Trail
Day 3:
Day three was an easy one, only two miles or maybe less to Elephant Canyon 1. I got there pretty quick and hid my stuff under a rock and took off towards Druid Arch. I brought my pack with some food and containers to fill up with some more water. The hike to the arch was almost all like walking on a beach but the surrounding canyon was very nice. The final scramble up to the top of Druid Arch was a lot harder than I was expecting and frankly it seemed a little bit dangerous for a hike they were recommending to older couples at the visitor center. The last bit was a lot of vertical scrambles up some slippery and loose rocks and again had a tricky ladder to navigate. The view at the top was very nice though and I'm glad I did it. I hung out at the top for awhile and had it to myself for about 30min and decided to descend when some other people showed up. On my walk back I ran until an older gentleman who I believe was 70 and was out in the area alone day hiking. He was a very interesting man with a very interesting life and I ended up spending more than an hour talking to him. Eventually I made it back to my campsite and once some shade settled in over the flat area I set up my tent and sat back to relax and people watch. The main trail went by pretty close to where I was along a cliff but nobody seemed to notice me so I got to hear some weird stories being told. About an hour before sunset the older man walked past my site down below in the canyon and was heading in the wrong direction. I tried calling out to him but he didn't seem to hear me and was looking confused. I scrambled down to him and got him to come back to my site to get some water. He had been out there for more than twelve hours with only two liters of water. I gave him some of mine and he sat down with me to have some food too while drinking. He again ended up staying for almost an hour talking with me before hiking back out in the right direction just after sunset. After that I settled into my tent to do some more reading. Once thing I forgot to mention was that on night two I woke up on the ground...my sleeping pad had gone flat and I could not find a hole. It held air for about an hour before going totally flat so I would wake up rather often. Thankfully REI has a good return policy and I was able to return it afterwards.
Day 4:
I got up early to meet my dad at the trail head. He had about a two hour drive from his camp to get me, before we would turn around and drive 8 more hours before stopping for the night. The hike out was again very nice. Clear blue skies, cool (ish) temps to start off and not many people. I didn't take many pictures on the way out sadly but it was just as beautiful as the rest of the hike. I made it out too quick almost and had to wait an hour for him to arrive, oh well. I didn't talk about it earlier but for much of the trip water was weighing heavy on my mind. I drink a lot of water it seems and I got low on the second and third day before finding some on the trail to Druid. I had thought about hiking out if I was unable to find any so thankfully I did. The only issue I had with solo backpacking was the evenings before going to bed. I always had this weird feeling that there was something I should be doing but there really never was. I hope to get out solo again soon to see if I can get past that feeling, hopefully in an area with more water though. Overall the trip was a huge success! The needles is an amazing place, the surrounding area of Utah is unbelievable and the weather was perfect.
Next up for me was going to be a solo trip in Colorado in September but my uncle has now talked his way into joining me on his first backpacking trip in more than 30 years, so should be fun! Looking like we will be doing a four day hike in the Rawah Wilderness. Thanks for reading! Sorry if the pictures are a bit blurry, was saving them off of facebook, my computer crashed.
The morning of my hike I asked a ranger about water availability while I was out there and she looked at me as though I was crazy. She told me I would be lucky to find any and that I should carry at least 9 liters to start the hike. I only had the capacity to carry 7 so I filled them all up and took off. I had read about a few areas that would have water so I knew I would have a decent chance of finding some. At the trail head I also talked to some people who had just finished up basically the loop I was doing and got more conformations of water, so that calmed the nerves a bit. I would be doing a loop through Lost Canyon, up to Chesler Park and then back past Elephant Canyon and through Big Spring Canyon back to the trail head. The green lines are side hikes I did after setting up camp, with plenty more off trail exploring as well in Lost Canyon.
Day 1:
My dad walked with me in for maybe a half a mile and then I was on my own. This was my first time solo backpacking so it was pretty exciting to get it started. The terrain was gorgeous and I only past a few day hikers on my way out to Lost Canyon site #2 I believe. Took a few hours and wasn't bad at all, though the ladders were pretty intimidating when I first came across them. When I got to the site, I set up camp and had some nice ant neighbors that I watched for a bit as they did their thing. I explored the area for a few hours, climbing up on rocks and just enjoying the view hoping to see some wildlife, no luck on that front. It got pretty windy in the canyon as the sun set, so as it got dark I climbed into my tent and started to read. I got out in the middle of the night hoping to see some stars but sadly some light clouds and rolled in.
Here is the friendly guy who pointed out where some water would be for me.
Day 2:
I had found some water a couple hundred yards away from camp so the next morning I topped back off and headed towards Chesler Park. The walk was nice through the canyon with a decent amount of running water as well. I didn't see anyone for a few hours which was nice. The one thing I wasn't expecting was how much sand I would be walking in. Not just sandy trails but trails that were just like walking on the beach, it made the walking a tad bit more difficult but not bad. Day two would be my longest by far at close to 7 miles I believe. The thing that was the most difficult for me was the amount of scrambling that was needed. I had an idea there would be a bit but it ended up being more tiring than I was anticipating. All went smoothly but I was pretty happy to make it up to Chesler Park. The last two miles were starting to take a toll on me, especially with the sun beating down on me constantly. For most of the day I wore a light wind breaker to keep the sun off me and thankfully it doesn't retain much heat at all, so I made it out of there without any sunburns.
Before making it to Chesler Park there was a small section of the trail where you have to squeeze yourself between to big rocks and the gap you had to squeeze through also went down, so it was a very tricky spot to get through with a pack. I ended up taking my pack off and holding it out in front of me as I pushed it through the opening. Was pretty damn challenging but a nice memory now! After making it to Chesler Park I took a little nap, had some snacks and then explored. I wondered around the Joint Trail, which was really cool and I definitely recommend checking it out. The sunset on the needles was beautiful and was perhaps the quietest place I have ever been.
I found some evidence of bigfoot...
It kind of looks like a....oh nvm...
Joint Trail
Day 3:
Day three was an easy one, only two miles or maybe less to Elephant Canyon 1. I got there pretty quick and hid my stuff under a rock and took off towards Druid Arch. I brought my pack with some food and containers to fill up with some more water. The hike to the arch was almost all like walking on a beach but the surrounding canyon was very nice. The final scramble up to the top of Druid Arch was a lot harder than I was expecting and frankly it seemed a little bit dangerous for a hike they were recommending to older couples at the visitor center. The last bit was a lot of vertical scrambles up some slippery and loose rocks and again had a tricky ladder to navigate. The view at the top was very nice though and I'm glad I did it. I hung out at the top for awhile and had it to myself for about 30min and decided to descend when some other people showed up. On my walk back I ran until an older gentleman who I believe was 70 and was out in the area alone day hiking. He was a very interesting man with a very interesting life and I ended up spending more than an hour talking to him. Eventually I made it back to my campsite and once some shade settled in over the flat area I set up my tent and sat back to relax and people watch. The main trail went by pretty close to where I was along a cliff but nobody seemed to notice me so I got to hear some weird stories being told. About an hour before sunset the older man walked past my site down below in the canyon and was heading in the wrong direction. I tried calling out to him but he didn't seem to hear me and was looking confused. I scrambled down to him and got him to come back to my site to get some water. He had been out there for more than twelve hours with only two liters of water. I gave him some of mine and he sat down with me to have some food too while drinking. He again ended up staying for almost an hour talking with me before hiking back out in the right direction just after sunset. After that I settled into my tent to do some more reading. Once thing I forgot to mention was that on night two I woke up on the ground...my sleeping pad had gone flat and I could not find a hole. It held air for about an hour before going totally flat so I would wake up rather often. Thankfully REI has a good return policy and I was able to return it afterwards.
Day 4:
I got up early to meet my dad at the trail head. He had about a two hour drive from his camp to get me, before we would turn around and drive 8 more hours before stopping for the night. The hike out was again very nice. Clear blue skies, cool (ish) temps to start off and not many people. I didn't take many pictures on the way out sadly but it was just as beautiful as the rest of the hike. I made it out too quick almost and had to wait an hour for him to arrive, oh well. I didn't talk about it earlier but for much of the trip water was weighing heavy on my mind. I drink a lot of water it seems and I got low on the second and third day before finding some on the trail to Druid. I had thought about hiking out if I was unable to find any so thankfully I did. The only issue I had with solo backpacking was the evenings before going to bed. I always had this weird feeling that there was something I should be doing but there really never was. I hope to get out solo again soon to see if I can get past that feeling, hopefully in an area with more water though. Overall the trip was a huge success! The needles is an amazing place, the surrounding area of Utah is unbelievable and the weather was perfect.
Next up for me was going to be a solo trip in Colorado in September but my uncle has now talked his way into joining me on his first backpacking trip in more than 30 years, so should be fun! Looking like we will be doing a four day hike in the Rawah Wilderness. Thanks for reading! Sorry if the pictures are a bit blurry, was saving them off of facebook, my computer crashed.
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