Vegan.Hiker
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This is Part 2 of a four-part trip report covering a two-week backpacking and canoeing trip in April of 2016. I covered 134 miles on the trip, mostly in Canyonlands National Park. Of these 134 miles, 82 miles were spent backpacking and 52 miles were spent in a canoe. The first week of the trip was a solo backpack in the Needles. I then exited the desert to meet up with @Chuck the Mauler and two of his buddies from Michigan who joined me for the second week of the trip. After meeting up with them, we spent a night camping outside of Moab before kicking off week 2, which consisted of a 3-night river trip down the Colorado River from Potash to Spanish Bottom, followed by 4 days backpacking in the Maze.
The four reports are organized as follows:
Part 1 – From NYC to Elephant Canyon (Click HERE to view Part 1)
Part 2 – Chesler Park and Druid Arch (Currently Viewing)
Part 3 – Colorado River; Potash to Spanish Bottom (Click HERE to view Part 3)
Part 4 – The Maze District (Click HERE to view Part 4)
An extra big “thank you” to all of the BCP members who helped me plan this trip. Especially @Nick, @slc_dan and @Joey for patiently answering all of my questions (for literally months) and all the members who authored the dozens of Canyonlands trip reports I was able to pore through.
Part 2 – Chesler Park and Druid Arch
This report covers the next two and a half days that I spent in the Needles but focuses mainly on Chesler Park and Druid Arch which were the highlights for me.
I ended Part 1 with some pictures of campsite EC2 in the Needles in the evening, so I'll pick up with some pictures of the beautiful sunrise that I woke up to the next morning. The morning epiphany is one of my favorite parts of backpacking. The moment where you begin to wake up and your brain races trying to figure out what the deal is. For me, the thought process was along the lines of "okay so it a work day?, the weekend?, wait where the f#ck am I? Holy $H!T!!, I'm in the f@&%inG Needles!!!"
The plan for the day was to hike about half a mile to campsite EC3, drop my pack and slackpack over the pass to Chesler Park, hike the loop counter-clockwise including the Joint Trail, and then do the spur trail to Druid Arch before returning to EC3. This turned out to be a little over 14 miles according to Gaia but it was pretty easy going since I wasn't carrying a full pack. I have to admit though, that last scramble at the end of the Druid Arch Trail wasn't as fun at the end of a long day as it might have been earlier in the day.
With my back to the sunrise, the sun made the top of the rocks glow orange.
A few shots facing the sunrise with the needles still hiding my view of the sun. It's strange how in canyons, you can see the light reflecting off of stuff before you can actually see the sun.
One last look at Elephant Canyon before going over the pass in Chesler Park
A view from the top of the pass going into Chesler Park (not facing into Chesler Park though). I believe this is facing north and that the La Sal Mountains and the Island in the Sky plateau can be seen on the right.
Canyonlands is nicely decorated with assortment of dead trees.. It kind of made me feel like I was in a giant reptile terrarium at times.
This picture below highlights one of the interesting differences I noticed between the Needles and the Maze. The soil along the trail in the Needles tended to be a dry orange sand (like the picture below) while the soil in the Maze was dark, almost black, cryptobiotic soil. One of the other differences was that I saw TONS of lizards in the Needles whereas in the Maze I saw barely any lizards and tons of bunnies. That took me by a bit of a surprise. When I think desert, I don't really think bunnies.. at least not until now.
At times Chesler Park felt like it was created for a Super Mario Brothers game.
These were the steps down into the Joint Trail.
The Joint Trail started out as a wide cave-like trail through a sea of cairns.
The Joint Trail then got really narrow and deep. I'm pretty sure there were times when I couldn't see the sky above. I'm not claustrophobic, but feeling my pack barely rubbing through the walls so far deep in this thing got me feeling a little uneasy.
The unease quickly went away when I could see the end in sight.
There was a nice view of the southern end of Chesler Park after exiting the Joint Trail.
A few more shots of the needles in Chesler on my way to the junction of the Druid Arch Trail.
The Druid Arch Trail started off like any of the other trails along washes that I had been on earlier in the trip, but the further down the trail I got, the more interesting and complex the rock formations became. There were a few climbs up a dryfall or two and a scramble at the end.
And there at the top of the final scramble was Druid Arch. I was taken back by the enormity of it. I had seen countless pictures of it, but for some reason I always pictured it being like 15 feet tall. Looking up the official height after my trip, I learned it was 10x that. For perspective, I googled heights of famous buildings in Salt Lake City and the former Salt Lake City Tribune building is approximately the same size. I included a picture of the SLC Tribune building below for reference.
The former Salt Lake City Tribune building is 5 feet shorter and narrower than Druid Arch. The picture below is not mine).
Climbing down from Druid Arch.
Back at EC3 where I had dropped my stuff earlier that morning.
So my luxury item I decided to bring was a lightweight tripod. Not a smart move considering there was a full moon every night. It was a lesson learned the hard way. I'll be sure to check the moon tables before committing to carrying a tripod on a backpacking trip. I still played around with it at night but it definitely was not worth the weight. I didn't notice until I got home and uploaded my pictures to my laptop that I caught a small shooting star in this picture.
The next day, the plan was to hike a few miles to the CP1 campsite, drop my pack and do the Devils Kitchen Loop. I went back over the pass into Chesler Park to find CP1.
When I got to CP1, I decided to take a little break. The sun was hot that day and my sunburn had intensified. I wanted to take a mid-day nap in the shade and I was a little pooped from the long miles I had put in the day before. I had planned to do the Devil's Kitchen loop a little later in the day.
This was the same campsite as @Jackson 's infamous Raven incident which I knew nothing of at the time. While I laid in the spot below. I watched a Raven circle me and repeatedly land close to me, getting closer and closer each time. I didn't think much of it and eventually dozed off. I have no doubt that this is the same raven that @Jackson ran into here. I also have no idea how close he got to me or my ursack while I was napping.
I ended up napping for way longer than I had planned and I debated whether to still do the Devil's Kitchen loop. Knowing that I would be hiking back in the dark if I did it, I decided to just wander aimlessly on the trails around my campsite until the sun went down.
I made a few more attempts with the tripod despite the full moon.
The moon was just way too bright. Only the brightest stars were visible.
The next day, I'd be hiking out of the Needles. I was up early and walked over to an overlook a few hundred feet from CP1. I was treated to a beautiful sunrise. I sat there for about 40 minutes just taking it all in before going back to break down my tent and pack my bag.
Even on the way out, the light looked really nice for a while.
When I’m backpacking, I always seem to develop a craving for a cold sugar laced beverage by around the 3rd day. I usually become fixated on something specific although it’s usually a different beverage each time. This time, I was craving a cold can of Country Time lemonade. When I reached the trailhead and headed out of the park, I had to drive like 70 miles or so until I finally passed a place that sold cold drinks. I was on my way to Salt Lake City to pick up @Chuck the Mauler and two of his buddies who were flying in from Detroit to join me for week 2. I enjoyed the solo portion of my trip but was ready for some company. I was stoked for the second week of my trip and couldn’t wait to get on the river. On the drive, I passed this cool looking abandoned gas station. I thought it was pretty cool. It reminded me of that show American Pickers.
To be continued…
The four reports are organized as follows:
Part 1 – From NYC to Elephant Canyon (Click HERE to view Part 1)
Part 2 – Chesler Park and Druid Arch (Currently Viewing)
Part 3 – Colorado River; Potash to Spanish Bottom (Click HERE to view Part 3)
Part 4 – The Maze District (Click HERE to view Part 4)
An extra big “thank you” to all of the BCP members who helped me plan this trip. Especially @Nick, @slc_dan and @Joey for patiently answering all of my questions (for literally months) and all the members who authored the dozens of Canyonlands trip reports I was able to pore through.
Part 2 – Chesler Park and Druid Arch
This report covers the next two and a half days that I spent in the Needles but focuses mainly on Chesler Park and Druid Arch which were the highlights for me.
I ended Part 1 with some pictures of campsite EC2 in the Needles in the evening, so I'll pick up with some pictures of the beautiful sunrise that I woke up to the next morning. The morning epiphany is one of my favorite parts of backpacking. The moment where you begin to wake up and your brain races trying to figure out what the deal is. For me, the thought process was along the lines of "okay so it a work day?, the weekend?, wait where the f#ck am I? Holy $H!T!!, I'm in the f@&%inG Needles!!!"
The plan for the day was to hike about half a mile to campsite EC3, drop my pack and slackpack over the pass to Chesler Park, hike the loop counter-clockwise including the Joint Trail, and then do the spur trail to Druid Arch before returning to EC3. This turned out to be a little over 14 miles according to Gaia but it was pretty easy going since I wasn't carrying a full pack. I have to admit though, that last scramble at the end of the Druid Arch Trail wasn't as fun at the end of a long day as it might have been earlier in the day.
With my back to the sunrise, the sun made the top of the rocks glow orange.
A few shots facing the sunrise with the needles still hiding my view of the sun. It's strange how in canyons, you can see the light reflecting off of stuff before you can actually see the sun.
One last look at Elephant Canyon before going over the pass in Chesler Park
A view from the top of the pass going into Chesler Park (not facing into Chesler Park though). I believe this is facing north and that the La Sal Mountains and the Island in the Sky plateau can be seen on the right.
Canyonlands is nicely decorated with assortment of dead trees.. It kind of made me feel like I was in a giant reptile terrarium at times.
This picture below highlights one of the interesting differences I noticed between the Needles and the Maze. The soil along the trail in the Needles tended to be a dry orange sand (like the picture below) while the soil in the Maze was dark, almost black, cryptobiotic soil. One of the other differences was that I saw TONS of lizards in the Needles whereas in the Maze I saw barely any lizards and tons of bunnies. That took me by a bit of a surprise. When I think desert, I don't really think bunnies.. at least not until now.
At times Chesler Park felt like it was created for a Super Mario Brothers game.
These were the steps down into the Joint Trail.
The Joint Trail started out as a wide cave-like trail through a sea of cairns.
The Joint Trail then got really narrow and deep. I'm pretty sure there were times when I couldn't see the sky above. I'm not claustrophobic, but feeling my pack barely rubbing through the walls so far deep in this thing got me feeling a little uneasy.
The unease quickly went away when I could see the end in sight.
There was a nice view of the southern end of Chesler Park after exiting the Joint Trail.
A few more shots of the needles in Chesler on my way to the junction of the Druid Arch Trail.
The Druid Arch Trail started off like any of the other trails along washes that I had been on earlier in the trip, but the further down the trail I got, the more interesting and complex the rock formations became. There were a few climbs up a dryfall or two and a scramble at the end.
And there at the top of the final scramble was Druid Arch. I was taken back by the enormity of it. I had seen countless pictures of it, but for some reason I always pictured it being like 15 feet tall. Looking up the official height after my trip, I learned it was 10x that. For perspective, I googled heights of famous buildings in Salt Lake City and the former Salt Lake City Tribune building is approximately the same size. I included a picture of the SLC Tribune building below for reference.
The former Salt Lake City Tribune building is 5 feet shorter and narrower than Druid Arch. The picture below is not mine).
Climbing down from Druid Arch.
Back at EC3 where I had dropped my stuff earlier that morning.
So my luxury item I decided to bring was a lightweight tripod. Not a smart move considering there was a full moon every night. It was a lesson learned the hard way. I'll be sure to check the moon tables before committing to carrying a tripod on a backpacking trip. I still played around with it at night but it definitely was not worth the weight. I didn't notice until I got home and uploaded my pictures to my laptop that I caught a small shooting star in this picture.
The next day, the plan was to hike a few miles to the CP1 campsite, drop my pack and do the Devils Kitchen Loop. I went back over the pass into Chesler Park to find CP1.
When I got to CP1, I decided to take a little break. The sun was hot that day and my sunburn had intensified. I wanted to take a mid-day nap in the shade and I was a little pooped from the long miles I had put in the day before. I had planned to do the Devil's Kitchen loop a little later in the day.
This was the same campsite as @Jackson 's infamous Raven incident which I knew nothing of at the time. While I laid in the spot below. I watched a Raven circle me and repeatedly land close to me, getting closer and closer each time. I didn't think much of it and eventually dozed off. I have no doubt that this is the same raven that @Jackson ran into here. I also have no idea how close he got to me or my ursack while I was napping.
I ended up napping for way longer than I had planned and I debated whether to still do the Devil's Kitchen loop. Knowing that I would be hiking back in the dark if I did it, I decided to just wander aimlessly on the trails around my campsite until the sun went down.
I made a few more attempts with the tripod despite the full moon.
The moon was just way too bright. Only the brightest stars were visible.
The next day, I'd be hiking out of the Needles. I was up early and walked over to an overlook a few hundred feet from CP1. I was treated to a beautiful sunrise. I sat there for about 40 minutes just taking it all in before going back to break down my tent and pack my bag.
Even on the way out, the light looked really nice for a while.
When I’m backpacking, I always seem to develop a craving for a cold sugar laced beverage by around the 3rd day. I usually become fixated on something specific although it’s usually a different beverage each time. This time, I was craving a cold can of Country Time lemonade. When I reached the trailhead and headed out of the park, I had to drive like 70 miles or so until I finally passed a place that sold cold drinks. I was on my way to Salt Lake City to pick up @Chuck the Mauler and two of his buddies who were flying in from Detroit to join me for week 2. I enjoyed the solo portion of my trip but was ready for some company. I was stoked for the second week of my trip and couldn’t wait to get on the river. On the drive, I passed this cool looking abandoned gas station. I thought it was pretty cool. It reminded me of that show American Pickers.
To be continued…
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