Trip Report: Canyonlands, April 2019

[Sue Z]

And now for something completely different...

I was hell-bent on doing some early season hiking this year, but I'm a total cold-weather wus. That led me to plan a trip to southeastern Utah in April for my hubby, Dave, and me.

McKee's very enjoyable Yosemite post prompted me to make this report.

The trip started out with two "touristy" days investigating the Moab, Utah area, followed by a 6-day backpack in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. Moab was absolutely packed with 4WD vehicles and visitors attending the Easter Jeep Safari event. We steered clear of them as much as possible.

Day 1: Explored the sights and trails along Potash Road, which follows the western bank of Colorado River to the Shafer Trail, an unpaved road that makes a crazy climb up some cliffs and enters the park's Island in the Sky District from the side, bypassing the official entrance. (Had to rent a jeep.)

We only hiked about 5 miles the first day, but I can highly recommend the Corona Arch Trail, a 3-mile RT from Potash Rd. Toward the far end it opens up into a 360 degree "amphitheater" with great rock formations all around. The main attractions are Bowtie Arch and Corona Arch.





Bowtie Arch


Corona Arch


I have a creepy feeling that I'm being watched.


Thelma and Louise Point (where they drove off the cliff in the movie)


We took a small detour onto White Rim Rd, a 71-mile, almost-a-loop 4WD road that takes most people a few days to complete. Primitive camping available, BYO everything, including water. We went as far as Musselman Arch, then returned to the Shafer Trail.

Tiptoeing across Musselman Arch.




Amazing juxtaposition of red rock desert formations and snow-covered La Sal mountains in the background.


Looking back at the Shafer Trail switchbacks. Not for the faint of heart.


View of the White Rim Rd from Canyonlands' Grandview Point Trail.

[Sue Z]

Day 2: Total of 11 miles of hiking on two trails in Arches National Park.

Hike One: Three-mile RT to Delicate Arch. An abundance of great scenery, fun trail features. Uphill all the way to the arch.





Delicate Arch.


Hike Two: Eight mile round trip "lollipop" hike on the Devil's Garden Trail. Mostly primitive trail, plenty of interesting terrain. Many arches on the developed part of the trail, lots of fins on the rest.

[McKee80]

Cool! Thanks for posting. I’ve never been to Arches or Canyonlands, so I always like to see trip reports from there. How was the backpacking? Did you have to carry a lot of water?

[Sue Z]

Cool! Thanks for posting. I’ve never been to Arches or Canyonlands, so I always like to see trip reports from there. How was the backpacking? Did you have to carry a lot of water?

Hi McKee.

The backpacking was awesome. I'll get the rest of the report up soon.

Regarding water: I didn't have the time to ferret out all of the intel we'd need about water sources, and I didn't want our desiccated corpses to spend eternity lost in the desert, so I went with a guide service. They knew a lovely route that had plenty of water, at least when we were there in April. So, 1.5 liters was enough for me to get from one source to the next. Later in the season you'd need more, because of the heat.

The route, a one-way hike through Salt Creek Canyon, in the Needles District, requires a shuttle by a high-clearance 4WD vehicle to reach the trailhead. The trails weren't hard to follow, and if I did it again, I wouldn't require a guide. Surprisingly, the area does have black bears, so a bear canister is required for food.

[tibber]

great report and the photos were wonderful. With retirement in a year and 1/2, I'll be able to hit some of these areas.
Interesting about needing bear canisters.

Oh and once again, this would be a good report on https://hikearizona.com/ if you were so inclined and had the time as on HAZ you have to do the trip report separate from the photos.
But I know they would love it.

[paul]

It's nice to see some more activity on this page. I'm glad you posted this report. That area is so unique and beautiful. Thanks for posting.

[teapot57]

Thanks for the report! Another place to add to my wish list.

[Sue Z]

Days 3 through 8: My Life in Ruins.

I had two reasons for choosing this particular backpacking trip:
1. Moderately easy, early-season, get-in-shape topography
2. Exploring ancient ruins, pictographs, petroglyphs, artifacts!

There were seven people total in our group. We started the one-way hike at the Cathedral Butte trailhead (just outside the park), immediately dropping 1,000 feet through a side canyon to get to the Salt Creek Canyon Trail. From there we followed the canyon downstream (no continuous stream, actually, but good water does seem to surface conveniently every five miles or so). The main hike was about 27 miles to the Cave Spring Road trailhead, but we took a leisurely 6 days to do it, leaving lots of time for side hikes to explore ruins and side canyons along the way. So maybe a total of 32 miles with all the side hikes.

Trailhead view toward Salt Creek Canyon. The trail is wicked steep and rocky at first, becoming more genteel after the first half mile or so.


Great rock formations, shrubs, trees and cacti keep things interesting along the hike.


A variety of prickly pear?


Fence posts of the abandoned Kirk cattle ranch, over 100 years old.


Remains of wagon and Kirk cabin.


Big Ruin, an Anasazi dwelling with over 30 units (at least 800 years old). Visit required a good half-mile side hike.




Pottery shards.


Arrowhead (we accused the guide of planting this , but there were a number of similar flaked cutting tools around).


Metate and mano (essentially, a mortar and pestle) for grinding corn.


Modern accommodations.


Exploring a side canyon.


Pictograph called All American Man in an elevated alcove with a granary.


Claret cup cactus.


Approaching a ruin that has pictographs.


Pictographs from the Fremont culture, c. 500-1350.




The "Squash Ruins." A possibly ancient patch of vines still growing here.


Last year's squash.




Popping through a tunnel to see a hidden side canyon.




Side hike to Angel Arch.


Angel Arch and The Molar.


Tarp erected during a hailstorm. The storm lasted 10 seconds longer than it took to erect the tarp.


Reptilian tete-a-tete.


Exploring ruins on a ledge.




View from inside a cave about 50 feet up a cliff wall. Drill marks inside the cave suggest uranium prospecting, maybe?


Peekaboo Rock pictographs.


Barrier Canyon style rock art from the Archaic period - up to 2000 years old, or up to 8000 years old, depending on the study.




Fremont culture rock art (white) painted over older, Archaic rock art (red).






On the road again: Tourist-friendly petroglyphs (chipped into the rock varnish) at Newspaper Rock.


What the figure?


No horses before 1600, so this is thought to be Ute or Navajo.


We slammed back into civilization on Day 8, as Moab was now hosting a hot rod and antique car show. They cruised up and down the main street all night.

[PeteE]

Truly amazing trip report and pictures.
I can only hope to be able to visit there one day.
Well done Sue. Really nice.
Thanks for sharing.

pete

[al_in_al]

I’m glad you were inspired to post a trip report! It’s been a few years since I’ve been to that area, and definitely would like to get back to the Needles one day.

[llholmes1948]

Sue,
That is a great report and photos. thanks very much for posting it.

We are planning to visit Arches and Canyonlands next year. We would appreciate any recommendations from you and other Chatters about day hikes in Arches and Canyonlands, restaurants and places to stay in Moab, and avoiding the Easter Jeep Safari.

Lyman

[Sue Z]

Sue,
That is a great report and photos. thanks very much for posting it.

We are planning to visit Arches and Canyonlands next year. We would appreciate any recommendations from you and other Chatters about day hikes in Arches and Canyonlands, restaurants and places to stay in Moab, and avoiding the Easter Jeep Safari.

Lyman

Happy to help, Lyman. We had only two days to day hike before the backpacking trip, but I did a lot of research on our options. I'll get back to you soon.

[al_in_al]

Sue,
That is a great report and photos. thanks very much for posting it.

We are planning to visit Arches and Canyonlands next year. We would appreciate any recommendations from you and other Chatters about day hikes in Arches and Canyonlands, restaurants and places to stay in Moab, and avoiding the Easter Jeep Safari.

Lyman

I really enjoyed the Chesler Park Loop in the Needles district!

[Jay w]

Sue, thanks for posting. Great pictures and commentary. I think backpacking there requires some extra grit (pun intended) since it can be hot and sandy. So good on ya.

We had a guided bike tour on the White Rim Trail. We did three nights and had great food and Julie had to walk those switchbacks coming out. When I told a buddy about that, he said he biked it in a day, but needed an IV afterwards. (Those crazy Colorado folks...)

Sorry to hear the Jeep takeover is still going on.

Jay