Canyonlands is a vast national park, divided into three areas by the Colorado and Green rivers. Since the only places to cross the rivers are few and far between, these areas are really the only access points to the park. We decided on the Needles District, about and hour and a half south of Moab, figuring that the closer Islands in the Sky District would be crowded due to the holiday weekend. The third district, the Maze, requires a camel and six weeks to get to, or something like that.
We almost had the Needles District to ourselves, and decided on an 8 mile loop hike. I thought the area would be less interesting desert, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the hike took up through some really neat landscapes, full of bulbous rock formations and, shockingly, lots of canyons.
We started out climbing up and over lots of formations.
Selfie! And yes, we are getting a bit of sun.
Path through the bacteria.
Is there a trail here somewhere?
I can't decide if this is more Martian or cartoon looking.
The trails weren't so much paths as guided routes over the rocks. We would go from one cairn (stack of rocks) to another. I somehow have trouble spotting the next marking to make out for, but Sarah kept us on track. When the trail went down into a canyon and onto dirt, we saw lots of dark patches on the ground, that we were told were cyanobacterial crusts that slowly form on the desert floor, and pave the way for other vegetation.
One of the many dead end canyons we went up and over and through. You can just see the La Sal Mountains to the north in the distance.
Another of Astro's dead tree pictures.
Out of the park it was another couple hours to our hotel in Monticello, home of, well, nothing. It was also Sunday, so we had trouble finding somewhere to eat, because, it being Utah, pretty much everything has to close on Sunday. After a night in a motel that offered a variety of unpleasant aromas, we took off on our last leg home.
This was a 450 mile day, by far the longest of the trip. We made the mistake of taking the I-17 from Flagstaff to Phoenix to save time, but soon found that the heavy back-to-Phoenix traffic on a holiday was not a lot of fun on a two-up ADV bike. The buffeting from the constant parade of jacked-up redneck-mobiles and RVs made for a very long and tiring day. Note to self: Lesson learned--Interstate Highways aren't worth it. We did get some pictures of the bike in Monument Valley, though, which is a ADV rider must!
Am I trying to look contemplative? Or just trying to not get smoked by a drunk motorist?
