Heading back to the Needles Section of Canyonlands National Park, this time we went to the Visitor Center and traveled the scenic loop road to enjoy the lookouts and to do a few easy hikes. This section is also about 35 miles off the highway, but a different 35 miles than the road leading to the Needles Overlook. Canyonlands covers a vast area.....Again, the ride in is spectacular.
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| heading to Canyonlands |
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| 35 miles of amazing views before you reach the park |
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| cool |
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| amazing no matter where you look |
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| there are the "needles" now |
After a stop in the Visitor Center, we asked about some easy day hikes. It seems that the hikes in this area are either "easy" or "strenuous", no in-between. And there is always the height and ledge issue, being that its canyons! Off we went for a fun day exploring and gawking over the scenery around us.
Our first stop was the Roadside Ruin, which was a very easy walk to a ruin. Along the way, we were warned not to step off the trail. The cryptobiotic soil is very fragile and takes years to form. Even with all the warnings, we still see footprints in the soil! Ugh!
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| cryptobiotic soil...very fragile...do not walk on it |
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| there's the ruin now (not me)! |
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| close up |
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| heading back...follow the cairns |
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| stuff growing in the cryptobiotic soil |
Next up was a fun trail to see how the cowboys lived! The trail was called the Cave Spring Trail. The cowboys would nestle in under the rocks and set up camp as they herded the cows across the land. It was pretty cool to check it out, even though it was staged. We enjoyed the part of the hike we did. The environment was fascinating. We walked until we had to go up the ladder onto a ledge....then turned around and retraced our steps.
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| looks like fingers to me |
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| these short rock formations were so cool...looked like Fred Flinstone's village |
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| would be fun to be a kid here, and have this as a playground |
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| either way? |
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| hhmmmmm |
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| heading out |
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| the cowboy camp |
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| this is staged...but still is cool just thinking about it |
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| this is cowboy country...the real wild west |
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| lots of the walk was near rock |
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| how cool is this? |
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| see the rust pictographs and the "hands" in the rock wall |
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| come on Susie... |
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| nice and cool under here |
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| so many caves |
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| no can do.....end of the line for me |
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| where are you supposed to go once you get off the ladder? |
I repeat myself when I say this...we may not be enjoying the most tasty lunches, but the views are spectacular! We have moved on from peanut butter this week so we can finish up some of our Easter ham! Woah!
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| lunch:) |
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| do you think we are eating too much ham? |
The trails were lots of fun because they were all different. After lunch, we went to the "pothole trail" which had just that...potholes! Being from NJ, we are very familiar with them. No, seriously, they were fascinating. They have their own environment, flora and fauna. There really are things living in there...and they remain dormant until it rains and the potholes fill with water. We only saw one with water, and spent some time observing. Dorky, I know....but this is the kind of thing we call FUN! Oh, and the views along the way can't be beat:)
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| starting up the pothole trail |
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| this is going to be fun! |
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| following the cairns |
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| seriously, you could get lost up here |
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| getting that Fred Flinstone feeling again |
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| nice view of the Needles |
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| woah...another nice view |
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| tons of potholes |
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| still with me? |
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| the views are awesome no matter where you look |
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| oh look...a sculpture garden! |
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| great view of the Needles |
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| these potholes have a lot of dirt |
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| cool mushroom rocks below us |
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| okay...we are pretty high up...but I'm good... |
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| continuing along |
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| too bad there's not water in the potholes |
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| following the cairns |
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| how cool is that? |
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| continuing along |
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| cryptobiotic soil forming in the pothole |
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| cool looking |
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| one pothole had water...and things really were alive in there |
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| look at that! A shell! What???? We are on a high desert mesa |
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| something moved and burrowed under..see the bubbles |
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| what a view...love the colors |
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| still spotting some blooms...even here |
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| still with me? |
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| such a cool place! |
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| that pothole looks like a garden |
After the pothole hike, we progressed to the end of the scenic overlook road, which ends at Big Spring Canyon Overlook. We spent another few minutes just gawking at the scenery. This is one beautiful park!
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| The end of the scenic road....the overlook |
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| more pretty blooms |
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| last overlook at the end of the road |
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| amazing |
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| "end of the road" pic |
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| that arch is called the "wooden shoe"... |
Our last hike of the day was the Slickrock Foot Trail, again giving us such unbelievable views. This trail is completely over slickrock, and was a lot of fun. We were looking for bighorn sheep, but never did see any. It was a 2.4 mile loop, but we turned around in the middle and walked back the way we came so I didn't have to stress over the slanted edge at one point on the trail. The views were awesome!
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| here we go |
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| follow the cairns |
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| going up -as usual |
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| pretty |
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| really nice! |
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| still there Susie? |
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| ahhh..look at that view |
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| more |
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| more |
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| this is a fun hike too! |
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| just follow the cairns |
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| an unexpected arch |
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| never know what's over the hill |
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| but guaranteed to be a great view |
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| come on Susie.... |
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| continuing |
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| continuing |
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| oh good, you are still there |
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| check out the view...love those mushroom rocks |
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| what is that? |
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| an extra layer? |
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| everything is so cool |
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| going up |
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| another amazing view |
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| fun hiking over the slickrock |
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| going to head down |
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| water break |
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| admiring the view |
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| just amazing!! |
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