Arches and Canyonlands

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Another great visit with Casey and Sam and Cecilia. Rocked out with Social Distortion, and despite the energetic moshing, awoke in good condition. Headed up towards Moab, UT. In the thick of Ed Abbey country now. Shane brought out Desert Solitaire to reread. Arches was a cool landscape, though it seems to have succumbed to all Ed’s worst predictions - drive-through tourists with car- and lazypeople-friendly facilities all along the way. The trails were pretty busy too, at least people were getting out of those metal contraptions to explore! We walked around the Windows area and the Devil’s Garden, which were both rich with arches. Summer was already in the air- temperatures in the mid-90s. We saw much of Arches in one afternoon, it’s a small park. Went back to Moab for the night and ended up in a campground with a bunch of drunken rowdies and 5 year old kids zooming around on motorbikes. Got treated to occasional outbursts of domestic arguments all night. Didn’t sell us much on the private campground scene.
Next headed to Canyonlands NP for a backpacking trip through Chesler Park in the Needles district. Called our Moms for Mother’s Day, and headed out for Elephant Canyon. Easy day, only about 3 mile hike…a pleasant change from the 4000+ feet of elevation that our Grand Canyon trip entailed. We had a nice camping spot overlooking needles rock spires in 3 directions. Went to explore Druid Arch, one of our favorite arches we came across, both because of the scenery, and because of the solitude we got to enjoy along with the view (anti-National Park experiences of late). Enjoyed a lightning storm in the distance. Headed out for a long 1.5 mile hike to our next campsite in Chesler Park. The hike up was great, through a narrow little side canyon. We passed a twin set of caves, some cool overlooks, and then got to Chesler Park, which is a big meadow surrounded by needle rock spires. Our campsite was set between huge boulders right in the middle of the meadow. The Maze was visible off to the West, with the Colorado River in the middle. Hiked a loop in the evening, another cool trail (Joint Trail) through cracks in rock walls. At one point ended up in a room full of hundreds of rock cairns that previous hikers had built, both big and small. We contributed our own. Next day relaxed around the meadow. Shane had to make an emergency run 2 miles to the nearest toilet... Great success!....figured Chesler Park already had enough catholes. Checked out some cowboy ‘graffiti’ from early in the century, complete with a painted-on wanted sign. Headed out the next day, and were off to Colorado!

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Comments

[dearborn]

Ahhh...Yes...No trips complete without a visit from the great Buttheadius Maximus.