La Sal Mountains and Canyonlands National Park - Needles District, Utah - Hiking and Backpacking

There is nothing better than a July afternoon in the desert. I love the peaceful, quiet solitude of Utah's red rock desert any time of the year, but a mid summer hike under the scorching sun is a unique experience. It's like walking through a world where every living thing is asleep - a total void of sound and movement. Even the plants seem lifeless, except for an occasional glistening green cottonwood tree with it's secret source of water deep underground. The stillness of the desert in July is surreal.

Last July, Jacob joined me for a "death march" across Canyonlands National Park in the Needles District. Despite the ridiculous heat, we managed to backpack to Chesler Park and do a long day hike to Druid Arch. It was a challenging but peaceful trip through spectacular desert scenery.

This year, to continue the tradition, Hunter, Col, and Alaska Tim joined me for a 4th of July weekend in the Moab area of southern Utah. We spent two nights near Moab which allowed us to see Dead Horse Point and do a long day hike in the La Sal Mountains. We spent one additional night in Canyonlands National Park to get away from the crowds and developed campgrounds.

Car camping, or park-and-plop, has advantages and disadvantages. It allows you to have real food, delicious beer, and the convenience associated with having all of your gear readily accessible in the car near your tent. It's fun and comfortable, but not very adventurous. The main disadvantage is the fact that you almost always have neighbors, noise, and the feeling that you aren't really out in the wilderness. A few good beers make up for these disadvantages, especially late at night when the neighbors are quiet.

What would a trip be this year without rain!? We left Salt Lake on a Thursday afternoon in a total monsoon complete with hail and flooded roads. Things cleared out by the time we reached Dead Horse Point State Park, and we set up camp in the unusually cool July air.


Setting up camp at Dead Horse Point

We didn't quite make it out to the Point before the sun rose the next morning, but some clouds on the horizon made for a less spectacular sunrise than last year. The views were still magnificent and everyone enjoyed spending time walking around the various overlooks of the Colorado River below.


Sunrise near Dead Horse Point

The Colorado River

Happy little deer

The highlight of the trip was our hike in the La Sal Mountains, just outside of Moab. The last things you would expect in Moab (in July) are green forests and running water, but that's just what we found. The high elevation of the La Sals (over 12,000 ft) means the snowpack sticks around well into the summer. There is abundant water everywhere to support the dense forests and fields of wildflowers. Down below, in all directions, the scorched desert stretches out as far as you can see. In the words of Edward Abbey:

"All around the peaks of the Sierra La Sal lies the desert, a sea of burnt rock, arid tablelands, barren and desolate canyons. The canyon country is revealed from this magnificent height as on a map and I can imagine, if not read, the names on the land."


Alaska Tim ready to hike in the La Sals

Col and Hunter enjoying the La Sals

Green? Trees? We aren't in Moab anymore!

Field of flowers in the La Sals

Burro Pass

I advertised this trip as a scorching death march, but the day hike in the La Sal Mountains was cool and comfortable. Thankfully, it was a bit warmer once we made it to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as hot and nasty as I promised, but everyone seemed to suffer nonetheless. We backpacked in to Chesler Park, and our campsite was spectacular! A gorgeous view of all of Chesler Park. Most of the afternoon was spent hiding from the sun (or sprawled out on a rock enjoying the sun, in my case). A brief storm later in the evening made for some spectacular lighting against the rocks as the sun set, and some natural fireworks (lightning) in honor of the 4th of July!


The Needles

My tent getting nice and warm in the sun

What is this!? This doesn't look like suffering!

Col and Hunter hiking through Chesler Park

Chesler Park

My favorite moment of the trip was sitting on a rock with Tim, overlooking Chesler Park, as a nearly full moon rose over the needle shaped rocks on the horizon. It became light enough to walk around without any need for a headlamp. The pale light shining on the rocks of Chesler Park was so beautiful that we sat together in peaceful silence for a very long time, enjoying the moment.

Now accepting applications for ElScorchoTres!

Canyonlands National Park, Utah - Camping and Hiking

A quote from my friend Mate's holiday letter: "As you greet the New Year, so, too, shall you spend it."

I had good reason to go to bed just after midnight on New Year's Eve - an early morning departure to Moab to visit some of my favorite places in Southern Utah. If you want to see some of the most spectacular sites around Moab and not feel like you are in Disneyland or L.A. traffic, you need to be able to tolerate a little heat or a little cold. It keeps the crowds to a minimum. There have been many trips to this area during the height of summer, including Salt Creek Canyon - the gold standard of misery to which all other unbearable experiences are compared (at least according to some.) But I can only remember visiting the area once during the winter and it was right after I moved to Utah. I'll take the heat over the cold any day, but I always appreciate an outdoor experience without the crowds. This trip was on familiar territory but visiting in a different season made it feel like a whole new experience.

We set up camp the first night near the Colorado River, just outside of Moab. There were a few hours of daylight left so we decided to check out Arches National Park. There were very few visitors and the snow capped redrock made for some great scenes.


sunset and the LaSal Mountains

Balanced Rock

Double Arch

Turret Arch

Brandon in his tent

Since we were so close to Moab, we decided to do a little grocery shopping and have a "fancy" dinner, complete with real cooked food and beer!


Brandon cooking over the fire

Me making fajitas

On Friday we traveled south to the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park. This is a relatively quiet area even during the mild season so we pretty much had the park to ourselves. We set up camp and hiked into Lost Canyon. The weather was somewhat mild for January and we enjoyed the sunshine by relaxing on some rocks and checking out the views.


Brandon and Rob

Hiking into Lost Canyon

"Potholes" full of water

Rob

Brandon

The next day we did a longer hike into Chesler Park. It was colder and a little snowy, a big change from my last visit to this area in July.


on the way to Chesler Park

me in Elephant Canyon

Rob

the Needles

dusting of snow on the Needles

We set a record for our coldest camping experience the final night. We decided to camp in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park. The temperature dropped to minus 9 degrees F in Moab and it may have been even colder where we were - high up on a plateau surrounded by canyons. It certainly was invigorating weather to wake up to. Most of our tent stakes were abandoned that morning since they didn't want to budge from the frozen ground. Once the sun warmed things up a bit we checked out some of the views in Island in the Sky.

Island in the Sky

Mesa Arch

Me on the edge of the canyon

frosty tents

brrrrr!!

"It Depends on Us... another year lies before us like an unwritten page, an unspent coin, an unwalked road. How the pages will read, what treasures will be gained in exchange for time, or what we find along the way, will largely depend on us."

-- Esther Baldwin York


we added our stone...

Canyonlands National Park - Needles District, Utah - Backpacking

The perfect day in the desert starts long before sunrise at Dead Horse Point State Park. It's easy to wake up at this hour because sleep was intermittent at best all night. It's hard to sleep with a full moon shining like a spotlight into the tent. Besides, who wants to sleep through such a beautiful night? The neighbors in the camp site next door are stirring and making a lot of noise - they have the same plan in mind.


Walking to Dead Horse Point from the campsite

Dawn must be the desert's favorite time of the day - everything seems peaceful and content. Just enough light to see the beautiful canyons in every direction but dark enough to see the setting moon and dimming stars and planets. No wind. No noise. No heat. Everything seems to silently waiting for the inevitable - the scorching sun of another July day in the desert. It doesn't take long for the sun to make it's appearance over the canyon and even less time for the temperature to spike from cool to hot. It's amazing that such a common, regular event can feel so momentous.


The sun rising over Dead Horse Point

Sunrise at Dead Horse Point

Looking into the canyon after sunrise

The shadow of Dead Horse Point

The perfect day in the desert continues in Moab, at a hole in the wall cafe with funky art, great vegan food, and customers speaking every language but English. Europeans pay good money to get to the Moab area, while many Utahns ignore this amazing place right in their own backyards.


Breakfast at Eklectic Cafe in Moab

The perfect day in the deserts means getting to Canyonlands National Park - Needles Distrcit and finding nearly every backcountry permit available for the entire park, including the coveted Chesler Park 4 spot. The intense heat, while making backpacking a challenge, also keeps the riff-raff out. An occasional car of French or German tourists stops and it's occupants climb out. After a few seconds they exchange very, very concerned looks. A few pictures are snapped and they crawl back into their air conditoned car. Peace returns.


Me in the Needles

The Needles

The Needles

Elephant Canyon

Our tent in Chesler Park

The perfect day in the desert means experiencing what it's like to hike in a furnace. Your bag of water, such a simple thing, is now the difference between life and death. You feel like you are wandering through an alien world where you don't belong. The reward is absolute solitude with incredible scenery. Seeing a sight that few people get to experience makes the challenge worth it.


Druid Arch

Druid Arch

The perfect day in the desert ends without a sunset to compliment the morning sunrise. Instead, the small amount of moisture along with the intense heat of the day combine to create a few thunderstorms that slowly crawl across the deeper canyons in the distance. Just far enough away to keep the lightning and floods over someone else, but close enough to put on an amazing show while you eat your dinner. Later that night, the desert reminds you that the beauty can mask the danger by rattling your nerves just a bit. Benign this time, but maybe not next time. Gusty winds carrying a sandblast into the tent. Lightning flashing overhead. A big spider on the tent. A few drops of rain.