cyberhobo

We decide it’s worth ten bucks to spend our last night in the park at Willow Flat Campground inside the park. It’s a small, pleasant campground within walking distance of the mind-blowing Green River Overlook. At dawn I wander down there and just catch this moonset before setting up the camera for a time lapse:

Finding a campsite in the Island in the Sky district is not like the Needles. It’s BLM land outside the park, but camping is prohibited on almost every BLM road. We find one without the NO CAMPING signs, the west end of the Gemini Bridges road. One possible reason becomes apparent later – semi trucks…

We sleep under the stars, and I wake up in time to get pictures of the world coming back into view: We talk to some climbers today, and I discover to my great embarrassment that this is Indian Creek (a world famous climbing area). I had read some weird descriptions of Indian Creek, got confused…

During the night a thunderstorm rolls in and shakes the world. In the morning, there’s a layer of snow covering half of it. The red rocks poke through. Dad and Sarah head out, and we start hiking up Horse Canyon road. It turns out to be a river today, not a road. So we hike…

It’s cold and windy, and we feel a little tired, so we embark on a shorter hike today. This trail is fun though because it keeps you on the canyon rims, without descending into them. It feels at times like we are ants crawling on top of a giant petrified mushroom patch. Slides: Slick Rock…

The rock-filled Vistas of the Needles trigger memories of my hikes with Ann here 8 years ago, but we still take a wrong turn getting to our trailhead. The decision to repeat one of the previous hikes intrigues me – what will I remember, and what will surprise me? One great thing about the Canyonlands…

Cousin Doug proposes a low-key outing to Lake Agnes, which sounds just right to me. There’s still a lot of snow up on the peaks! See notes on the pictures for details: