On our first day in the Moab area, the weather was fairly heavily overcast. It had rained during the night and was threatening to continue during the day. We decided that we’d head south on UT-191 to the Needles District of the Canyonlands National Park and try our luck there.

The turnoff from UT-191 onto UT-211 is only about 30 minutes south of Moab, but it takes another hour to weave into the Needles district. Allthough the weather remained overcast, we were luck not to have any rain during the day. It was my first trip to the Needles district. There are a few ‘things to see’ on a road trip, but it appears that the best area — ‘The Needles’  — is only accessible on foot. You can pack in and camp there too, so this has been placed on my todo list for a future camping trip. Given the ever increasing popularity of the accessible areas and the high incidence of idiots in such areas, I’m definitely going to take a much more ‘roughing it’ stance for future trips.

On this trip, however, we were not prepared for anything other than road sights and small treks. Some of the highlights of our visit are shown in the photos below.

The Road to Needles. Storm weather was just clearing on our way in towards the park. You can see some beautiful landscapes with some 'monument valley' like spires and mesa tops.The Shoe Arch. Along the road in to the Needles district you'll find this 'arch'.The Shoe Arch Context. Here's another shot of the Shoe Arch. This is the view from the road including surrounding mesa top. (The other shot was taken from the same spot, but with a telephoto lens).Canyonlands Limestone Pools. This is from a trail through Pothole Point -- a very large limestone topped mesa in the Needles district. As the limestone erodes (slowly) pools form which catch rainfall and retain it for a long time. The pools are full of tadpoles (and at some point frogs) and other aquatic life both animal and plant.Canyonlands Flying Saucer. In Ontario, we'd assume this rock was deposited on a otherwise flat rock top by a Glacier. Not so here, the mechanism is differential erosion of two limestone (hard) layers seperated by sandstong (soft). You can see the limestone surface we're standing on, the sandstone on the underside of the 'saucer' with a limestone top.Ancient Pueblan Storage. In the Needles district, there is a trail that runs through a small valley/wash where Ancient Pueblan people farmed and lived. Here, under a protective shelf of rock, they've built a storage system for keeping food 'out of the weather'.Desert Plants. Another selection of desert plants -- Utah Juniper and a nice big prickly pear cactus. You can also see cryptobiotic soil very clearly. This soil takes as much as 100 years to be created and only one idiot's footprint to destroy. There was much idiot sign along this trail.... sigh.The Needles. The eponymous Needles in the distance. You can camp among them, but you have to pack in to the campsite. Some day...
Castle Valley 2017
Arches 2017