Last Day in the Desert

If you can believe it, we ventured back into four-wheel drive territory the next day. We had a permit to drive a short backcountry trail in the Needles section of Canyonlands.

But this time, I got to drive. Cool.

See picture for details. Mike does a nice job with the camera -- you can see an awesome rock formation in the rear view mirror.

This is so pathetic, but after experience we had the day before (see "How We Survived Desert Storm 2009") we were kind of jaded. We had seen some of the most amazing sights nature has to offer, and we were getting a little judgy about our beauty.

In this picture, we're having lunch in a canyon walking distance to ancient cave drawings, and we're saying "Yeah. Not that impressed." We're saying, "Yeah. This beauty? Not as beautiful as some of the other beauty we've seen."

Who says this? Do you see where we are?

However, this trail was really different from the White Rim. First of all, it was all inside the canyon -- no scary cliffs. And it was mostly sand. In fact, it was all-around more sterotypically desert. See picture of cactus for confirmation:

This trail actually had quite a few bonuses. First, safety. Huge.

Second, it had a family of super nice Mormons. We first chatted it up with Dad when he was on his way to see some pictographs over by where we were eating lunch. Then we got to talking with his wife and two daughters after we hiked (I use that word real, real loosely -- more like a walk with rocks on it). They told us about another way to leave the Moab area that would ensure we saw more cool stuff.

How did we know they were Latter Day Saints? One daughter mentioned she used to live in Lousiana. Obviously we asked what brought her there.

"A mission."

And no further questions.

The pictographs were pretty amazing. And also a little confusing. Look right above the turtle/monster/horned creature/thingymagigy for six-toed feet.

Did ancient Native Americans have six toes? Really? If you know, please inform.

Probably one of the coolest things we saw in Needles were the remains of ancient cave dwellings. Because the desert is so dry, and because these were constructed in caves, erosion hasn't completely destroyed some of the graineries.

Anyone interested in a little place in the Utah desert? I hear you can get a great price on this bad boy.

When we got towards the end of the trail, there was this rock overhang right above a rock jutting out of the sand. It was pretty clear from the scuff marks on the overhanging rock that a few people had misjudged the height of their vehicle.

Mike got out and coached me through this tricky wheelin' moment. I am proud to say that as a result of some excellent spotting, I made it through. See photo for details.

But Mike took the wheel for all the crazy complicated stuff. At the end of the trail was a stretch of loose rock. Mike tried to coach me through it, but I basically started to cry and ran out of the truck.

That's not really an exaggeration.

Mike and the Tacoma tore that action up. This is kind of like what we did on the White Rim Trail, only not on a cliff, in the rain, in mud, straight uphill.

So its not really that much like this, but whatever.

At the very end of the trail was an arch:And that was about it. We headed back out of the park and to our campsite, the Needles Outpost, owned and operated by Tracy and Gary who epitomize the term "hippie." Needles outpost is located right up against a sheer cliff of red rock and then there is nothing but miles of desert with rock spires sticking up out of the horizon. It also has coin operated showers, but that's not as interesting.

That night, Mike and I stayed up late and watched the sun set over the desert. It was the desert night we had been waiting for, with an entire Milky Way above us, a perfect Cheshire Cat Smile moon and a navy blue sky.

You need to do this. You need to see it and hear it. It is as wild and wonderful as you think it will be and then its even better.

It was hard to leave Utah. We missed it when we left, and we miss Utah right now. We'll be back.