Spring Trip to Canyonlands’ Needles District
Elephant Hill is always a good early season challenge and this last weekend I had a chance to enjoy a trip to the Needles and Bobby Joe camp. With the ski season coming to a close a number of other instructors and I decided to finish off with a trip to the canyon country.
We had a late start from Keystone with another snowy drive, which I have not been able to get away from this spring. We rolled through Moab after dark and topped the fuel tanks off at Safeway. The only fuel available in Canyonlands is at the Needles Outpost and it costs a fortune.
We finally made it to the Indian Creek BLM area and found a late camp with plans to for an early start over Elephant Hill the next morning.
As an early riser I was able to enjoy the desert sunrise which is one of my favorite times of day in the canyon country. With a great camp breakfast out of the way we where on our way to Elephant Hill. A stop at the entrance gate then onto the visitor center for our backcountry camping permit. When heading into the Canyonlands back country the park service wants to be sure that resource conservation is a focus and there is NO walking or driving on cryptobiotic soils.
We arrived at the Elephant Hill parking lot at noon and got the vehicles ready for the road ahead by airing down the tires. With the trailer in tow I take the front to 20 psi and the rear to 23 psi. The trailer gets dropped to 15 psi to soften the ride and reduce bounce that can contribute to a trailer roll.
With Justin in his Xterra in the lead we started up and over the hill. The trailer always gets some attention. I had a very successful trip over the hill making the two difficult switchbacks with just little backing to get the trailer around.
Then on through the Devil’s Alley and Devil’s Highway. The next and last hard obstacle is SOB hill which we had little trouble with.
With our arrival at camp with lots of time to spare and relax. The full moon and eclipse was spectacular from Canyonlands with no city lights to deal with.
With a day in the Needles we chose to hike the Joint Trail to Druid Arch. This hikes takes one through a fantastic maze of slots and into Chesler Park. The hike then descends over the slick rock and down into Elephant canyon then up canyon to Druid Arch. The hike is about 8 miles out and back.
The following morning we packed up and headed out with a stop and the Green and the Colorado confluence overlook. It is always cool to see the mixing of the colors of the to rivers. Some claim that the Green is the real headwaters of the Colorado.
Our drive back out was uneventful with the main challenge for me and the trailer being a difficult switchback on the backside of Elephant Hill.
