Slickrock and Shadow

Spectacular Druid Arch in Needles, Canyonlands This is the trail report of my hike from Chesler Park to Druid arch deep in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park.  I slept at Chesler Park Campground number 4 and enjoy the beautiful sunrise in the park.  I then began hiking toward Druid arch.  The trail is well marked the entire way. This trail goes directly east from Chesler Park through a crack in the surrounding sandstone towers.  On the other side of this passage is Elephant Canyon.  When I first saw Elephant Canyon, I was very high above the canyon floor.  It is not direct or intuitive to reach the canyon floor.  Nevertheless, that is where you must go in order to continue hiking. Following the cairns, I traveled north over sandstone boulders for about 15 minutes before the trail dropped into another fissure in the rocks.  Following this down, the trail gradually works its way down a moderate cliff.  The hiking is not ...

Unexpected Beauty:  Wildflowers find a Home in a Sliver of Sand Planning for a specific shot in Chesler Park, I wandered all around the sandstone towers at dawn and sunrise.  After I had done a a lot of photography, I took a break for breakfast with my daughter.  We climbed on top of a boulder to enjoy the view.  Between our boulder and another boulder, a sliver of sand allowed yellow wildflowers to grow.  This was unexpected yet so beautiful, I had to stop and try to capture this.  This unexpected moment is now one of my favorite memories from that morning. Another view from my breakfast boulder

Rounded boulders of Devils Kitchen The Devils kitchen is an enchanting place to spend the night.  The scenery from Camp is breathtaking.  I have another post regarding that.  I wanted to share some other photographs from the surrounding area.  From the campground it is easy to climb to the east and south onto a plateau.  This plateau is filled with towers and potholes.  I spent one memorable sunrise hopping around here and enjoying the views.  I hope you enjoy them too. Sandstone Tower in Needles District Potholes photographed early dawn

Colonnade Arch shows 3 of its 5 holes Colonnade arch fascinated me from the moment I first saw it in a photograph.  I had never seen anything like it:  3 windows opening out over an infinite view of canyons and mazes.  It took a little while to figure out exactly where this arch is located.  It appeared promising enough to me that I decided to special detour into the San Rafael Desert on my way to Canyonlands' Needles District just to visit this spot. I began hiking early in the morning and was deceived by the landscape as well as other trails in the area.  I hiked down towards the edge of the cliff and did not find my destination.  Looking around in all directions, I found it high on a cliff above and to the east.  I hiked back up and up and up.  You must be above this arch and then descend to it.  This can only be reached by downclimbing from above.  The problem is that you can't see if you're in the right place.  As a resu...

Devil's Kitchen Sunrise at 105mm There is no quicker way to change a picture then to change the focal length.  If you have a zoom lens, simply twisting it back and forth can remarkably bring distant objects closer.  Twisting the opposite direction, a very wide angle can be obtained in which the whole universe seems to come into the lens. I thought it might be interesting and educational to show 3 different views of the Devils Kitchen, but a remote section of Canyonlands Needles District.  I traveled in there by car without any weight restrictions.  I brought my 300 mm lens and several other heavy photographic tools.  The first shot was taken at a focal length of 105 mm.  This is actually zoomed in quite a bit.  It helps bring the flowers and the spire is a little bit closer together in the photograph.  Nevertheless, the flowers are very small. Devil's Kitchen and Wildflowers at 50mm There is no quicker way to change a picture then to ch...

Stone Steps into the Joint Trail from Chesler Park Hiking sometimes is pure drudgery.  Other times it is a magical experience.  The joint trail is one of those magical trails in which the destination is not the only aim.  The journey to the destination can be just as much fun along a wonderful trail like this.  The narrow canyon walls, fun and silly "cairn room" are the destination among themselves along the way to the beautiful Chesler Park.  It is also very cool and pleasant deep in these slots, a nice break from the sun and heat.. Hiker on the Joint Trail in Needles District Cairns along Joint Trail

Chesler Park at Sunset:  The grassy meadow surround the sandstone towers is gorgeous. Chesler Park is a very special place.  Of all the locations I have visited, this is one of the most difficult to reach.  That difficulty is part of the reason it is so special.  If you are here as the sun sets, you basically have this wonderful meadow and collection of spires to yourself.  The "park" is never crowded because there is no easy access to Chesler Park.  Several miles hiking is required. Armed with a precious camping permit at Chesler Park campsite #4, my daughter and I hiked in from the Joint Trail.  We set up our tent and camp between 2 wonderful round boulders and I started to wander around the meadow preparing for sunset. The golden hour can be prolonged more than one hour in the right conditions with clouds and changing weather patterns.  The golden hour can also be shortened to 10 minutes when the skies are empty of clouds.  Such w...