Days 02-03: Backpacking through Canyonlands

Let’s just start off by saying, Utah—beautiful. Stunning red and white rocks set against brilliant blue skies, with a landscape dotted by green bushes. It was vast, sparsely populated (at least right now), and ours for exploring.

Currently writing this post on day 2 of backpacking in Canyonlands, taking a siesta Spain style to avoid the worst of the desert heat and conserve water.


But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here—we can start at the beginning. 

“Is this a trail?” “Probably?” (It wasn’t)  defined our first 90 minutes or so. Luckily we stumbled back onto a real trail and upped our way-finding game the rest of the day.

The trail wound through canyons surrounded by tall red and white rock. We hiked through narrow slots (more of those to come),


         







down rock slopes,


and up a few cliffs before collapsing that night to camp.


Hiking through giant stadiums of rock walls and spires makes you feel small next to such awe-inspiring formations of nature.














Speaking of awe-inspiring, Druid arch took our breath away on day two. That section was more climb than hike, but it was well worth the effort.


As we hiked down, we marveled at the ability of plants to survive in such a harsh, dry climate. We talked about how the environment seems to present life with a choice between two challenges—a brutal climate with less competition or a lush climate with brutal competitors. The plants along our hike took path A. For example, we came across this tree growing sideways out of nothing more than a small slit in the canyon walls.


Speaking of cool plant life, shout-out to Sophia for opening our eyes to some of the unique ecology we might find along the way, in the form of a fun presentation: 

We did our best to do our homework and report back with some highlights:




Overall, it was the hardest backpacking trip either of us has ever taken (that means more coming from Grey since it was Abby’s maiden backpacking voyage). Climbing in-and-out and up-and-over Canyons will wear you down—especially under the hot Utah sun. We even carried all of our water for 3 days on our backs. Not to jinx the last leg of the trip, but we’re feeling pretty accomplished. 

Here are a few more photos for your viewing pleasure.  










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 08-09: Capitol Reef

Image
After a day off, we were ready to jump back into the wilderness, which we did by backpacking a night through Capitol Reef National Park. Being one of the lesser-known parks, we didn't know quite what to expect from it, but Capitol Reef is vast in the sheer amount of options it has for day hikes and backpacking loops. Definitely not a park one can absorb in a day, but we tried.  We began with a slight detour to see the top of Chimney Rock: Not pictured: The 40-50 mph gusts that tried to knock us off the outlook Such an expansive view with virtually no evidence of humans One of Grey's favorite shots The landscape makes for a cool backdrop for a bright cactus flower We love Utah's color palette: So much red and orange, speckled with forest green bushes set against a brilliant blue sky I'd describe this landscape as "sweeping" Sweeping landscape ft. tree The photographer behind the views Layered cliffs never fail t...
Read more

Day 05: Arches

Image
Today was dedicated to Arches National Park. Hundreds of arches scatter the park, carved out over millennia by the forces of nature. It was like visiting an art museum dedicated to nature's sculptures.  We spent much of the day trying to wrap our minds around how natural forces could construct such intricate and delicate works of art. If a human were to attempt to replicate such structures, they would be challenged not only by the immense scale but also by the small details. They would never think to include the "flaws" of  the rock--the cracks and nuances in texture that are part of what make it so mesmerizing. Featured here are some pretty sweet photos from Grey's new camera and Abby's mere iPhone.  Balanced Rock: A 128-foot tall formation featuring a boulder of Entrada sandstone that is eroding more slowly than the mudstone pedestal on which is teeters. Double Arch: the tallest arch in the park Abby under Double Arch View from D...
Read more

Day 12: Great Basin

Image
And just like that, Utah was over. Next stop Redwoods, but Great Basin National Park in Nevada was essentially on the way, so we gave ourselves an afternoon driving break. We didn't really know what to expect from Great Basin, but what we found was a hidden gem. Great Basin is home to the oldest living things in the world--Bristlecone Pine trees. Some of these trees are upwards of 4000-5000 years old.  Some numbers to put this scale into perspective: There has been life on this planet for ~2.5-3 million years. Let's go with 3. If a bristlecone pine is 3000 years old, it has lived for 0.1% of the time life has existed on earth. If you're 30 years old, you have lived for 1% of the time that tree has existed on earth.  Trying to comprehend numbers on such a scale reminded us of a fun article on the scaling of time that you can check out  here . New place, new time We climbed 4000 feet in elevation in 10 miles on our drive through the park ...
Read more