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Entering the Canyonlands National Park
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I have written many adventure reports but the Druid Arch,
Needles District, Canyonlands National Park, Utah now holds special meaning for
me. Most of those that I share these
reports with know that my hiking pals typically do not include my wife;
this time we broke the status quo! On
our way to a family event in Grand Junction Colorado, Kim and I decided to plan
our trip with a couple of days of mental refreshment by visiting the Moab area
and staying on the Colorado River at the Red Cliffs Guest Ranch. Obviously being in this area, we had to
visit the Canyonlands. Prior to our
departure one of our very adventurous friends enthusiastically recommended we visit
the Druid Arch. So we did!
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Trail Map (highlighted in red) Elephant Hill to the Druid Arch
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Now those of you that know Kim are very familiar that she has a huge
dislike for cold and has little interest in the monster hikes that I usually
enjoy. But…I was able to convince her
that regarding her first issue, if the sun is out and we start after 10:00, we
would easily mitigate the cold. Regarding
the second, its only a 11 mile hike through fairly flat and incredible terrain…distance will
pass like time during deep sleep... I know
what you are all thinking but remember with me it is about the adventure and
the memory it will create so I had to do my best to sell this one! You also know... she did not buy any of my BS but supported my excitement in this adventure and geared up anyway. I love her for that!
So the plan after listening to the locals, which outside the
local outfitters, have little time for providing hike planning information, and leave our
base camp, 14 miles east of Moab, at 08:00 and drive the 90 minutes, as we were
told, to the Elephant Hill trail-head (image above), hike
the 5.4 miles to the Druid Arch, have lunch, shoot photos, return to trail-head
and be back in Moab for dinner. So…here
is how it went!
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Kim outside Prius, gearing up at Elephant Hill Trail Head
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Kim on trail, first quarter mile, early on in hike
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It had recently snowed and down in the deep canyons the snow
was still present on Utah 211 so it took us 2.5 hours to get to the trail-head; not to mention we got a 20 minute late start; departing at 08:20. In all we lost 80 minutes of our
daylight. By the time we geared up with
multiple layers (Kim…multiple, multiple layers) and hit the well-marked trail,
it was 11:00; this gave us 6 hours to do this hike that is said to take 5 in
perfect conditions. As we took our first
steps toward our destination, I knew that this time frame was going to be
difficult due to the 3 inches of snow present on the top of the 5 miles of
slickrock terrain that lied ahead…I said nothing but knew, 14:00 was our turn
time.
The first quarter mile was up on a north facing slope but
once we got up about 300-400 feet of elevation, the sun was shining on this
beautiful day and there became obvious signs of snow melt. We were now on a plateau surrounded by tall
spires of red rock immensity! This was
the pattern for most of the first 3.5 miles.
We traversed the flats and then traveled through “cracks” in these
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Traversing the "cracks".
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immense walls of towering spires only to enter another flat surrounded by amazing red rock pinnacles.
The trail was well marked and we had a fairly decent map but we still
had to navigate 4 intersections in and out (see map above).
As we passed through the first intersection we traversed our last
flat area. We then began a small descent, still surrounded by massive red rock walls, into a maze of deep canyons but each
juncture within the canyons was well marked. Just like cave diving, both Kim and I
confirmed each direction change. The
views and awe inspiring feeling of being deep down in these dry “river beds”,
with towering walls above is indescribable; the thought of how easily one could
get lost kept us very alert and situationally aware.
After 3.4 miles and a ticking clock, we arrived at the mouth
of Elephant Canyon, the final junction, a straight shot 2 miles south to the
Druid Arch; it was 12:15; 105 minutes left to get to our destination.
It was 13:35 when we arrived at the base of the Druid Arch. We wanted to climb up to the viewing point so
we could see the arch head on but in order to do so, we had to climb a metal
ladder up onto a snow and ice covered boulder and Kim made the decision that it
was simply to unsafe for her to continue. I, was able to make it over the boulder but only went another 100 feet or so, realizing the trail was not getting any better, more obstacles ahead and time running out, I turned back to the ladder where Kim was, she helped me navigate down and with time out, we made the call to
turn and head back, it was 13:50, but not before photos.
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Kim with Druid Arch Above
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Martin with Druid Arch above
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I think it important to know that this snow and ice covered
boulder was not the first obstacle that we had to overcome. Prior to this, we had to ascend two steep
rock walls, no safety needed but no safety available, and a very steep, snow
covered slickrock ravine that ascended at about a 45 degree incline. We made it up all three of these very
concerning obstacles but knew at the “turn” that we would also have to
navigate down them, a bit more complicated, upon our return and a stupid decision at this point, like trying
to climb the boulder and continue or violate our turn time, would make the
initial three obstacles that much more perilous during exit, so Kim’s decision was the
absolute correct one!
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Our Chariot parked deep in the Canyonlands - What a great ride!
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At 13:45 we began our trek back, eating our sandwich along
the way as we simply did not have time to stop and sit. We arrived back at the “Silver Bullet” our
chariot that would transport us back to civilization at 16:15, safely parked at
the trail-head. We had covered 11 miles,
walked for 5 hours and 15 minutes without a break under beautiful blue skies
that never warmed above 30 degrees and throughout it all, Kim was always on
pace, strong, a great team-mate, never a complaint and did it all in
Sorrel’s! What a fantastic hiking
partner.
It turned out to be a 98.5 mile drive to the trail-head, not 76 like we were told. It was 12 degrees as we drove to the park entrance, 19 when we left the trail-head and it never got above 32 the entire day. The sun went down fast and by 17:30 it was dark so again, our decision to turn was the correct one; many think that the hike is getting to the destination...they could not be more misinformed...getting down/back safely is "the hike" and we will always adhere to that rule. By our calculations, we had about an hour to spare but had there been any problems, that could have been the difference between this great story and disaster.
We finally got back into Moab at 18:15 and decided to skip a restaurant meal and opted for burgers to go, a quick trip back to our lodge, made it in a record 18 minutes, and a nice soak in their hot tub; the first time this day we were truly warm.
We will be coming back someday. We have many adventures ahead but in the future, we want to spend two nights backpacking this area, getting to the Druid Arch viewpoint and spending some time in the Chesler Park area but... when it is much warmer. We felt that a late September, early October visit would be perfect so stay tuned as there is much more to see in this incredible National Park.
More Photos for you to enjoy...
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The incredible red rock spires as we look up from the deep canyon below.
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An exiting view from the top of Elephant Canyon
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Us with the La Sal Mountains (my left elbow) to the NE
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The incredible red rock walls that surround the flat areas
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A weary, and rightfully so, hiker at the end of a long and COLD day!
She did this 11 mile hike in Sorrel boots without a blister or sprain...incredible!
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