Summer Stories: Canyonlands Desert Spring!3 min read time

Goodness. The last I shared with you all it was April and I was still couched with a broken femur. Summer seems to spin a pretty speedy path to fall, doesn’t it? Cuz here it is! But there’s so much to tell you about, and now that it’s fall and maybe you’ve slowed down a bit as well, I will post itin short installments.

You might wonder how I managed any adventure at all with a slow to recover injury like I had (oh yeah, still have). It began with spring in Canyonlands, and I can’t wait to show (and tell) you about it. Fortunately, there are products like Cbd oil which can lessen the throbbing pain.

I was surely sick of that couch. Lucky me, I had a willing husband and camper van (you can see more about my Magic Carpet Ride in this post) to transport me to my favorite spring adventure-land in Southern Utah. The place never ceases to amaze and entrance with it’s other worldly formations, colors and wide open spaces. I’ve been going there for 40 years and there’s still more to see. But how to see it with a broken leg? On crutches? Welllll…..

Going to National Parks is a good bet for one with limited mobility like I was (oh yeah, am). They are required to have a certain amount of their features “accessible”, as in paved paths and the like. And Canyonlands National Park in southern Utah has long been a favorite.  We had reserved a campsite online as getting one without doing that is quite difficult anymore. The Park sits at the end of 40 miles of a winding 2 lane road with some of the most spectacular red rock scenery you could hope to see from a road.

That special Golden Hour that every photographer dreams of, and every nature lover loves best, is especially golden in red rock country. Add in a desert storm cell and it gets quite dramatic.

This view on a stormy evening gives a long distance perspective of the very special Needles area of the Park.

The Chesler Park Trail is a favorite round trip hike that I certainly wouldn’t be making this trip (10.4 moderate loop trail). It’s a classic ‘Must Do’ hike though, that scrambles it’s way through spectacular desert country, leading you through a slot in the Needles surrounding Chesler Park. Chesler Park itself has such a magical feel to it because it’s never been altered by grazing cow herds. It’s in its pristine state, meaning native grasses, no invasive species (except for us Humans ;<) or erosion. A rare find anywhere in this country.

But since I was in no condition for hiking (not YET), I was quite content to stick close to the van for my photo ops. Not hard when visions like this one offers itself to my viewfinder a few feet away from where we were camped:

This feature in Canyonlands is well loved and known as Six Shooter Peak. My dear friend was with me on this spectacular evening jumping around exclaiming, “LOOK! LOOK! Six Shooter is shooting the MOON!” Well, she’s an excitable girl, but we were all feeling pretty exhilarated with this vision. Nothing like capturing the ‘Spirit” of the moment….

There’s more to see in my Canyonlands Gallery. Check it out!