Canyonlands Hike

The other day we had a fantastic time in Arches National Park. Unfortunately we couldn’t get a campsite in the park so we had to drive to a campground between Canyon Lands and Arches. It was about 8 pm when we arrived and so decided not to cook the steak we had bought for Mothers day and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead.

The next morning we got up extremely early and made it to canyon lands campground by 7 in the morning. Luckily for us a camper was just packing up and leaving so we took her spot and Robin set the tent up and laid out all our sleeping bags and pads and pillows in a nice cozy set up all ready for us that night. We planned on taking a long circular hike in the park, 8.3 miles according to the map. Then we all filled our water bottles, camel baks, and our bellies with tons of liquids. Made a lunch and packed our packs.

Off we went on a beautiful hike. Stunning scenery, lizards, flowers, trees, cacti in full bloom, just unbelievable to us to be in such a gorgeous spot, and no one around for miles. We hiked down, down, down into the canyon with steep walls all around and incredible piňon trees, red sand, flowers, etc all around. And on we hiked, finally seeing someone in the bottom of the canyon down by the riverbed. He had left the same time we had going the other way on the circle route so we figured we must be almost half way (turns out we were maybe 1/3 of the way). We ate lunch and enjoyed the warmth, it had been chilly when we left and so the sun was a welcome relief. Then we hiked on down the riverbed, it was dry, but interesting to see how the flash floods that occur here had taken out so many bushes and deposited rocks in big piles along the way. I just learned that flash floods are responsible for most of the erosion in the park, and I could understand that by seeing the left over effects of them.

And on we hiked and started up another canyon towards the trailhead. Then we heard thunder and saw huge black clouds coming in, but just a sprinkle of rain. Then more thunder…but still just sprinkles. Then we climbed up and around and over this huge boulder field, very fun, very steep, and not for people uncomfortable with heights. But we loved it despite being scared and nervous for much of it. Then we entered a canyon riverbed area that was beautiful.

And then it started to rain. Time to put on the rain gear. Then it down poured; thank goodness we had rain gear. So we hiked faster and faster and prayed for the parking lot, which seemed to never come. Robin and I were out in front at this time and I kept hearing Sammy talking to Buzz so I was sure they were close behind. Finally we made it to the parking lot with Robin and Sammy having very sore feet. Buzz’s hands were so cold he needed my help getting his rain jacket off, luckily my womanly extra layer of subcutaneous fat kept me feeling pretty warm, just soggy. So we get in the car and turn on the heat full blast, man did that feel great! Lots of sighs of relief and crying and laughing all at once from all of us. Then we drove back to the campground looking forward to the dry tent with warm sleeping bags waiting for us.

As we passed the campground to a ‘look out’ over the Green River we saw something in the bushes that looked a lot like our green tarp that was under the tent that morning. The lookout is right next to the campground and our campsite was the first one in on the road so it was plausible that it could be ours but no, we tied that tent down to 30 pound rocks, couldn’t be ours we think. So we go take pictures at the lookout, mostly of the SNOW that was falling down hard!!! Then drive back to the campground to find our warm dry tent tipped over from the wind with a puddle of freezing rain and snow on the inside!!

Our life view was pretty grim at that point, but upon further inspection we found that only Sammy’s bag took the brunt of the damage, soaking wet from one end to the other. More crying and whining about how hard our life is until Buzz and I finally act like parents and take charge and change the kids into warm, dry clothing, find the extra sleeping bag for Sammy and change our clothing as well. Another night where we don’t eat the steak that I had marinated that morning…in fact we just eat a couple slices of salami with cheese and dry brush our teeth in the tent (no toothpaste because no one wants to get out of our warm semi-dry bags to spit), then to bed by 7pm. I slept so well I couldn’t believe it. This morning dawned cold and windy but dry! Now all our gear is dried out from the wind and we are on our way towards either Mesa Verde or Canyons of the Ancients, both in Colorado. We are hoping we don’t run into any more snow, at least until Sammy’s sleeping bag dries out thoroughly!

PS We are really looking forward to hot showers!