THE Trip, Canyonlands National Park, The Needles District

CABS for Reflections From the Fence

Note:  This is one of those graphics heavy posts, so much beauty, just can't hold it back!  LOL

Canyonlands National Park is huge, covering nearly 530 square miles.  It is made of of 3 distinct land areas, The Needles, Island In the Sky and The Maze, and the rivers, the Colorado and the Green River which join near Confluence, which just so happens to be within the Needles District.  (We could not get to Confluence, as you must hike in, 10 miles, and of course, back out, 10 miles, about 5 to 6 hours of hiking for a normal hiker, which means about 10 hours for this ole gal!  We would not get to The Maze during THE trip either, that is strictly 4-wheeling country.)

Due to our limited time and energy, we drove from the Visitors Center out to Big Spring Canyon Overlook, and took short hikes at  Roadside Ruin and Pothole Point.  Much of this park is only going to be seen by those with 4-wheel drive vehicles and a lot of time.  There are several roads which require a permit to get past the locked gates.  This is rough country, of course, that is what makes it so beautiful.

Our first short walk was just .3 of a mile to see the Roadside Ruin, a Puebloan grainary.  It is believed that corn, beans or squash seed were stored here.  There are no living structures in the area, it is believed the people of this land did not stay here year round.

Lets take a closer look:

Below:  Isn't this incredible, called, but of course, the Wooden Shoe.  Don't you just love the layers of white vs the layers of red?  It is so "in your face" obvious here.  Almost like caps of white frosting on red velvet cakes!  LOL

Here is another example of the white frosted formations:

Below:  Look how the stone swirls, softly, I swear it reminds me of frosting or marshmallow fluff.  (Shhhh, don't tell any geologists you know what I just said, they would have fits!  LOL)

Below:  Or, maybe mushroom caps??

Cake??

No words, just total amazement:

Below: At the Big Spring Canyon Overlook the scenery continues to just "WOW" us,

Below:  When it is the large, and larger still, you just have to have a panoramic:

And, never done here before at Reflections, a second panoramic.  In the photo above, the formations to the far left are the same ones as in the photo below, but below they are on the far right of the photo.  And, two panorama's will not come close to showing you a 360 degree view of this area at the end of the road, Big Spring Canyon Overlook:

Below:  One more look, closer this time, of those formations, as always, the color variations as well as the textures and shapes keep me coming back for more and more:

Next, I'll bring you our hike around the Pothole Point. Another totally awesome spot in the park.


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