Canyonlands is a weird place.
I’d assume when most people think of Moab, they think of Arches. And I think rightfully so. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I actually came into Moab scared that I was building it up so much in my head that I was ultimately going to be let down. That there was no way it could possibly deliver to the expectation level I had created.
And I was completely wrong. It delivered, and was more than I could have imagined.
Then you turn around and there’s Canyonlands National Park. And it’s like Arches’ lesser known brother. The Stephen Baldwin of the Moab family, if you will.
And you would think it’d be a step down from Arches, and I can tell you… it is definitely not. To keep the analogy going, it’s watching “The Usual Suspects” and being like “oh shit, that’s Stephen Baldwin isn’t it? He’s awesome!” But you have to just stop right there and pretend “Biodome” and that Flintstones movie never happened. Canylonlands is 1995 Stephen Baldwin I guess is the point.
It’s also a weird contrast with Arches as well. When we went to Arches it was a sunny, bright day… Canyonlands was overcast and gloomy. Arches is a bunch of vibrant colors… Canyonlands is a more muted, brown/grey desert setting. Arches has one road that goes through with a bunch of turnoffs for various points of interest… Canyonlands is a bunch of districts that aren’t even connected by roads. You pick one, and if you want to go to another one you have to exit the park and drive all the f**k away around to get to whatever side you’re going to. It’s just plain weird.
That being said, we chose to drive out to the Needles District. Jenny found a bunch of interesting stops that didn’t require a lot of hiking… and coming off our strenuous Arches outing, that sounded just fine.
In our loop we hit: Roadside Ruin, Pothole Point, Cave Spring, Slickrock Trail, Big Spring Canyon Overlook, Wooden Shoe Arch Overlook, and Elephant Hill. I think that’s all of them. Most definitely not the right order, but it’ll do for our purposes here.
The two big letdowns that I will need to rectify at some point in my life:
- There’s a 10-ish mile out and back trail from Big Spring Canyon Overlook that heads west, down into this crazy valley and ends at the Colorado River. Just looking at the trailhead was awesome, and had we not killed ourselves in Arches (which I do not regret) we would definitely have gone for it.
- We didn’t really have a good shot of the Needles, so the drive out to Elephant Hill was trying to rectify that. We got as far down south the dirt road as we could before a heavier duty 4×4 was required. Then I looked at a map of the park and realized how much more there is to explore when you have a proper 4×4, so I’m coming back with one. Some day.
Long story short, there’s just so much in that park… I feel even more than Arches… and best part, there was barely anyone there. So when Moab trip #2 rolls around… you know where to find us.
Also, I once again have absolutely no idea what picture is of what, so this is just another chronological dump.
After we got back from the park, we realized we needed some proper food, we needed to go food shopping, and I needed to fill up the gas tank for our move the next morning.
We’re sitting around in the camper, procrastinating, when there’s a knock on the door.
Now, even in a regular house, when someone unexpectedly knocks on the door it’s like a fire alarm just went off for me.
“WHAT THE F**K?!?! WHAT IS HAPPENING?!? IS SOMEONE TRYING TO KILL US?!?!”
In a camper it’s even worse. There have been times I’ve needed to contact a neighbor to tell or ask them something, and you realize there’s absolutely no polite way to just walk up to someone’s camper without feeling like a f**king creep. And forget knocking on the door. Imagine walking onto someone’s campsite and trying to knock on their tent without freaking them the f**k out. These campers with paper thin walls are not much of a step up.
I gingerly open the door, and I’m greeted by a family. Two parents and two adorable little girls. Okay… probably not about to be murdered.
Turns out, this family was driving through Arches a few days before. They were looking out at all the beautiful scenery and drove the damn pickup truck right into a ditch. Destroyed the front axle, total loss.
So now this family is sitting at the campsite in their fifth wheel, no tow vehicle, and the campground is not letting them stay past their departure date. Which is understandable to me, it’s a KOA 15 minutes down the road from Arches… safe to say they’re booked full.
Would I be able to tow your fifth wheel down to the auto shop a few miles down the road? Of course I would. No problem. We were about to leave for town anyways, glad I can help out.
So we towed this nice family’s camper down the road. We had to back it into the spot at the auto shop, and not only did we do it horribly (because we’re STILL not good at it) but we kept scraping their back stabilizing jacks on the concrete. I’m almost positive we did no permanent damage. Almost.
But that was our good deed for the day. They offered to give us money… we refused, so they gave us a real deal carabiner. Holds 5,000 pounds. We’ll absolutely never have a use for it, but we definitely appreciate the gesture. Hopefully they’ll pay it forward one day, and hopefully someone will be that kind to us when we hit some real s**t.
I think the world needs some unnecessary and unprovoked kindness these days. S**t’s f**king crazy out there.