Welcome back, one and all, to the ongoing travels and travails of the Overcast Adventurers! This episode takes myself and Skyler, along with two guests (Jessie and David) back to the dusty tracks of the Needles District in Canyonlands National Park, Utah (which we’ve visited previously; see here and here). In fact, we even returned to a campsite which we had used previously, perched behind some large, lonesome rock in the scrub-land along the Needles Overlook road. The combination of cover, solitude, and scenery made it a desirable spot to return to, and we were overjoyed to have the spot to ourselves again.

We made a quick jaunt to the Needles Overlook itself after setting up camp in order to prime ourselves for the following day. With partial cloudiness and mild temperatures forecast, we knew it was going to be a good day for hiking.

Following a typically restless night on lumpy dirt, we cracked our spines, downed some caffeine, and packed up camp. Barreling down Highway 191 we felt our ears pop as we descended into Canyonlands. We stopped only briefly at the Needles visitor center for a map of our intended route: a loop around Chesler Park via the Joint Trail.

While rated as strenuous by the National Park Service, this trail was to be easier than many of the treks we had done in the past. The true difficulty of this area lay in planning ahead, as there would be no water along the route and plenty of turns by which to become lost.

Food, check.

Maps, check.

Water, double check.

Backpacks shouldered, we started up the initial ascent of the trail to the tune of a cool breeze under cotton candy clouds.

The first several miles of the trail involved zig-zagging around rock formations as we followed cairns over otherwise bare sandstone. The rock towers (hoodoos) after which the Needles District is named were omnipresent no matter what direction we went, making for the gradated and oh-so-recognizable landscape we all love.

After time around and among the towers, we finally emerged into Chesler Park itself. Before us was sprawling brush enclosed on all sides by sandstone spires and overlooked by open sky. This segment of the journey stretched for several miles, but with the sunlight and gentle breeze, we couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

The trail meandered between crossing the open meadows and following along the rock walls of the Park. Occasional breaks in the stone opened broad vistas before us, a rare chance to look over the formations rather up at them.

The Joint Trail’s jaunt through Chesler Park ended with a stone staircase down into a narrow slot canyon. The air became an easy five degrees cooler, and the shadowed light tinted everything blue. The shoulder-width rock eventually opened up into a broad, echoing room. From there we were able to climb into another canyon and begin the return route to the trailhead.

Sections of the trail followed a dirt road, but shortly thereafter we found ourselves linking back up with the trail we had entered on. Darker clouds appeared to be setting in, and a few snowflakes even fell, so we kept our noses down and hurried through the final stretch. We stumbled back into the parking lot as the skies were clearing up again.

After 11 miles and a couple thousand calories burned, we were ready to head into town for some respite. Still, we knew we would miss Canyonlands, and were excited to return again in the future.

Until next time…

~Sky & Ty

(Pictures courtesy of Skyler Stanley, words courtesy of Tyler Brant)