March 20, 2009

By Tim Briese

12.2 miles roundtrip, 1600' elevation gain, 9:05 roundtrip time

Teresa and I left Moab early on Friday morning and drove to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. We found and reserved a campsite in the Squaw Flat Campground and after preparing our lunches for the day we drove to the Elephant Hill Trailhead to begin our hike. A few minutes after 9 a.m. we left our truck and headed south up the rocky slopes on the Chesler Park Trail. This is one of our favorite places to hike in the canyon country of Utah. We had been on trails in this area several times before, including this section of the Chesler Park Trail, but the spur trail to Druid Arch would be a new adventure for us today.

The trail wound across slickrock slopes and sandy areas, and even took us through a narrow slot, while surrounding us were beautiful domes, cliffs, and spires, in colorful hues of orange-red and beige, contrasting splendidly with green juniper trees and the blue desert sky. We encountered surprisingly few fellow hikers today. Most of those we met were young backpackers, likely on Spring Break outings. We hiked in a southerly direction toward the namesake Needles, and after about two miles began a 300 foot descent into Elephant Canyon. In the canyon bottom we turned left at a trail junction and began hiking up the canyon toward Druid Arch, which at this point was about three and a half miles away. In the canyon bottom we hiked on loose sandy areas at times and across solid rock at others. The canyon became more and more scenic the further we progressed. Multi-hued domes and cliffs were strikingly beautiful in the morning sunshine. Towering needles and pinnacles that looked like giant chess pieces poked into the sky. Thin clouds moved away and brilliant sunshine filled the canyon. We had wondered if temperatures might be a little warm for this hike today, but the 70 degree air was very pleasant.

In the upper part of the canyon we came to an impassable pour-off and backtracked a hundred yards or so and found a cairned trail to the left that we had missed. After a short, fun scramble this route took us along a ledge that bypassed the pour-off. Shortly after climbing a slickrock slope we followed a cairned route up a scenic side drainage to the left toward the arch, which was still hidden from view. We climbed about 250 vertical feet on this final stretch. The terrain became rougher here, and a metal ladder placed by the National Park Service was a great help in negotiating one tough spot. As we climbed a steep and rough talus slope the arch popped into view. At the top of the talus slope the terrain leveled off and we circled around to a splendid viewpoint for the dramatic arch. Druid Arch stood perhaps 200 feet tall or more, and reminded us of photos we had seen of Stonehenge. There was a fine view down Elephant Canyon from this vantage point, too. We sat down on a slickrock bench and ate lunch and soaked up the warm spring sunshine for nearly an hour while gazing at the wonderful arch and the surrounding scenery. It was surprising to us that no one else was here today.

After taking our leave of the arch we began to retrace our steps down the canyon. We soon encountered two parties on their way up. We continued down the canyon for two miles and then elected to take the connector trail up to Chesler Park. This trail climbs about 350 feet from Elephant Canyon up to Chesler Park in a mile. Part way up we came across a tiny village of miniature rock cairns that hikers had placed on a rock. Teresa contributed a new one to the collection. This section of trail is one of my favorites in the park. It climbs up through a maze of incredible scenery with many fun sections that traverse across the slickrock. After a short break in the shade part way up we continued up to Chesler Park, a scenic, grassy natural park surrounded by needles and domes. We headed north on a sandy trail to an overlook at the edge of the park where a gap in the needles afforded a fine view down into Elephant Canyon. We continued around to the north side of Chesler Park and then took a trail that descends steeply on a winding route back down into Elephant Canyon. We met two young female backpackers coming up the trail who looked rather spent.

When we reached the bottom of Elephant Canyon we headed back up the other side on the trail that we had been on in the morning. Shadows began to lengthen across the landscape as we hiked the last couple of miles back to the trailhead, which was a welcome sight after we had hiked so many miles today.

We decided to give up our campsite at the campground, preferring instead to camp outside the national park in the nearby BLM ground, both for the sake of privacy and also to have unobstructed views of the surrounding landscape. After showering at the Needles Outpost we left the park and drove a short distance up the dirt Lockhart Basin road in the evening dusk and found a splendid place to camp on a knoll beside a rocky outcropping. We were treated to a panoramic 360 degree view that stretched away for endless miles. It has been said that one's view of the world expands when one can see the horizon!  We started a campfire and ate dinner as the stars began to come out. It was completely clear and calm. Desert silence is remarkable in its total absence of sound. The stars that night were incredibly brilliant, a vast shimmering field of diamonds, due to the crystal clear desert air and the lack of interfering light from civilization in this remote place. Desert camping such as this is my favorite kind of camping.  This evening served as a fitting end to a very memorable day.

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