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Kansas Prairie Packers An organization for individuals and families interested in hiking, backpacking, canoeing, bicycling, cross-country skiing and other outdoor activities. |
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A Walk in the Park Submitted by Jerry Reichenberger It was all waiting for us in Utah. The sunshine, spiraling red rock slot canyons, the tink, tink, tink of hidden springs and the ancient aroma of junipers, sage and pinion pine. The only thing standing in our way was a massive, slow moving spring snow storm in the Colorado Rockies that was dumping record amounts of snow and threatening to keep us in Kansas. Was this going to happen? Hell no! My hiking pard Chris, and I left Wichita right on schedule for South Central Utah via Gallup New Mexico, then straight north to the Four Corners area, across the extreme Northeastern corner of Arizona and by entering Southeastern Utah at Bluff we made our way up to Canyonlands National Park. The mileage is surprisingly close to the Northern route of I-70 but not as fast. After a couple days of lying around Needles Outpost we traded the clean showers and wonderful food they provide for five dry days in Chesler Park and eating out of a bag. This year we chose the shorter trail into Chesler Park but one that is dry and once inside the park there isn’t a drop of water to be found either. When I say "park”, I mean Chesler Park. The Needles District in Canyonlands has many loop and one way hikes with plenty of water. By going a different route this year, I’ll have hiked all of them. After our hike last year I think Chesler is special and warranted a return trip. With about twelve pounds of water hanging off our packs we started out early Monday, the 20th of April and under a turquoise sky, cool temps and light winds we hardly noticed the extra weight. On the rim of Elephant Canyon the La Sal Mountains, fifty miles to the Northeast, were completely covered by snow from the recent storm and the huge sandstone needles, banded with streaks of red and yellow offered a nice photographic contrast. We crossed the canyon and made our way up a rock chute to a notch in the Needles and there before us lay the sagebrush flats of crescent shaped Chesler Park. Only five campsites are available and to reserve one you better get it six months in advance. For the first two nights we had site number two. This is a nice site situated between two huge boulders and is an excellent spot to lay low and conserve water and energy during the heat of the day. The views of Cataract Canyon of the Colorado River and the Maze beyond are all visible from the comforts of camp. It’s an amazing display of shadow and light on the canyon, mesas and buttes as the sun makes its way across the western sky. The first night in the desert is always a thrill and the dry air reveals constellations rarely seen in the muggy Midwest. I stood there amazed underneath a wealth of stars. Chesler Park has a long loop trail of about 13 miles. It’s a good idea to use the park as a base camp and use these trails to get up close and personal with the Needles as they wind through and along side them. We divided the loop into two sections, a top and bottom with some route finding in the middle. We did the top section first. The hiking is relatively easy with some short scrambles up and through the notches to gain access to other hidden parks in the area. The two small parks we visited are aptly named Devils Kitchen and Devils Pocket. The Pocket has only one campsite available and this outdoor funhouse would be yours exclusively as it is surrounded by towering bluffs. The many cottonwoods in the pocket belies the fact that this is a bone dry area and sitting beneath the trembling interplay of sunlight and shadow in the wind blown leaves was a perfect place for lunch. The next day we moved the camp to site five and used the remainder of the day to fetch water. This is no ordinary hike to a stagnant pool as the holes lay trapped in pockets of slick rock and hidden deep in Elephant Canyon. Elephant Canyon is beautiful and the hike along its unfractured surface of weathered sandstone is some of the best the park has to offer. There is a certain beauty in the surface of the white and pink stone. We spent most of the afternoon in the canyon and hiked out in the cool of the evening shadows and got back in camp to see the rock turn to a rose color. Day three we hiked the Joint trail in conjunction with the lower loop. The Joint is a section of passages through solid rock and is shoulder width in places and about one mile long. There is an interesting cavern filled with hundreds of cairns of all sizes and gravity defying styles placed there by hikers. Once out of the Joint you enter the relatively flat, open desert called the Grabens. After about a mile the terrain begins to acquire a more rugged character, dipping into small arroyos and crossing frequent outcroppings of sandstone as we enter the Needles again. The views are incredible as you look back south and west. As we make our way through another notch the wind is forced between these slots in powerful gusts and is so strong I swear you can actually see or, more like, feel the rock being blasted away. The ravens that brave these currents shoot through like jet fighters with there wings pinned back but with much more grace and beauty and they don’t tear the sky to shreds. Back in camp the evening has an amber glow to it from all the dust in the air and molten streamers wavered around the sitting sun. We climbed our favorite rock and watched the sunset for the last time. On the trail out the next morning the wind picked up early and with it so did the sand. I swear my teeth are worn to a nub from the sand, my eyes feel like a striker on a matchbook when I blink and my nose is a little bloody from the arid climate. But you know I think everyone needs a little red dirt and sand in there flapjacks from time to time, it’s good for the soul. Here’s to seeing you all on the sunny slopes of the Shinning Mountains this summer. Membership entitles you to our monthly newsletter, preference for trips with limited group sizes and enjoyment of the outdoors through a variety of activities. |
