Monday, Oct 17 - Canyonlands National Park

We met up with Hilary at 7:30 and drove over to the High Desert Cafe, another brightly-painted hippie cafe, and had bagel egg sandwiches which were very tasty.  We packed up and left the Grist Mill, a very comfortable and unique B'n'B with all its old memorabilia.  

 

Newspaper Rock

We headed due east into the Manti-La Sal National Forest with Abajo Peak looming above us  festooned with bright patches of brilliant golden aspens.   We were still in Bears Ears N M, heading towards Canyonlands Needles District.  After a bit we pulled off to see Newspaper Rock, a reddish-black rock surface, under a yellow sandstone overhang, about 10’ high x 20’ long covered with desert varnish  (Desert varnish is “a reddish layer of clay and iron oxide precipitated by remarkable bacteria.”)   The dark surface can be scratched to reveal the lighter rock below.  This area is in a wide green canyon that has been used for many hundreds of years by travelers who inscribed the surface with all kinds of drawings: abstractions, animal figures, supernatural human figures, men on horses hunting deer, etc.   It is one of the largest collection of petroglyphs in North America and is fascinating to look at, particularly as it is just outdoors, protected only by an iron fence which seems to keep off any modern graffiti - amusing how old graffiti is so revered!

 

We continued on, entering Canyonlands N P.  This area of the park is characterized by huge reddish sandstone structures that rim a wide valley.  We reached the end of the road at the Slick Rock Trail, so named as the 2.7 miles of trail are mostly over smooth sandstone.

  You follow the trail by finding ducks, small piles of stones, that lead you on, like “connect the dots” pictures of our childhood.  We were led to various overlooks of winding canyons leading to the nearby Colorado River and spiky rock structures, The Needles.  We were all pretty tired after the walk as we had to climb up and down the smooth rocky surfaces, but it was worth it for all the great views

The Wooden Shoe arch

 

The Needles

Hilary drove us back to Monticello and south through Blanding and 25 miles more to Bluff, another tiny town, but this time on the edge of the Navajo Nation, so a different flavor than the Mormon towns.   We checked into the Recapture Inn, a 50-year old motel, but in good shape and with all the things we want in a motel:  Lots of hooks on the walls for all our coats and gear, and a desk!   There is even a trail down to the San Juan River for birding!

 

We drove the short distance to Twin Rocks Cafe and had an early dinner of pulled pork tacos, chicken-fried chicken and local beer - it came with an order of Navajo fry bread which we had for dessert.

Note: " Est. 650 AD"