May 28, 2010

Today we got up early and headed for Canyonlands NP.  The drive off from US 191 is quite long at 22 miles.    Up to this point the Utah landscape had been rather bland.  But after several miles down the road towards Canyonlands it became quite spectacular.  Red rock walls of canyons rose hundreds of feet above us.  The dark green of the junipers and pinion pine blended well with the sage brush and red rock.  

Unusual shapes rose in every direction.  Some called needles with sharp points on top of mounds.  Others called mushrooms with light colored stone tops that extended out beyond their red bases were aptly named.  Around each bend in the road there was another vista to beautiful for words or photos.  It must be seen to be appreciated.  All I could say was how Awesome is our God.

We stopped at Newspaper Rock.  It is so named for all the indian drawings on it along with one or two morons who felt compelled to sign their names amid the drawings.  No one knows the meaning or the reason for the drawings.  As I stood there I could only imagine someone finding a piece of concrete two thousand years from now with graffiti scrawled all over it trying to ascribe some meaning to it.  Truth be known some Native American mother told the kids to get outside and do something and Newspaper Rock was the result.

We continued on to the visitor’s center where we viewed the various displays.  Many young people were there getting permits for backcountry hiking and camping.  If I was much younger I might enjoy such an adventure myself.  The comforts of the old bread truck are more to my liking now.

We must have shot 200 photos.  We took some short hikes to see various things of note.  In time you get to the place where you have absorbed all you can and it is time to leave.  The drive back out of the park revealed vistas not seen on the way in.  It truly is a wonderful place to see.

We were back out to the main highway by 1:00 PM.  The wind has picked up to a fierce level again.  We were told that gusts reached 70 mph.  I can believe it as it was all I could do to keep the old bread truck on the road.  It gets really exciting when climbing up a canyon road with sheer drop offs on each side.  You bob and weave around hoping to keep it on the road.  

We reached Moab around 2:00 PM.  The place was buzzing with holiday traffic.  After being in the wilds for so many days this was annoying.  There was just too much activity.  All the campgrounds were full for the weekend.  I headed for Dead Horse State Park up on top the mountain in hopes there would be an open campsite there.  The road up was winding and very steep with lots of switchbacks.  The wind was buffeting us around violently.  As we climbed farther it felt as if we passed the point of no return.  We were committed.  I prayed, “Dear Lord let there be a campsite vacant for us so I don’t have to try to descend this mountain in all this wind.  

We reached Horse Thief Campground which was down a rough dusty side road.  I pulled into the camp host site and asked if he had any space left.  He said he had only one big enough for us.  He took us to it and helped us back in which I did successfully after nearly taking out a centuries old juniper tree and putting a few scratches on the bread truck.  When the dust and pine needles settled we found ourselves on a very level lot with a nice view.  With the wind still rocking us around we decided to stay here for a couple of days and just relax.  This is a BLM campground.   It only cost old geezers 6 bucks a day.  We will sit out the holiday weekend here.  People were coming in late at night looking for space.   I guess everything is filled up everywhere. 

We like the wilderness campsites.  They have no water or electricity so you have to provide your own.  We should have enough water for four more days and the holding tanks should go that long too.  We are twenty two miles from the main highway and ten more from Moab.  Plus it is a long switchback drive down the mountain so we will have our time of worship here in the wilderness yet again another Sunday.  We sure miss our church.