Wow, what a ride.
There were seven jeeps in the group. We left the RV park at a little after 9:00 and headed north on Hwy 89.
We drove 14 miles north of Monticello where we turned west on Hwy 211. This beehive shaped rock marks the turnoff.
We headed toward the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park.
We showed our Senior Pass at the pay station and stopped at the visitors center so people could use the rest rooms and we could air down the tires.
Gene had some problems with his jeep and had to leave it at the visitors center. Fortunately he had a spare jeep which his son-in-law had brought along. They doubled up and continued the trip.
From the visitors center we continued west to the Elephant Hill trail head.
Can you guess what the arch is called?
You’re right, it is called Wooden Shoe Arch.
The Trail starts at a parking lot
and goes straight up the mountain side.
There is a right turn half way up that is kind of tricky.
To negotiate the turn, you have to drive onto a flat then turn around and then you can continue up the trail, dodging pedestrians along the way.
Going down the other side of the hill you have to negotiate some switchbacks over some rocky ledges.
The trail is pretty relentless with lots of switchbacks
and ledges to climb.
At one spot we had to actually back down the trail.
On the way back we had to back up the trail.
Eventually we came to some easier going.
but it didn’t last long.
You can see why this is called the Needles.
Here is a tight spot on the trail.
Eventually we came to The Devils Kitchen campground.
They had some really cool camp spots under huge boulders.
We stopped here for lunch.
After lunch we continued our trek along the trail.
There were a few wild flowers starting to bloom along the trail.
We drove over some lesser obstacles
Eventually we had a chance to relax on this sandy section of the trail and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
We stopped to get some pictures of ancient Pictographs.
Okay breaks over, back to rock crawling.
This is a short section called SOB Hill.
We didn’t know why they called it that until we came back through it.
The trail smoothed out from here to the end at a place called the Joint. The joint is a crack in a solid rock cliff. It is .6 miles from the parking spot. I decided to try and walk to it but it was .6 miles up through the rocks. Unfortunately I am too out of shape to make it all the way so I didn’t get a pictures but Tom and Lillie did.
Dennis M had the right Idea.
I should have followed his example.
After the walkers got back to the parking spot; we started the trip back.
When we got to SOB Hill, we found out why it is so named.
The hill doesn’t look to bad from the bottom
but you have to negotiate several small boulders going up.
with a turn at the top that you have to back and fill
to get through this notch.
The trail back took a slightly different route. It went through another narrow spot.
and down what is called;
It is a series of steep ledges and switchbacks.
We passed this interesting balanced rock.
Finally we headed back down Elephant Hill. It was just as exciting going down as it was going up.
Wow, what a ride! It was an excellent trip!!
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