Coyote Bluff Blog: Chesler Park, Cayonlands

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Chesler Park, Cayonlands

5/24/2012 Elephant Hill Trailhead to Chesler Park,The Needles, Canyonlands NP, The sun rises through striated cirus clouds and with the dust in the air long fingers of brightness reach down from the cloud layer above to touch the desert floor outside the camper. A cottontail rabbit awaits our viewing as we pull the shade up for breakfast. Low angle sun reaches under the clouds to illuminate the escarpment 20 miles away which forms the supports for Island in the Sky. We get up early to take advantage of the cool morning temperatures for an extended hike and drive back into the park and to the Elephant Hill lTrailhead at the end of a three mile dirt road. From here we start hiking and are immediately absorbed by the fantastical surroundings. Muffin topped hoodoos, with thick necks sit squatly all about, as the "needle" formations from which this section of the park takes its names, sprout up on each side of the trail and draw us ever upwards and into this unimaginable landscape. The trail is loosely visible as it crosses sandy sections and is marked by piled stone cairns as it crosses over the slick rock and jumbled dry washes. With about 1.5 hours effort, we reach a high divide offering views deep into the parks inner sanctum, and the wide open grassy plain between perimeter needles of Chesler Park.