9 October 2017, Monday
Goose Island Campground, Needles District of Canyonlands National Park
It is our last full day in Moab. A drizzling rain has soaked our camp through the night, well- at least since 3 am, and we do not feel much like cooking breakfast on this cold, damp morning. Today we select the Jail House Cafe for breakfast. Their motto is, “Good enough for a last meal.” O tries their whole grain waffle, and I order ginger pancakes with apple butter. Both are good.
Today we decide to do a driving tour to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. It’s a 30 mile drive to the entrance road and another 30 plus miles up that road to the visitor center. No problem though, as the drive is very scenic. Red and white sandstone formations, arches and expansive sage brush desert fly by. On Route 211, the road into the park, we climb in elevation to almost 7000 feet. We are now in the Navaho Sandstone Formation. Last night’s drizzle in Moab fell as snow here. The brush and the golden aspens are dusted white. We pause on the way to the park to visit Newspaper Rock, a large sandstone panel with petroglyphs from many different eras, some dating back thousands of years and some only a hundred years or so.
From the higher elevation we drive downward and westward towards the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers. One can hike from the end of the park road to a confluence overlook, but we must save that for another trip. We stop at the Pot Holes Turnout. Here we walk over slick rock and see the many tiny pools in which small organisms somehow manage to survive and reproduce. In the distance we can see the canyon walls of the Colorado to the west and the Needles to the southeast. The Needles are yet another consequence of the rise of the salt dome created by the advance and retreat of the inland ocean over millions of years. The formation of the dome caused a checkerboard of fractures in the overlying sedimentary rock. Erosion by water, wind and weather eventually created a huge collection of crowded pinnacles, the Needles.
We hop back into Vincent and complete our drive to the end of the park road. Here there are more photogenic ridges and canyons. Along the way we explore Needles Campground for future reference. We have now driven 87 miles from camp. It is time to retrace our route. Back in Moab we stock up on a few groceries. Tomorrow it is on to Chinle and Canyon de Chelly.
