I made this trip to and through my favorite place -- southern Utah -- in late April and early May...but it took me a while to get going on the chore of sifting through lots of photos.
So to avoid further delay, to get something posted -- and since it's a long story anyway, I decided to break the geographic sections into separate (probably 3) reports (as Bosque Bill did on his recent trip). I'll provide links connecting the sections when they're all done and posted.
[See also Part 2 -- Capitol Reef N.P.]
The map below (click on the thumbnail) shows my overall route for the whole trip; the yellow triangles are my camps, the M's are motel stays.
So: Canyonlands National Park -- Needles and Island in the Sky -- with Stew.
I left Bend on Saturday May 19 and headed east out US 20 -- the way lots of good trips begin!
I needed to meet Stew mid-afternoon the next day, the 20th, at the junction of US 191 and UT 211.
I drove and drove...and drove some more...then I drove some more...and after I'd driven 765 miles (the second-furthest distance I've driven in a day) I stopped and camped for the night. This spot, Camp 1, was in a large pullout off US 50/6 in far-western Utah near Skull Rock Pass.
Following the route shown on the overall map above (driving, driving...), I stopped in Moab for groceries then proceeded south and successfully rendezvoused with Stew at the appointed place and near the appointed time.
Here's a zoomed-in view of the area that we would explore the next 5 days:
Our plan was to spend 3 days in the Needles District, then we would drive the White Rim Trail/Road in the Island in the Sky District for a couple of days.
We camped the first night at Indian Creek BLM campground, just east of the entrance to Needles, Canyonlands NP, since we were sure the national park campground was already full. Indian Creek was not full and we got a nice spot. Camp 2.
[Most of the landscape-orientation (wider than tall) pics, like the one below, open up a little bigger -- and maybe better -- if you click on them]
Next morning we showed up early at the Squaw Flat Campground in the Needles, and thanks to being early -- and Stew's charm -- were offered first dibs on a great site by a couple that were packing up to leave. Camp 3.
We did a little loop walk/hike around the campground area, a route that crossed a rock bench with a view of the surrounding area, including our campsite.
So to avoid further delay, to get something posted -- and since it's a long story anyway, I decided to break the geographic sections into separate (probably 3) reports (as Bosque Bill did on his recent trip). I'll provide links connecting the sections when they're all done and posted.
[See also Part 2 -- Capitol Reef N.P.]
The map below (click on the thumbnail) shows my overall route for the whole trip; the yellow triangles are my camps, the M's are motel stays.
So: Canyonlands National Park -- Needles and Island in the Sky -- with Stew.
I left Bend on Saturday May 19 and headed east out US 20 -- the way lots of good trips begin!
I needed to meet Stew mid-afternoon the next day, the 20th, at the junction of US 191 and UT 211.
I drove and drove...and drove some more...then I drove some more...and after I'd driven 765 miles (the second-furthest distance I've driven in a day) I stopped and camped for the night. This spot, Camp 1, was in a large pullout off US 50/6 in far-western Utah near Skull Rock Pass.
Following the route shown on the overall map above (driving, driving...), I stopped in Moab for groceries then proceeded south and successfully rendezvoused with Stew at the appointed place and near the appointed time.
Here's a zoomed-in view of the area that we would explore the next 5 days:
Our plan was to spend 3 days in the Needles District, then we would drive the White Rim Trail/Road in the Island in the Sky District for a couple of days.
We camped the first night at Indian Creek BLM campground, just east of the entrance to Needles, Canyonlands NP, since we were sure the national park campground was already full. Indian Creek was not full and we got a nice spot. Camp 2.
[Most of the landscape-orientation (wider than tall) pics, like the one below, open up a little bigger -- and maybe better -- if you click on them]
Next morning we showed up early at the Squaw Flat Campground in the Needles, and thanks to being early -- and Stew's charm -- were offered first dibs on a great site by a couple that were packing up to leave. Camp 3.
We did a little loop walk/hike around the campground area, a route that crossed a rock bench with a view of the surrounding area, including our campsite.
