Canyonlands

We spent our Spring Break at Canyonlands National Park in Southern Utah.

 We traveled through southern Colorado and our first stop was in Glenwood Springs where we stayed overnight.

 We walked around town and grabbed some pizza for dinner.

As fun as that was, the best part for Emmrey was getting to the pool ..AND the fact that this room had bunk beds;)

The following morning we loaded up and drove a few more hours to our destination.

 The park has just 2 campgrounds total. Squaw Flat Campground was in the part of the park we were visiting. It's a first come-first serve deal so it's a real gamble. We came out on the bad end of that deal. Not a single spot available out of 26 by lunchtime. The host told us they typically fill up by 7-8 am ...WHAT? It turned out alright and we camped for free on some BLM land just outside the park. No table or water nearby, but we managed just fine.

 We set up camp just in time for the sky to darken. We experienced a crazy windstorm which eventually turned into a rain storm. We had to take everything back out of the tents and shake them out because the sand had blown right under the rain fly and through the screens....ugh!

 Once that all settled it turned out to be a great little spot. Our girls love exploring the rocks and there was plenty to explore

We made do without a table and found the perfect spot to set up our camp kitchen.

 We took our time getting up in the mornings, although Mark always beats the rest of us up and starts a fire:) We went to the visitors center and talked to a ranger about hike recommendations. We decided on a couple of shorter ones nearby. We walked the Roadside Ruin loop. This is about a .3 mile trail that features a Puebloan granary.

 We also explored the Cave Springs Trail. It was hardly a hike either at .6 miles. We got to see a historic cowboy camp and prehistoric petroglyphs.

 We even had a couple of ladders to climb

 Our final hike that day was Squaw Flat Trail.

 The trail is about a 8 mile loop, but we just went as long as the girls wanted and then decided to save our legs for the next day.

We got going a little earlier the next morning with a daunting hike in front of us. The Needles District offers over 60 miles of interconnecting trails. We chose to tackle the Chesler Park/Joint Trail. It is considered STRENUOUS and I would agree!

We hiked 11 miles with views of desert grasses and colorful sandstone spires.

 We explored about a half mile of deep, narrow fractures called the Joint.

 It was a loong hike! With the frequent stops and really difficult terrain (lots of up and down maneuvering through obstacles) it took us about 7 hours .... Mark never likes to take the easy route. We did see some beautiful landscape, but I can't say it was a hike I really enjoyed:(

On our last day we made a couple of stops before leaving the area. We visited Newspaper Rock located along Indian Creek in Southeastern Utah. This panel displays multiple periods of rock art from cultures dating to 1500 years ago to this century. The older art is attributed to the ancient Puebloan people who inhabited this region for approximately two thousand years, from 100 B.C. to 1540 A.D..  The more recent art (lighter in color) is attributed to the Ute people who still live in the Four Corners

 We made a quick stop at Wilson Arch, a natural sandstone arch south of Moab. It has a span of 91 feet and height of 46 feet. It is visible from the road and easily accessible. It is a pretty steep climb to get to the top so I opted to sit it out  due to the blisters I had acquired from the day before:/

 We made it to Moab in time for lunch. We found our favorite food truck and enjoyed some yum from Quesadilla Mobilla.

We were enjoying the beautiful weather there and knew that we were headed home to a snow storm so we walked around town a while and dragged out the warmth as long as possible.

 It was definitely Spring there!

 We stayed our last night in Rifle CO. I had completely forgot it was St. Patrick's Day. Emmrey had told Mark the night before that she would be "so sad if the Leprechaun didn't visit"..... yikes! Luckily the lil' Leprechaun remembered and left the girls a trail of gold in our hotel room.

Another successful Spring Break in the books and another National Park visit checked off our list:)