When you round the corner and see the canyons, and the scope for the first time, it’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. You are small and your life is insignificant. And these canyons will be around long after you are gone. In the grand scheme of your planet, human beings are just teenagers after prom, checking into a hotel room they will inevitably trash by morning.
I have looked into the abyss of the Canyonlands in Utah and I have been humbled for life. The scale of this desert and the way the quiet settles over everything, it’s a quiet that has dimension. It’s a quiet that has volume and texture. It’s like nothing I have ever experienced.
We embarked on a 3 day tour of the White Rim Trail with a guide from Navtec. It was nice to have someone else behind the wheel of the 90's era Toyota Land Cruiser when the road disappeared or started down a cliff face. If you can get the White Crack campsite - do it! It was the best one we saw along the trail, though Candlestick Tower campsite was pretty amazing as well.
Lathrop trail -
What you don’t realize as you gaze from a distance upon the red stone columns in the distance is that behind each is a myriad of other red rocks, each disguised as the end of the horizon, is actually just a beginning. When we began hiking down the Lathrop trail, we began to realize that the eyes play tricks on you. The distances are impossible to gauge. Likewise, the colors of the rock from afar are so uniformly red, that you can’t see the diversity of the colors until you get up close to the rock. The deeper we got into the hike, the more colors appeared. Light yellows and browns, some deeper purple hues in places. I felt like I was in on a great secret. We didn’t pass a single other soul for the two hours we were out on the trail. It was incredible.
Night one we camped at the base of Airport Tower. In the morning I watched it turn from pale pink to bright orange in a matter of seconds. When you watch the sunset here, the rocks explode in color, almost violently, it happens so fast. If you aren’t paying attention, you could miss it. But what a spectacular sight to behold.
The drive bumps you around like a ping pong ball but it’s worth it. How else could you get to the precipice of Monument Basin without days of hiking? And to stand on that ledge and shout into the chasm only to hear your own voice reverberate five to ten times across the stones below. It’s magical kingdom spread out before you like some CG movie scene. Maybe bumping across the desert in a four wheel drive is cheating, but it sure does have its perks.
White Crack -
The road up to the campsite requires some 4WD action but there is a moment along that road when the car crests a final hill and the entirety of The Canyonlands becomes apparent and its red canyons and spires stretch out in every direction. From this vista you can see The Maze, The Needles and Island in the Sky at once. It literally brought tears to my eyes. I have never seen anything so beautiful. It defies description. It takes the breath from your lungs and squeezes your heart. Each section of this park has such unique characteristics, and its overwhelming to see them all in such stark relief.
Crest that hill and see it all at once like that, and tell me that doesn’t change your perspective on life.
Candlestick Tower
Because after White Crack we hadn’t seen enough beauty, so we went to the candlestick tower campground and set up camp overlooking a canyon and the Green River. Aaron and I found some time to reflect on that overlook, watching giant birds of prey circle and swoop overhead. A sand bar in the middle of the river seemed to call to me - get down off that rim and get in this water! The next time I see these canyons will be in a boat. But I did have the opportunity to take a dip in the Green on the last day. It felt like a baptism.
Video below summarizes the experience as best I could.
