Technicolor UT Desert Part 1 of 3 – The Desert Washes Away…Horseshoe Canyon, Canyonlands, NP

June 13, 2009 by Heather 3 Comments

I’ve been swamped.  finally getting around to posting my pics from a trip over Memorial Day weekend.    There are THREE posts.  (Big, I had to split them up.)

Post #1: HERE!

Post #2:  https://hfrank007.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/technicolor-ut-desert-part-2-of-3-escape-from-alcatraz-scuba-gear-a-bolt-gun-and-the-batmobile/

Post #3:  https://hfrank007.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/technicolor-ut-desert-part-3-of-3-the-trail-of-tears-and-bumpers-and-more-flash-floods-and-stinging-goobers-home/

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Memorial weekend I had the good fortune of a trip to remote UT, with many good friends, to hike and canyoneer.  What’s canyoneering, you might ask?  Imagine descending a skinny gash in the earth, wide enough in places for only your body to squeeze through sideways, slivers of blue sky above, punctuated by potholes of water, some wadeable, some requiring swimming across.  We’re talking Willie Wonka chocolate river brown water, Jane Fonda full-body-workout physical fun.  It was my maiden voyage into the world of canyoneering.  I LOVED IT! 

Pics from the trip through ALCATRAZ slot canyon, in the Robbers Roost area, to follow in the next post. 

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Friday, May 22:  It was a looooong drive out to UT from home, 8 hrs or so, the last one hour on slow, wet, gooey dirt road. 

Woke to a desert landscape more GREEN than I’ve ever seen the desert. Against the red dirt and rocks, it looked almost surreal:  (Pic from Steve, my housemate, thanks, Steve!)

 

 

 

Had a mishap with a bike handle battling the sliding window in my topper. The bike won.  Have been quoted $250 to replace the destroyed window.  Needless to say, I’m researching other options.

 You’ve gotta love car camping for the way your vehicle  seems to puke up gear all over the place.  Organization is key, lost at this moment:

 

 

 

Drizzle and impending rain clouds made canyoneering inpossible (and dangerous) Sat.  so we hiked in Canyonlands, NP. Ever see a flash flood in the desert?  Neither had I…

En Route, John surfs the Shadowcruiser:

 

 

It was muddy:

 

 

MAP:   Here’s a link to the National Park’s Horseshoe Canyon brochure, with a super map and info on the geology, archeology and plant life of the canyone we traipsed through. 

  http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/upload/HorseshoeCanyon.pdf

 

A map of Horseshoe Canyon, from a canyoneering website. www.CantoneeringUSA.com. Thank you!

 

 

  

What a gang!  We headed into a beautiful canyon hopping across the little stream crossings now and then to keep our feet dry. Hah!  Little did we know…

 

 

Becky leaps over a stream:

 

 

Flowers were bright beacons:

 

 

 

 

Rocks’ colors seemed brighter from all the damp:

 

 

Stopped and saw some pictographs. Left to Right:  Melisa, Tom, Ray, Lee, Matt, Me, Elasha, Kim, Matt, Becky, Kurt, Steve, Agie, Emma

 

 

Continued on to the  mother of all natural ampitheaters for snacks.  Was great timing since the sky opened up and the rain fell in buckets.  Look at the pic below.  Look closely.  See all the waterfalls tumbling over the canyon walls?   

 

 

Seemed half the desert’s dirt spewed over the edge of the ampitheater:

 

 

I’ve never seen water  like this in the desert. 

The falling cats and dogs  slowed and we hiked on to the final panel of pictographs:

 

 

 

A random broom became an object of entertainment.

John gave Harry Potter a “flight” for his money:

 

 

Ray (The Scorpion) rocked out air guitar playing:

 

 

All was fun and games until…

A sudden crashing sound disrupted the games.  This roar made my single speck of human survival instincts  alarm, “Oh shit…danger?”  The creek passing through the canyon we’d just walked up was swollen, rushing, WIDE.  After inspection, we waited to see if it would slow (yah…right!)   Teeth began to chatter and bodies became visibly chilly. 

 Let the flash flooding begin!

Resources pooled, the safest, slowest spot to cross identified, across we went in groups, safety and strength in number.  Spots were swift enough to knock over a person not paying attention. 

 

 

After numerous crossings, we all made it back, though, with smiles on our faces and hungry bellies.

Gear was strewn out to dry:

 

 

Butts were dried by the fire:

 

 

Steve (my hosemate) enjoyed a G&T’ by the fire:

 

 

Tom’s brother Barry arrived, pulled out his banjo, joined Tom with his guitar, and we all enjoyed a pre-bedtime music session, a tradition with this crowd I truly look forward to.

 

 

 

John and Becky soaking in the music:

 

 

The next day would be filled with adventure!