5/11/08 Needles District of Canyonlands

We decided to take a quick trip to the Needles District of Canyonlands. Everyone usually goes to the "Island in the Sky" where we had gone last visit. From the vista point on the Island in the Sky, you look down into the mysterious canyonlands of the Needles District. It just seems to be a few miles away (by crow). Our quick trip was about 180 miles long.... but well worth it. To quote the brochure, "Needles District is a startling landscape of rocks, spires, arches, canyons, grabens, and potholes." Our camera just can't capture the immensity of the place when you are immersed in it.


The rock below was called "Newspaper Rock" and contained petroglyphs from ancestral pueblo people (anasazi is no longer politically correct as it means ancient enemy in Navajo but it sounds way more intriguing than "ancestral pueblo people"), explorers, cowboys and 1950's tourists. What these petroglyphs symbolize is anyone's guess. There are references to animals, hunting, and even an space alien or two. Click on the picture for a bigger version and make up your own stories.