This Trail.

Let me walk this trail all the days of my life. 

This is Horseshoe Canyon on a special day in May. Rains had washed it clean for us and compacted the sand under our boots. The riverbed looked like chocolate and glinted in the sun.
The cottonwoods wore their brilliant, springtime green. It smelled fresh - like clay and scrub.

This trail took us along the path of ancient ones who left their stories on the walls in panels high above us and right next to us. They are mystical and mundane and fantastic. They spark our imaginations but on a special day in May, it's easy for a visitor to believe that this is the place the ancients wanted to be.

It is perfect.

That's the trail. Really.

We came up that chute to reach the top of the mesa on The Neck in Canyonlands National Park. 

The guide book (copyright date 2005) called this an easy hike below the rim. The ranger at CNP visitor center said it was medium diffuculty. That is an apt description but for this one section. Obviously things changed since the guidebook was published. 

It was a bear of a transition and AB did it with her camera mounted on her tripod. Amazing.

It was a super beautiful hike with expansive views and lovely details. I recommend it with the caveat to be prepared for the chute!

Joan 

Downstairs on Cashio Street

Phone-post

One stone duck?

Hikers wisdom: two stones don't make a duck.

How about one pointed stone?

Joan 

Downstairs on Cashio Street

Phone-post

Cairn of the day

Hiking in Arches and Canyonlands National Parks , AB and I met many cairns and ducks. We enjoyed their presence immensely, almost every one.

I'll post some pictures of favorites in the coming days as well as views and trailside observations. But look here.

This is what happens when you build your cairn on the sloping top of a petrified dune.

Deconstruction. 

Joan 

Downstairs on Cashio Street

Phone Post