One morning, I got up early to take a hike along a trail that would supposedly give me a great sunrise view of “The Needles” in Canyonlands National Park. I have hiked many a trail in national parks, although I admit most of them were in mountain parks like Yosemite, Glacier, Mt. Rainier, Shasta, etc. 
Canyonlands is nothing like any of those, so I should not have been surprised that the trails would be different also. But, here I was, happily minding my own business, hiking along a beautifully carved trail in the desert, when it just suddenly came to an abrupt end. You can see it for yourself in this picture…it just ends against these rocks.
After a few seconds of mystification, I realized I had to climb this rather steep set of rocks to continue on to my destination (they are much steeper and taller than they appear in this photo). Thank God I wear an excellent pair of hiking shoes. They gripped the rocks very well as I was on all fours to make the ascent up to the ridgeline where the white rocks met the red ones. After making it up there, I traversed that ridge to the left to the point where I could make another ascent up to the top of the red rocks.
I was able to make it to the viewpoint to photograph the sunrise on The Needles. The morning light, and the beautiful clouds you partially see here made the trip worth it. By the way, I had to slide down these very same rocks on the way back. The sweatpants I was wearing on this cold morning still bear the holes from my descent.
In the next few days, I hope to have the best of my photographs from the Canyonlands up on my Web site. I will let you know when I’ve finished.
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