The entrance to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park is a 75 mile drive from Moab. This district is 194 square miles alone. I've run out of superlatives. Words can't adequately describe what we've experienced.
This is the first part of the Elephant Hill climb. This may have had the most difficult challenges of any trail so far and much more of the beautiful scenery we've come to expect.
This is the first part of the Elephant Hill climb. This may have had the most difficult challenges of any trail so far and much more of the beautiful scenery we've come to expect.
The beginning of the descent
The zigzag descent had one switchback too narrow to allow a jeep to swing. This sign gives directions on what to do to continue.
One of the first views of the Needles
The above photos show the squeeze in Devil's Pocket.
A half mile hike took us to these stairs. They led to a crack or joint between rocks with light streaming in from above.
Cryptobiotic soil crust takes decades to mature. It is a living soil that makes an otherwise unstable surface impervious to both wind and water erosion. Cyanobacteria is one of the oldest known life forms and binds together lichens, mosses, green algae and fungi which comprise the knobby black crust.
A barberry on the trail
Needles of Cedar Mesa sandstone
S.O.B. Hill begins with a steep, rocky climb behind the Jeep before reaching this 90-degree turn.
It's a tight squeeze - an s.o.b., for sure.
Vic had to do this twice - once downhill to get to the Joint Trail and this return.
And then the Silver Stairs..... 
......which went on and on.
And back up the Elephant Hill switchbacks after completing the loop.
And the final descent to the parking area
Newspaper Rock was a must-see on the return route to Moab. It's one of the largest panels of petroglyphs on the Colorado Plateau. Some of them were found to be 1,500 years old but most were carved more recently over a few hundred year span.
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