Photos

Found the trailhead last.

The descent begins.

Janky, but still technically a trail.

Following the bears. Noticeably absent - human footprints.

Of course if you're going to drop the GPS, you're going to drop it in the lair of the bear.

Action before springing would have been preferable.

Unexpectedly cloudy mornings are rustic HDR.

Amber waves of Sav.

The beginning of the slickrock ascent.

Some awesome deer/canoe hybrids partway up the ascent.

From the top of the bridge. Not pictured - moderate terror.

We came up that way, more or less.

Spent a long time walking through this stuff. Pick the best path you can that does not lead you across biological soil crust or off the cliff.

A Canyon we did not go down (yes, there were a few.)

Rocks are clearly the superior shade. Our camp is a few hundred feet past this.

Surveying the land.

Some very cool rock texturing in the canyon we were descending.

Baby alcoves are known as alklets.

The love child of a 4x4 road and a river bed. The following is a dramatic reenactment of quicksand - hilariously, there actually was some later on.

Brave little tadpoles. It appears that the pelican never made its way to Canyonlands.

Draw me like one of your french spelunkers.

I believe our walls may have suffered some sort of water damage.

Following the bears part 2.

Sometimes road, sometimes riverbed.

WTS pretty cool arch - will accept 4L water or best offer.

Up the spine on the way to go straight up the canyon wall. Not pictured - cowboy beans.

All glory to the hypnolog.

Turns out rings take a really long time to ship so we whittled and filed some temporary ones in the meantime.

A little happiness to help us up the final wall.

View from the top of an ascent that was basically just 45 degree loose dirt and rock for about 800 feet.

Finally out of the woods. Or rather, out of the canyon?

Our main non-backpacking site.

High five, wall.

Tut tut, looks like (extremely localized) rain.

Not the grain you're looking for.

Geological features and stuff it would seem.

Slickrock sunset part 1.

Found the pot-o-Sav. The rainbow briefly merged with the rain before passing it. Rude.

Slickrock sunset part 2: the pinkening.

Slickrock sunset part 3: the regular night rises.

Ready for Chesler.

Perhaps a pod of needles?

Observing the needles from a safe distance.

Chesler parp.

Honey I shrunk the trail.

The mushroom bone's connected to the... other mushroom bone.

That's quite the rock you've got there. Shame if someone were to... slick it.

Riverbed terrain sampler on the way to druid arch.

Rock blood is not actually green - rather, refraction causes the deoxygenated sand to appear that way.

This water park is missing something.

An absolutely astonishing sight - Sav managed to sit in the one spot where the light came through the middle so she still wasn't in shade. Five story tall Druid Arch wasn't too bad either.

Thanks clouds - would have been nice to have you before the canyon walls gave us shade anyway, but I guess it's the thought that counts.

Petrified microscopic marshmallow.

Campground, but with more red.

Rock of assorted slickness.

Welcome to... the scary ladder.

Sav sneakily hiding her feet.

Sailing the high slicks.

Harvest moon smugly stealing the darkness.

Arch photo appropriately taken with a horizontal phone.

Arcch.

Arches and fins.

We ruined private arch for another hiker and vice-versa. Photos were taken as recompense.

I'm on a fin and, it's made of rock and, ...

Walls with the talls.

The sight from the site.