Days 5-7 Utah Van Life

Today we hit the road to the Needles District of Canyonlands.

We went over to the Fiery Furnace Overlook. I would like to return to do this hike with a ranger.

To start the drive we stopped in at Moab Coffee Roasters to get some beans. We didn’t pay attention and they ground it for a french press, we use a pour over. Real world problems, the beans are ground to much. We did stop at an adorable bakery for cookies!

The drive to the Needles was spectular. No pictures as I was on free range cattle patrol.

We found the perfect campsite there, loop A site 22.

After settling in, we did a short hike from our campsite over rock to closed campground B.

After lunch we hiked the Cave Spring Trail 1.6 miles. Mike spotted a mule deer hanging out which meant a great deal to us because we were in a sacred Indigenous spot.

We concluded the day with a drive around to admire the sunset off the rocks.

Day 6

Our plan was to hike the 11 mile Chesler Loop trail. Though we said we could bail out at anytime, as this was a hard hike with slot channels, climbing up rocks and ladders. We called the hike at the 3 miles, stopping at the Chesler Park Overlook. Our legs said nope no more, so we turned around. No matter what it was a beautiful trail.

We returned for lunch, had a quick nap and headed out for another hike, Sliprock Trail. 3 miles that again was lovely, but we were so tired that I felt we rushed it.

The night sky was stunning.

Day 7

Time to move on, headed south to Gooseneck State Park.

First stop was Newspaper Rock

Our second stop was Monument Valley. This was an interesting side excursion for us. This is unfortunately now best known for the movie Forest Gump. The amount of people standing in the road, not caring to get out of the way of cars to get “that” picture was annoying. We didn’t do the drive into the valley, but did stop at the visitor center.

We left the Valley and headed to our to overnight spot at Gooseneck State Park. We had an amazing view of the gooseneck, lunch view wasn’t to shabby and the night sky just beautiful.

Tomorrow, Day 8 we are on the road again.