Remembering my Childhood at Canyonlands National Park

Every once in a while an individual has one of those moments that both connects them with their childhood and prepares them to face the future. Yesterday was one of those days for me. Bryce and I decided to go on a short childless adventure. We left the kids at Grandma and Grandpa Royer's house (thanks Mom and Dad!), filled our van with the essentials to turn it into a tent for a night, and took a nice little drive to visit Canyonlands National Park. Oldly enough, although I grew up roughly 75 miles south of this nationally recognized landmark, I had never visited it before. So finally, with a willing husband, as an adult I finally visited this place that people come from all over the world to see.

In a way, visiting Canyonlands felt like I was coming home. The red and white sandstone, fields of sagebrush, juniper and pinon pine trees, and prickly pear cactus all transported me to memories of my childhood mornings spent exploring Westwater Canyon with my dog, Goldie. Then, as now, I loved scaling the rocky pathways, scouting for signs of wildlife, and stopping to enjoy the spring desert blooms. Only this time I had my husband with me and I could share this adventure and memories of my childhood with him.

Mostly because it was the closest to my parents' house and because it has more campgrounds than the northern area, we chose to visit the southern part of Canyonlands, called the Needles District. It's named for the spire-like rock formations that are a major feature in this region. This park isn't as well developed as the other national parks that I've been to, but therein lies the charm. We were able to spend more time looking at the natural beauty of the land rather than looking at people, campgrounds, or buildings.

After we found our campsite for the night, we decided to do the four smaller hikes in the Needles District of Canyonlands. Our first stop was the Roadside Ruin. It was a short walk down to an ancient grainery built under an outcropping of sandstone. This was one of the ways that the ancient peoples that lived in this region of the world would store their food.

Next we hiked the Cave Spring Trail. This trail takes you down into a canyon where cowboys in the late 1800s and early 1900s would find water and shelter while herding their catrle. We saw some artifacts depicting a cowboy camp, experienced the cool cave-like environment that you find under a sandstone outcropping, saw a cave where water seeped out and was a water source for ancient and modern peoples (as seen by the pictographs on the wall), climbed wooden ladders, and saw some amazing views.

The Pothole Point Trail brought back a lot of childhood memories. The potholes are mini ecosystems that come to life when it rains. They reminded me of the pools that I would observe in the springtime as a child. I loved watching the tadpoles come to life and slowly trasform into baby toads. It's a cycle of life that is unique to arid climates, but that is part of my past.

Our final and longest hike of the day was the Slickrock Foot Trail. This trail reminded me of the many, many hours that I spent hiking the sandstone trails and canyons near the houses that I grew up in. I would wander in those canyons for hours on end, daydreaming and contemplating the universe. There weren't very many people on this trail when we were and it was nice to be secluded and surrounded by nature. The vistas along this trail were beautiful and we could see for miles and miles in every direction.

All throughout the park and along the trails was evidence that this land that looks so barren is actually teaming with life. I loved seeing all of the spring blossoms, the lizards, chipmunks, cottontail rabbits, and birds. Very few of them would stay still long enough for me to pull out my camera, but I was fast enough to catch these two lizards before they scurried away.

After our hikes, we took a drive back outside the park to Newspaper rock. This is a large rock wall covered with petroglyphs from many different peoples. It is always interesting to me how peoples of all ages want to be heard and remembered. Ancient peoples wrote on walls, modern day people write blogs or post on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The highlight of the day occured in the evening after we had gotten back to camp. A small rainstorm was blowing through the park and that gave us the opportunity to see an amazingly bright rainbow. It lasted for a good 15 minutes and gave us plenty of time to get some pictures of this amazing reminder of whose land this really is. We may be able to hike the trails, enjoy the vistas, and make the land our home for a time, but it is really God who is control. He planned the many miracles that make it possible for life to not only survive, but flourish in a land so barren and beautiful.