Needles and Fisher Towers
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The Needles district of the park is about 75 miles by car from the Island in the Sky. When the sun disappeared I decided to drive down there and see what it was like. It was about a two hour drive. The Needles Visitors Center has a nice movie about the park as well as a 3D map of the whole place that helps orient you. If you make this drive be careful of the open grazing land. I passed many very large cows just barely off the pavement.
Click on the images below to see an enlarged version.
Canon D60, Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L, ISO 100
This rock art is found along the north bank of the Colorado downstream from Moab. There are several panels. Some of which have been vandalized to a degree. This particular one is high enough to be protected.
Canon D60, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L, ISO 100
I call this the "Desert Garden". It shows a good example of the cryptobiotic soil that is so important to the ecology of the desert. This knobby, black crust is dominated by cyanobacteria, but also includes lichens, mosses, green algae, microfungi and bacteria. It holds the sand in place allowing other, larger plants to grow and provides reservoirs of moisture for the animals as well. A careless step onto these areas will damage the soil crust which will literally take decades to repair itself. When walking in these areas you should stay on the trails or walk on the exposed rock. If you are interested in more information about this soil check out the Soil Crust Web Site. This particular area is just off the trail around the Pothole Point area. (I and my tripod are on the rock.)
Canon D60, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L, ISO 100
I came across this interesting rock sculpture also on the trail around Pothole Point. The usual attraction to this area is the numerous potholes in the sandstone that collect water after a rain. Unfortunately with our current drought in Utah there was no rain to collect. That didn't stop me from finding other things to photograph.
Canon D60, Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L, ISO 100
Fisher Towers are about 25 miles upstream along the Colorado from Moab. When I saw that the skies were clearing except for a few just over the La Sal Mountains I decided to leave the Needles district and head for Fisher Towers. I mis-remembered how far they were and really had to hustle to get there before the sun set. If I had been there early enough I would have liked to try getting down closer to the water to increase the amount of reflection and reduce the apparent size of the far bank. The clouds over the La Sal's add an extra touch.
Canon D60, Canon 28-70mm f/2.8L, ISO 100
I was torn between this view that shows more of the clouds and the view above that shows more detail. I drove back to Moab nice and slow to make up for my hurried trip out here. The interesting thing about this location is that the road is on the south side of the river, as are the Fisher Towers. Fortunately at this point the river makes a sweeping turn of more than 90 degrees that allows you to get the river in the foreground.
For all my pictures of Canyonlands on this trip check the Image Catalog under Canyonlands 03