With the camera's zoom lens problem minimized, there will be many more pictures on the following pages than there were on the previous two pages, so be prepared.

Our second day of vacation began with a morning drive through the Manti-la Sal National Forest just west of Monticello, Utah. It was a beautiful scenic route, perfect for a top-down Miata drive. We saw several groups of deer and some wild turkeys as we drove through the mountains towards the Needles district of the Canyonlands National Park. (I have to admit that this picture of the Miata was not taken this early in the trip, but I wanted a picture here to show off our top-down Miata. This picture was taken somewhere in the Canyonlands National Park, so I snuck it in here anyway. Can you guess where it was actually taken?)

The first stop was the Newspaper Rock State Historical Monument, which is not part of Canyonlands. However, since it is located on the only road into and out of the Needles district (Scenic Byway U-211), the images have been included here because of their close proximity to the park. This rock wall displays petroglyphs that span 1000 years and covers three distinct archaeological time periods. The site consists of the main panel that you see here, and a second set of panels just to the right.

You'll find many types of animal sketches here, including deer, elk, bison, birds and turtles. You may also be able to locate human hunters, bird men, and antennae men. Many of the symbols appear to be no more than doodles, possibly just an ancient form of graffiti. No one is quite sure what all these symbols mean, but obviously the indians wanted to tell others about their experiences and tales, and this rock provided a beautiful slate for their markings while they were passing through the area.

Canyonlands National Park is an immense wilderness of rock located at the heart of the Colorado Plateau. It consists of three distinct regions: Needles, the Island in the Sky , and the Maze. The Needles district is the southeast portion of the park, and is famous for its colorful sandstone spires. The spires are formed of Cedar Mesa Sandstone that were created when faults in the underlying formations cracked the sandstone into massive rectangular blocks. When the sandstone was exposed, wind, rain, and snow erosion widened the cracks and created the spires. Advances and retreats of a sea during the Permian Period (280 million years ago) caused the alternating bands of white and red deposits.

Some spires are tall and slender, others short and squat. The Needles district allows the visitor to walk among the spires and canyons. This is much different from the experience in the Island in the Sky district (which we will visit later), where the scenery is more distant and sweeping.

Like Arches National Park, the Needles district boasts a large, fascinating collection of rock spans or arches. For instance, Angel Arch stands approximately 150 feet high and in contrast, Wooden Shoe Arch has just a small tunnel like opening in the arch of the "shoe". However, most of the arches in this district are hidden in the backcountry canyons, and are accessible only by long hikes and/or four-wheel drive trips.

Beth and I chose Slickrock Foot trail for our hike in the Needles district, which is at the northern end of the district. My knee was still injured from a bicycling incident that occured before we left on vacation, so the 2.5 mile loop was an excellent opportunity to test it and see what kind of hikes were going to be possible for the remainder of the vacation. This image shows a portion of the slickrock, which made up most of the terrain we were travelling. The trail had to be marked by small piles of rocks (cairns) located approximately every 50 to 100 feet all along the slickrock.

Visitors and hikers are required to hike on the rock and sandstone when exploring the area. This is because much of the soil is covered with a cryptobiotic layer that looks like dark crusty dirt. However, it is a thin, fragile layer of living plants such as lichens, mosses, and cyanobacteria. This cryptobiotic layer stabilizes the loose terrain and adds nutrients to the soil, allowing grass seeds and other plants to germinate in the protected crevices of the crust. Once it is damaged, the cryptobiotic layer can take decades to restore itself to a healthy condition.

The only time on the hike we encountered other people was at the farthest viewpoint along the trail's loop. Two other hikers came along just as we were leaving, so we were able to ask them to snap a picture of us. As you can tell from our attire, the weather was beautiful (remember, this is Beth who would not be wearing shorts if it wasn't very warm :-) with a high in the low 80's. My knee caused some minor pain during the hike, but I was starting to feel confident that it would survive at least a few more hikes during the vacation.

This final stop before we arrived in Moab, Utah was right off of U.S. 191 between Monticello and Moab. Wilson Arch was named after Joe Wilson, a local pioneer who lived in Dry Valley. This arch is composed of Entrada Sandstone, and was formed when wind, rain and ice attacked the free standing fin, loosening the "cement" material until chunks of rock collapsed from the middle of the fin. Wilson Arch is not part of the Canyonlands National Park, however it does provide an excellent preview of things to come in the Arches National Park.