A Soulful Journey

The windows are rolled down. It is early

morning but cool air from the desert night be-
fore comes rushing over my face. This helps re-
move any vestige of sleepiness from last nights
camping. I could still hear insects outside while
Willie Nelson sings Blue Eyes Crying in The
Rain. The moment is absolutely perfect. I wake
Gavin so that he can see what I am seeing. In-
stantly suns rays reveal deep canyons in shades
of grey and purple. He smiles. We are where we
want to be.
 It is amazing to drive into Canyonlands National Park
because you are welcomed by the sight of tall, sand-
stone pillars off in the distance with the most saturated
blue backdrop, mesas, and deeply carved out canyons
scattered throughout your field of vision. The only way
I can describe it is driving into a sublime, otherworldly
vista.
Your senses are thunderstruck just so—your immedi-
ate sense of wonderment propels you into a geological,
epic narrative told through wind and water. The area
known has Upheaval Dome is truly worth a visit as its
most strenuous trail takes you through desert and can-
yon to the Green River. Experienced hikers can appreci-
ate the work it takes. It is worth the sweat and excessive
water consumption. It is evident that over hundreds and
millions of years this land has gone through spectacular
changes. As the North American continent drifted away
from the equator; Canyonlands has been covered in
ocean, crisscrossed by rivers, and covered in layers of
deposits. As these changes occurred the climate has
gone from topical to desert and this is how nature has
achieved its most awesome features. The hiking in Up-
heaval in the western region known as Island in the Sky
Mesa is breathtaking in its beauty and truly awesome in
its potential for danger. This high desert region can
reach 100o F in the summer, which makes hiking a great
physical feat. If your goal is making it to the Green
River from Upheaval Dome it is ten miles of varying
terrain.
“LEAVE IT AS IT IS. You cannot
improve on it. The ages have
been at work on it, and man
can only mar it.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
When I step past the sign declaring, “WARNING,” I
feel a rush of excitement but also a quiver of dread as
I think about what lies ahead and wonder what is
wrong with me for attempting this again. “Why do I
keep coming back?” Really, it is that sense of surreal
beauty. I can’t help but marvel at the contrasting high
reds against the clearest blues I have ever seen even
in remote deserts in California. Going first through
Syncline Trail the terrain is rocky and steep.
FACTS about THE JUNIPER
The Utah Juniper or Juniperous Osteosperma
can grow in some of the most inhospitable land-
scapes imaginable, thriving in an environment of
baking heat, bone-chilling cold, intense sunlight,
little water and fierce winds. Junipers grow very
slowly. A juniper standing only five feet tall
may be 50 years old. Junipers typically live from
350 to 700 years, with some even passing the
millennium mark.
ANIMAL USES
Animals find the juniper very inviting. The ber-
ries are edible, though they are not as popular as
pinyon pine nuts. However, juniper berries are a
staple for jackrabbits, coyotes and a variety of
birds. This is important for the tree as well since
it helps to disperse its seeds.
HUMAN USES
Humans have found many uses for juniper. The
ancestral Puebloans took advantage of its medic-
inal qualities, which include the treatment of
stomach aches, coughs and headaches. The dried
seeds were (and still are) used for beading neck-
laces and bracelets and as the "rattle" in rattles.
Pioneers and cowboys found the rot-resistant
wood great for fence posts and shingles. The soft
bark has been used as bedding, toilet paper and,
when tightly twisted, as a slow-burning match.
SOURCE: The National Park Service, U.S De-
partment of the Interior
ABOVE: Sunset at Candlestick Tower Overlook in Canyonlands National Park, TOP: Sign at the top of Syncline Loop trail head .
Utah
BOTTOM: Claudia and Michael in their tent.

It starts as a loop around a huge salt dome that might all the more enrapturing. It was the sounds of
have been a large meteorite collision but that is still the rushing water as it made its way across
up for debate by geologists. Midway through the deep red, sandy yellows and endless blues
hike it intersects with Upheaval Canyon Trail in the that made our time to get there precious. I
Syncline Valley. The last three miles, known as the can’t imagine any man made monument as
Labyrinth, is an offshoot of the Upheaval trail and perfect as what nature has created here in
takes you away from the loop. These last three miles Canyonlands. I think of what Theodore Roo-
of the trail are the most refreshing miles as you can sevelt said when he visited The Grand Can-
see the river from here on out and it signals the end yon for the first time, ý"Leave it as it is. You
of the journey. cannot improve on it. The ages have been at
Late summer is monsoon season. The violent storms
and brilliant cloud formations speak to further tu-
multuous fluctuations within the park. It didn’t rain
on us that day in the deserts canyon. What we did
get was a kind of humid heat pervading our space
and a sense of being suspended in time. To say that
our movements felt like moving in slow motion is
an understatement. After walking for an hour
through Labyrinth we reached the remote stretch of
the Green River. I don’t believe that the ten strenu-
ous miles to get there made the cool, calm, welcom- Morning view of Needles District at Canyonlands.