Canyonlands and Bears Ears National Monument

In which Moominmama considers those who lived in Utah's canyons long ago and learns more about cryptobiotic soils...

Gettings to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park requires crossing through Bears Ears National Monument, also public land but run by a different federal agency and receiving a lower level of protection, one that gives weight to economic and recreational needs.

Among other things, that means that a lot of this land provides open range for cattle. While I've often seen cows grazing, this is one of the first times I've seen actual cowboys moving a herd. I came around a corner in my car as this group was crossing and got to watch the two cowboys and their dogs direct this herd down the slope on the other side of the road. 

Bears Ears is the focus of a fight involving the Trump administration, which previously shrank its size to open it up for more uranium mining only to have Biden reverse the move. 

That reversal is unlikely to hold now, but I want to say for the record, this is spectacular land with towering mesas and a striking green oasis in Indian Creek. It's also full of evidence of previous inhabitants, for example at "Newspaper Rock," the largest collection of petroglyphs I've ever seen up close.

This desert environment on the Colorado Plateau was obviously so widely populated for millennia that archeological sites and artifacts can be found all over the place. They raise more questions than they answer! If you look closely at these footprints, you'll notice some have four toes, some five and some six. 

Does that mean ancient people couldn't count? Unlikely. The number of toes means something. I've heard that six toes symbolize a spirit being, something more powerful than a human. It's also possible that the number of footprints communicated something about the size of a group and their migration.

In the Needles District of Canyonlands, I also saw worn stone troughs used to grind corn or grains -- or possibly paint! And I saw an ancient stone granary tucked under a deep rock overhang. This was once a bustling community!

Moominmama ended up camping just outside the Needles District in an area of Bears Ears designated for "dispersed camping." There are no services but it was free (though limited to a maximum of a 14-day stay), and I enjoyed great views of the surrounding countryside. Traveling between Bears Ears and Canyonlands, I quickly observed the soils were different inside and outside of the protection of the national park. Where I was camped, the soil was red and dusty with bushy Russian thistle everywhere (aka tumbleweed). Apart from a few juniper trees, there was very little diversity of plant life.

This was a noticeable contrast with Canyonlands where the trails still had the red sandy soil but were otherwise dark with patches of cryptobiotic soil, and the plant life was much more diverse. 

The almost bubbling, textured soil is full of microorganisms, cyanobacteria, lichen and filaments that hold water and prevent soil erosion. It resists invasive species like the now ubiquitous tumbleweed and fosters growth of prickly pear, natural grasses and the desert's spring flowers because it helps fix nitrogen in the soil. It's also very fragile. Human footsteps, cattle hooves or ATVs quickly destroy this soil, which takes years, even decades to build.

On a windy day, I especially came to appreciate cryptobiotic soil because it limits the red dust that sticks to sunscreen-covered skin or coats the surfaces inside the trailer. One of the young rangers here mentioned how grateful she was to return from a trip to Moab on a windy day, because Moab is full of ATVs and other human activity that feeds sandstorms.

Speaking of rangers, the Needles District has some really enthusiastic summer employees, perhaps in part because they just arrived, a month later than usual. These summer rangers are the ones who could hold out for the extra month in hopes the job would come through despite federal machinations. But their excitement was really contagious, and I thoroughly enjoyed to talking to each of them. I also enjoyed some challenging climbs on the slick rock. Utah, as ever, is remarkable!

Moominmama is now taking a break, having returned to Grand Junction to manage a few details of life. I look forward to visiting with my Colorado friends and knowing where to find things in the grocery store for a couple weeks! I also made a point of being here for the Mike, the Headless Chicken Festival so if you don't know about Mike, check in with this blog next week!