Jason and I spent Thanksgiving at this campsite in Chesler Park. After our holiday feast of turkey jerkey and instant mashed potatoes we took a nap and woke up around midnight to explore the area under the intense light of the moon. The Moab Desert gets extremely cold after the sun goes down. The previous night had a low around 5 degrees. This night was a little warmer, probably around 15 or 20. We had a candle hanging in the tent to provide some warmth. Surprisingly, there was a 22 degree halo around the moon. This is extremely rare in the desert since halos forecast precipitation. They're caused by light refracting through high altitude ice crystals, and are more common with sunlight than moonlight. Unfortunately, neither of us remembered that halos have been used for thousands of years to predict the weather. We climbed back in the tent with no clue that heavy snow was coming our way. Even if we had remembered that halos predict precipitation, we probably wouldn't have believed it. The Moab Desert only gets 5 to 8 inches of precipitation every year, the majority of which falls during summer monsoons.
 

November 22, 2007 | Permalink | Categories: Utah, National Parks, Canyonlands N.P.

 

November 22, 2007 | Permalink | Categories: Utah, National Parks, Canyonlands N.P.

 

November 22, 2007 | Permalink | Categories: Utah, National Parks, Canyonlands N.P.

 
This is one of my favorite areas along the trail to Chesler Park. It's a good view of the Needles across a canyon filled with sandstone spires shaped like mushrooms.
 

November 22, 2007 | Permalink | Categories: Utah, National Parks, Canyonlands N.P.

 
Jason looking towards Six Shooter Peak as we start our trip in Canyonlands on Thanksgiving.
 

November 22, 2007 | Permalink | Categories: Utah, National Parks, Canyonlands N.P.

 
Caves dot the landscape around Tsankawi. The soft tuff allowed the caves to be dug easily. Many of the caves contain air holes drilled (somehow) through the top, allowing fire to be used for heat, and most entrances face south, providing more warmth in winter. Many of the walls are still covered in soot, along with drawings carved into the stone (and clay, which was used to cover the interior walls). Although small compared to modern standards, such caves provided great shelter in the 15th and 16th Centuries when they were inhabited by the Ancestral Puebloans. Traffic in and out of this particular cave over several hundred years has eroded the entrance.
 

November 12, 2007 | Permalink | Categories: New Mexico, National Parks, Bandelier N.M.

 
Hundreds of years of footprints have eroded paths into the tuff at Tsankawi in Bandelier National Monument. The paths are up to a few feet deep in different locations around the former Pueblo community.
 

November 12, 2007 | Permalink | Categories: New Mexico, National Parks, Bandelier N.M.

 
This is what remains of the plaza at Tsankawi. This was the center of a Pueblo community during the 15th and 16 Centuries. Few traces remain at first glance, but the foundations and remains of talus pueblos are easily found under the brush.
 

November 12, 2007 | Permalink | Categories: New Mexico, National Parks, Bandelier N.M.

 

November 12, 2007 | Permalink | Categories: New Mexico, National Parks, Bandelier N.M.

 

November 12, 2007 | Permalink | Categories: New Mexico, National Parks, Bandelier N.M.