Report by Felix. On Friday, October 24th, the Arizona Trailblazers hiked the Peekaboo Trail in The Needles Canyonlands. The weather was beautiful especially in contrast to the thunder, lightning and rain we experienced on Thursday.
The trailhead was a short walk from the Dutch Oven group site where we had stayed the previous four nights. The Peekaboo Trail traverses both the Wooden Shoe Canyon (formerly named Squaw Canyon) and Lost Canyon and ends at a campground at the upper end of Salt Creek Canyon. You begin the hike by crossing a grassy plain. After about a mile into the hike, several of us did not pay attention to the first trail junction and began hiking out to Big Spring Canyon. We quickly realized our mistake while watching the other hikers following the correct route. Throughout the hike, cairns mark the way on the slickrock where a dirt trail isn't visible. Eventually, the trail begins ascending on slickrock and from there dropping and crossing the Wooden Shoe Canyon and subsequently the Lost Canyon. There is ladder that takes you from a saddle down to a lower bench in the Lost Canyon drainage. The trail continues along the bench subsequently dropping down into a side wash of Lost Canyon. Leaving the wash, the trail begins ascending high up onto slickrock benches that lie just below a vertical ridge.

First Ladder. [photo by Felix]

The route follows the slickrock in a semi-circular track eventually running through a 'Peekaboo" window in the ridge that separates two side canyons. The views up high on the slickrock benches are spectacular with dramatic views of the Canyonlands geology. After transiting through the window, the trail then continues along a sloping bench until it begins a descent to a short fin at the end of the ridge. At the fin, most of the hikers stopped and began the hike back. Kevin and May hiking at a much faster pace had already descended down close to the Peekaboo Backcountry Campsite. In my desire to complete the entire hike, and not wishing to miss the pictographs, I descended alone while the group radioed Kevin and May of my pending arrival. The trail from the small fin or rock promontory descends on slickrock to a second ladder that is longer at about 20 feet then the first ladder and is sandwiched between a narrow crack in the cliffs above Salt Creek Canyon. The crack is just wide enough to accommodate a hiker with a daypack but backpacks may have to be lowered down by rope. Notably, I missed the ancient granaries that are embedded under an overhang shortly after descending from the fin and before reaching the second ladder. Remember, it is illegal to disturb the granaries in any manner. After descending this ladder, the trail follows a sandy path through brush and up slightly to a ledge that contains the pictographs which is where I concluded the hike out. If you look more closely, the visible pictographs are painted over a much older Barrier Canyon pictograph that reflects faint red figures. The pictographs here (painted with pigment) are in contrast to the numerous petroglyphs (carved etchings) at Newspaper Rock located just outside the Canyonlands Needles national park boundaries.

View from the high slick rock. [photo by Felix]

View through Peekaboo window. [photo by Felix]

Pictographs. [photo by Felix]

The Barrier Canyon Style, appearing primarily in Utah, was first named by Polly Schaafsma and are estimated to be from 1,500 to 4,000 years old based on carbon dating. A more extensive panel of the Barrier Canyon Style can be found along Barrier Creek known as The Great Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon The Maze District of Canyonlands. Adjacent to the pictographs is an opening called Trail Arch. Following the trail through the arch, it is a very short distance to the Peekaboo Backcountry Campsite that includes a picnic table and shade provided by cottonwood trees. Peekaboo Spring is nearby at a tributary of Salt Creek and may have water but not with any certainty. After a short break, Kevin, May and I began the climb out and eventually met up with the other hikers back up on the higher slickrock benches. We concluded our adventure by hiking out the same we came in. Hiking in October, we encountered at times a beautiful display of yellow from cottonwood, scrub oak and canyon maple. The blazing yellow offered a beautiful contrast to the blue sky and reddish-tan hues of the surrounding Cedar Mesa sandstone.

Beautiful display of yellow from cottonwood, scrub oak and canyon maple. [photo by Felix]

Also of note, adjacent to the Peekaboo trail, as elsewhere along the trails in The Needles, there are large stretches of cryptobiotic soil. The soil consists of a living community of organisms including bacteria, algae, lichen, mosses and fungi which are vital for moisture retention, erosion prevention and nutrient subsistence for plant life. Hiking on or damage from vehicular traffic will result in decades or many centuries of recovery time in this arid environment. My All Trails App recorded 10.66 miles and 1,483' of elevation gain. These readings comport with the Canyonlands Map and Trail Guide which references 10.8 miles and over 1,400 feet of elevation gain.

Cryptobiotic soil. [photo by Felix]