Water Working

A day full of encounters began with a stop at Faux Falls in Moab, while ending at the Needles Overlook near Monticello, Utah. Some of the stops in the middle have their own post, but here is where we started and finished our day.

Although it’s a man-made waterfall, Faux Falls is an impressive torrent of water cascading from its lofty start to the valley below. It was created in 1981 to feed the newly built Ken’s Lake Reservoir. Water was diverted from Mill Creek, which begins way up in the mountains to the southeast. Following its new path, the stream flows 645 feet through a tunnel constructed in the sandstone hillside. As it leaves the tunnel, it plunges out of the pipe and rushes down the steep, rocky slope. When I reached down to touch the flow of water, I felt its power was strong enough to knock you off your feet. The water’s mountain-fed coldness was a welcome sensation in the heat of Moab. Plants and trees have have quickly taken advantage of this new source of water, having sprung up along its edges. Wild critters are drawn to the water, shelter and nourishment of the plants, evident by the numerous orangish lizards we saw scampering around the rocks. If you don’t think about the pipe, it truly looks and feels like a natural waterfall!

In contrast to the first stop, our last one for the day had no visible water; only the effects of it. The Needles District is the most southern section of Canyonlands National Park, featuring spires and heavily eroded slopes. This is the closest we have been to it, and wanted to at least see it from the overlook, but as it was too late in the day, we could not clearly see the “needles” for which it is known. The evening haze and angle of the sun masked them in the shadows. From this vantage point, the views would be much better in the morning or early afternoon. Thanks to some signage at the various viewpoints, we could make them out in the distance, but could not see them clearly. The heavily eroded canyon walls and the mini-canyons that flow in were much clearer, their detail showing up well in the evening sun. I think this area could rival the Badlands, looking quite inhospitable to the wayward traveler. Contrary to earlier surfaces, the smoothly paved road was a welcome relief from the jostling we got on the way to the Canyonlands Overlooks, hopefully saving some wear and tear on the already-limping Liberty.

These two places were great bookends for a hot day, allowing us to cool off in the air conditioning in between all the stops. We would have normally chosen to do them in the reverse order, but a scheduled appointment hampered that as an option. Seeing them at the wrong time of day was better than not seeing them at all. I am glad and thankful we made the trek!

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