Moab, UT – We decided to take a singe overnight backpacking trip around the Syncline loop in Canyonlands National Park. Most people hike this difficult, 8 mile trip in a single day, but we opted to take our time and enjoy silence at the bottom of the canyon overnight. Silence is a consequence of solitude, and solitude is very easy to find on this hike. The park service only allows 2 parties to camp at the bottom of Syncline, and there were no other parties outside of Karla and myself on this particular night. Assuming everyone followed the camping rules that night (which is by permit only), I’m confident there were no humans within 5 miles of us. That’s not easy to achieve in the lower 48.
Backpacking is a great way to get away from the crowds
Syncline Loop circumnavigates Upheaval Dome (white line is the trail, with dotted section being behind the rocky areas in the photograph)
People may wonder why we chose to sleep on the cold, hard ground when we have a perfectly good RV. That is a great question, and I can only provide an answer for myself: because I crave adventure. Being totally alone, carrying everything you need on your back, not knowing what animals may visit at night makes for visceral excitement. I enjoy planning and I enjoy organizing, both of which are required in spades for backpacking, especially longer outings. If you run of food on day 5 of a 7 day trip…then you go hungry. That’s exciting!
View from the Syncline Loop in Canyonlands
The trail starts fairly benignly, meandering around various formation on level ground with views down into the Upheaval Dome. But then you drop straight down. There are really no switchbacks here, the trail just plain goes down an incredibly steep hillside, strewn with rocks of various sizes. We both commented how we’re happy to be going down a trail this steep and not up…LOL (a little foreshadowing here), going up the other size was no better, in fact it was worse.
Beginning of the Syncline Loop heads to the edge of the canyon rim
The Syncline trail begins to head down hill with a vengeance
The trail surface varies and can be quite rocky, uneven, and on slickrock, loose gravel or sand
Looking back up the first climb down. We started just to the left of the large rock in the center of the ridge
In the canyon bottom
Another view from the canyon bottom
But we made it down safe and sound and began looking for the official campsite. It’s supposed to be located shortly after a signed junction for another trail. We did find the sign, but we never found the campsite. At least I think we didn’t. We found a place that other people have camped before, but I don’t think it was official. It was certainly beautiful, with sweeping views up towards the rim on all sides. We even saw mountain sheep right before dusk, descending to get a drink of water.
Desert Bighorn Sheep seen from our campsite
Another view from the trail
Speaking of water, there actually was some available flowing in a small creek, which is most definitely not always the case in a desert. We came prepared as if no water would be available, carrying 6 liters of water each. After a surprisingly tasty dehydrated meal (Mountain House Chicken and Rice), we turned in to our tiny tent (29 sq ft for two people) once the temps dropped. I guess I was tired because I slept until sunrise.
Our campsite surrounded by red rock
Luckily there is a trail to follow on the way back, because the way out of the canyon was not clear at all. In fact, I was dubious we were on the correct trail. But it zigged and zagged up and around various obstructions, requiring a fair amount of rock scrambling along the way. The scrambling was a bit more precarious than normal due to large backpacks, throwing us off balance. At one point we jettisoned the packs, had one person climb up and then the other person handed up both packs. After negotiating numerous steep ledges we finally reach the top, and another mile or two of level, sandy trail brought us back to our car.
The trail heading to the climb out of the canyon
Looking back into the canyon
The trail climbs quickly
There were some short sections of carved stairs
There was plenty of rock scrambling
I think user Megan W. of hikingproject.com sums us this trail best, “This strenuous hike requires scrambling and advanced route finding, but the terrain is spectacular.” For those looking for spectacular terrain with less difficulty, there are plenty of easier day hikes in the Moab region or you can tour off road by four wheel drive. We stayed at The Portal RV Resort for the rest of this trip.
Looking ahead toward the rest of the climb with Mike in the lead
Mike navigate through the lush portion of trail
Sections of the trail climbed on slickrock
