Utah Road Trip: Clear skies, but still trapped, in Canyonlands (Day 4/10)

Trip date: Dec 22, 2017

The view from the Green River Overlook at first light.

I woke up in the middle of the night and there was ice/frost on the interior walls of the tent.  I always see this on the inside of the fly on my winter trips in the Rockies, but I'd never seen it on the interior walls before. This was probably my coldest night camping so far (overnight low around 7-8 F).  

I checked outside and could see bright stars.  Knowing then that the skies had cleared, I couldn't wait till morning, and set my alarm before dawn.  When I woke I made my way down to the Green River Overlook in the dark.  

View of Stillwater Canyon from the Green River Overlook at first light.

Moments later at Dawn

Later that morning, after breakfast (I couldn't stay away!)

By mid-morning there was still no sign of the plows.  It seemed they would come any minute so I didn't want to wander too far from my basecamp if I had a change to head out and explore other areas farther away.  I was killing time by conducting an especially thorough washing of the pot I'd cooked and eaten my oatmeal breakfast out of.  I heard the sound of large diesel pickup truck behind me and excitedly turn around to see a NPS park ranger.   He was out on patrol to check on anyone left in the campground (it was only me).  He was probably about 5 years younger than me and looked exactly like the male detective from "The Killing" (picture directly below).  

The park ranger looked exactly like this guy.

He told me that the plows probably wouldn't be around till after dark.  They shared a snow plow with Arches National Park and since Arches was much more popular they got priority.  He must have noticed that I was disappointed and was thinking about just driving out.  He told me about five times over the course of our conversation that if I lost control of the car that "He" would be the one to pull me out of the ditch.  Eventually, I got what he was saying and I resigned myself to spending at least one more night at Willow Flats.
He seemed pretty incredulous that I was doing fine out there.  He kept asking if he was going to have to deal with a case of hypothermia.  "It's just you and me out here, and I leave at 4:30".  Eventually I convinced him I would be ok and he left.  ​

I had originally planned on heading over to "Upheaval Dome" but on the way I got distracted by a curious Mesa out in the distance which turned out to be Candlestick Tower.  From this vantage point it doesn't look much like a candle stick but later I could tell how it got  that name.  

I wandered out on what felt like a pier (100 ft wide) and got as close as I could.  From here it was really too snowy to go further out so I turned around.  

After this I headed out to Aztec Butte to catch the sunset.  It was still light when I got there but it would get dark fast.  

Aztec Butte

Looking Northwest from summit of Aztec Butte

Vanishing light from the sunset, viewed from Aztec Butte.

Without any water in the air, the temperature really drops fast once the sun goes down in the desert.  Of course, I'd heard this before but hadn't ever really appreciated it until this trip.