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5/31/2010 |
Our location - Moab,
UT
Canyonlands National Park |
As we were leaving Canyonlands National Park, we decided to do
something daring. Well Mark decided against Dale's wishes.
We drove down Shafer Trail from Canyonlands into the valley between
Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point State Park. The road runs
along the Colorado river for a while.
Shafer Trail is a rough dirt road designed for Jeeps. To get down
from the rim to the canyon floor, there is a steep run with lots of
very tight switch-backs. In many places the road is barely
more than one vehicle wide. Since
Sparky is a Jeep, it was a go for Mark.
This is the first time we have ever tried this and probably will be
the last. It really wasn't that hard, the biggest
challenges steering around the lard rocks and stopping at a wider place to let
oncoming vehicles pass.
We didn't get many pictures as during the best part of the drive,
Dale was holding on for dear life. It turns out Shafer Trail
is a 2 on a scale from 1 to 5 for Jeep trails. But there are
views that are just not available from the rim of the canyon.
It was fun.
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You can get a little feel for the road. This was after the steep part. |
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The views from road were a whole new world. All of the canyons we have seen so far were from the rims. |
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The Colorado River.
A potash drying pool. |
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We went by the potash pools we had seen from Dead Horse Point State
Park. |
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The blue water is potash drying pools. The potash is brought out from below the surface in
a slurry that is pumped into the pools. Blue dye is added to enhance the
evaporation process,
When the water is gone, the residue is scooped up for processing. |
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This is the Colorado River. |
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There was a element of joy when we got back on paved road. |
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