utah

Dead Horse Point.

March 26, 2012

Dead Horse Point, near Moab, Utah, is a high plateau peninsula connected to the main plateau by a narrow neck of land. It is part of Dead Horse Point State Park and has spectacular views of the Colorado River, Canyonlands National Park, La Sal Mountains, and other scenic features.

According to legend, the point, with it’s 30 yard wide neck, was used as a natural corral by 19th century cowboys. Apparently, at one time, the corral was abandoned, gate left open, with unwanted cull horses still inside. Not all of the horses left the point, dying of thirst in view of the Colorado River 2000 feet below.

2011 09 28 063-dead horse A more prosaic explanation is that Dead Horse Point was named by early Mormon Pioneers for a rock formation at the base of the plateau that looks like a dead white horse laying on its side (photo on right). In this explanation, the legend of the dead horses in the corral was created by a Moab elementary school student in the early 20th century for a “chamber-of-commerce” type contest for a story to lure tourists.

Selected Information Resources:

Dead Horse Point State Park

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Windows Arches, Arches national Park, Utah

Windows and Turret.

March 20, 2012

Our final hike in Arches National Park was a loop trail – 1 mile (1.6 km) – that includes three large arches.

The Windows – also known as the Spectacles – are two very large arches eroded from the same sandstone fin. Individually, the two arches are named North Window and South Window. Bearing left on the loop trail, North Window is the first arch that is reached. Visitors can easily climb up and stand or sit under this massive arch. Continuing on the trail around a large sandstone extension from the fin, the South Window can be viewed from the trail. A short spur leads to the base of the sandstone fin. South Window is higher than North Window and not easily accessed.

The third large arch, Turret Arch, lies in a castle-like sandstone formation. A moderately strenuous climb though its span yields a view of the Windows framed by Turret Arch.

Selected Information Resources:

Arches National Park images
at Wikimedia commons:

Arches National Park.

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A stroll through “Park Avenue.”

March 15, 2012

In this case, Park Avenue is a canyon in Arches National Park. A 1 mile (1.6 km) trail leads through it between the Park Avenue parking area and the Courthouse Towers parking area.

Our September 27, 2011 hike started from and returned to the Court House Towers parking area, going up hill up the canyon and down hill on our return. We turned back at the steepest part of the trail, a short section from the Park Avenue viewpoint and trailhead.

Park Avenue viewpoint is the first major stop in the park after the visitor center.

Most visitors pass by Park Avenue trail on their way to other more popular features, stopping only at the viewpoints at either end to perhaps snap a few photos. We saw few other hikers on our “stroll” along the dry wash that passes between the towering walls of the canyon.

Selected Information Resources:

Arches National Park images at
Wikimedia commons:

Arches National Park.

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A Hike in the Needles District

March 12, 2012

The Colorado and Green Rivers divide Canyonlands National Park into three districts – the Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze, with the rivers themselves listed by the National Park Service as a fourth “district.” Island in the Sky is the easiest to visit and, thus, the most popular. The Maze is more remote and the least accessible of the park’s districts. The Needles is a 75 mile drive from Moab. Most of the district’s features are found on its extensive trail system and four-wheel-drive roads.

The road to the Needles district passes through Newspaper Rock Recreational Site, location of a large collection of prehistoric petroglyph rock art.

Most of our September 26, 2011 exploration of the Needles was on the relatively short scenic drive and the 2.4 mile Slickrock Trail (a loop).

Selected Information Resources:

Canyonlands National Park

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Grand View Point Trail

March 8, 2012

Canyonlands National Park – A large region of rugged buttes, pinnacles, mesas and canyons south and west of Moab, Utah. This was the second time we’ve hiked this 2 mile round trip trail.

Grand View Point is the southernmost spot on the high mesa of Canyonlands, Island in the Sky. From the Grand View Overlook, the trail runs along the southern rim of the mesa, 1000 feet above the lower plateau, which is in turn carved into complex canyons by the convergence of the Green and Colorado Rivers.

Selected Information Resources:

Canyonlands National Park

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Upper Colorado River and La Sal Mountains Loop

March 5, 2012

On September 23, after we had moved from Devils Garden Campground in Arches National Park to a campground near Moab, we took a drive to see some some of the area that we had never been through before.

Heading northeast out of Moab on US 191, we turned left onto Utah 128 just before the bridge crossing the Colorado River.

Designated “Upper Colorado River Scenic Byway,” Utah 128 follows the Colorado River Gorge for over 30 miles, after which it crosses open desert towards Cisco. Now a ghost town, Cisco was established as a station for replenishing the water supply on steam locomotives on the Denver and Rio Grand Western Railroad main line. Five miles past Cisco, Utah 128 intersects Interstate 70.

2011 -Upper Colorado River and La Sal Mountains Loop For the first 13 miles, the highway parallels the river through a narrow section of the gorge – part of this distance, the gorge is part of the boundary for Arches National Park. The gorge widens after that, passing Castle and Professor Valleys, shooting locations for western films and television commercials. At 24.7 miles, a dirt road leads to a viewpoint for the red spires of Fisher Towers.

Our drive (blue) took us almost the full length of the scenic byway, including driving to the Fisher Towers viewpoint. We turned back just short of Cisco.

On the way back to Moab (red), we turned at the La Sal Mountain Loop Road, which is also the road into Castle Valley. While the road signs were less than optimum, we were able, with the help GPS, to take the right turns on the Forest Service roads. The road is paved part way.

The La Sal Mountain Range, in the Marti-La Sal National Forest, is the second highest range in Utah, with peaks approaching 13,000 feet. Pines, quaking aspens, and streams make this alpine region a sharp departure from the desert country around Moab just a few miles away.

Selected Information Resources:

Moab