Moab, Utah-DeadHorse State Park - "We are all Carving our own Place" 7/8 - 7/11 2020 Travel Tour "Rock Stars" of Moab

From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com 

Tim and Linda Bunyan

Travel Tour 2020 - The "Rock Stars" of Moab
Dead Horse State Park "We are all Carving our own Place"

Mike G and Sherry and Tim and I have visited Dead Horse Point, Canyonlands, and Arches, and downtown Moab.  We are about to re-do, in another fashion, a bike ride to Dead Horse Point from our Campground: Wyngate, a mere couple of miles mostly on the paved road.

With a view of the evaporative ponds, and the La Sal Mountains (border of Utah and Colorado) we ride the ridge bike trail and soon becomes an unpaved mountain bike trail.  We stop to take in the view.

The beautiful aqua blue water at the desert floor of Dead Horse Point mesa are solar evaporation ponds for a salt mine owned by Intrepid Potash, Inc.  Potash is potassium chloride, a salt found in the Paradox Formation.  Salt deposited from ancient seas made up this formation as it evaporated and was buried by other sediments.
Water is pumped down into the formation to dissolve the salt.  This saltwater is then pumped into a saltwater pond.  Below the water is a saltwater mine.

Tim is at Dead Horse Point looking down into the canyon where the aqua pond of a Salt Mine is evident.  A blue dye is added to the pond to speed up evaporation.  Twenty-one-ton scrapers harvest the dry salt.

 It is taken to a local refinery where it is transformed from potassium chloride into plant fertilizer. 

Dead Horse Point is an outcropping point where, during the late 1800s, horses were herded with no escape.  Cowboys would then choose the best horses from the bunch.
This is the same place from the last scene in the film Thelma and Louise.  The Colorado River runs through the valley.

This Utah Juniper with an abundance of berries is just outside Mike G. and Sherry's RV window.  They watch the chipmunks run around the limbs and eat the berries on this plant. 

We went into downtown Moab to one of many bicycle shops to find
a suitable handle grip for Tim's bike!

Mke and Sherry at Dead Horse Point.

Mike G. stops to talk to the driver of this 2020 Corvette.  The engine is in the back!

This is Mike's dream vehicle: A 2020 Chevy Highcountry 1 ton Truck!  So new, he's still running with the dealer license plate!  He got a car wash about 10 days into this trip!

This is a picture of  Major James Wesley Powell, explorer beyond what we do in our discovery of this country.  We come here to retrace his voyage rafting the Colorado River, through the Grand Canyon to what is now named Lake Powell.  

We have planned our driving Travel Tour 2020 along Powell's route to honor his daring and his diligence in recording the geology of this uncharted river and detailed knowledge of this unique landscape.  He began his journey with 4 wooden boats and 9 novice oarsmen; three months later he ended with 2 boats and 4 oarsmen.

Here is Mike G. at Grand Point View in Canyonlands.  He has carved out his place on this ledge.

The 4-wheel road is the Shaffer Trail.  This trail is a calling for Gordon and Kevin Hubble arriving from Sacramento in their motorhome (the Beast) pulling their Rubicon Jeep!  This is for them to know and experience the canyon walls to the valley floor 
for only those who dare.

 After a day in the nearly 100-degree sun, and a 5-mile bike ride the guys are hearty for a blended margarita.
 

The evenings are cooled to low 80's; a relief to the intense sun.  The geologists that have come before us to map out and preserve this natural wonder must have endured all this head .....without a blended margarita at the end of the day!

We hike along the maintained trails that are made safe for all those that come to see, explore, and discover can do so safely.

Mike and Tim bbq dinner inside the metal alcove and table area at our campsite.  We are protected from the wind gusts and have the table set with our plastic table cloth.

We pack up to go to Dead Horse Point to view the sunset without any obstructions.  The shadows grow tall as we listen to our tunes while we await the grand finale of the day.

The sun just setting at the horizon of the canyon wall.

Tim takes this sunset picture from the edge of the canyon looking across to the other wall of the canyon.

This is the sunset photo I took of Tim on the edge of the wall with the Green River below; the sun is shining brightly onto the rocks wall.

 The sun is set behind the horizon with the few clouds forming faces.

The moon now takes center stage.

The next day we are on our way on the Trail to Grand Point View at Canyonlands.  The trail is made of mostly rocks.  The trail is designed and managed so that visitors may get up close to this unique landscape.

Here are Tim and I on the Canyonlands plateau looking down 1000 feet to the valley floor where Colorado and the Green River converge.  When we depart Dead Horse State Park we will head east following Hwy 70 along with the Colorado River toward the Rocky Mountains.

Mike and Tim discuss the trail at the Trailhead.  It is nearly noon and the hike is a mile so we decide to go for it.  We've plenty of water.

We decide to load up with water and take the hike.  

 On September 3, 194, President Lyndon G. Johnson signed the Wilderness Act which legally defined wilderness as "...an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."  Just nine days later, on September 12, 1964, President Johnson signed the legislation establishing Canyonlands National Park.

Stewart Udall, Secretary of the Interior 1961-1969 saw a national park, instead of the "next" big dam just below the confluence of the Colorado and Green rivers.  Today, over eighty percent of Canyonlands is managed to preserve the wilderness values.

 Here is Tim at the Grand View Point Overlook, elevation 6,080 feet.

 This wilderness is protected for its nature evidence of millions of years of this earth.

This is the "WHY" to witness this; your place continues to be a gift for all.

We expect Kevin and Gordon to arrive soon.  They arrived in the dark sky and we are ready to greet them.

They have a day here at Dead Horse with Skip and Linda.  We are moving on to Grand Junction,  to James Ross State Park.  After 10 days here in the "Rock Stars" we are ready for some 'city lights'!

We drove into Moab to McStiff's; the new name is Denny.

Sherry has several months of heart-filled labor toward making Covid masks for Placer County.  Sherry has gifted her masks to each of us.  Linda Garrett is pleased with her reversible mask from Sherry.

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A Toast to Hubbles: To arrive tonight!

We are being very tribal with S'mores from Mike G and Sherry.  Sherry is here passing around the roasting sticks that came with the graham and chocolate and marshmallow kit from the Visitor Center here at Dead Horse Point State Park.

Tim has some time on a fixed project. tightening the hatchet handle.

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Ron and Fran and Linda and Skip Garrett have rounded up here at Dead Horse Point.  Skip and Linda have arrived via Bryce Canyon!  Rona and Fran in their new Imagine trailer have come for a new view on their life and we celebrate that indeed!  

Having dinner at Camp with Skip, Linda and Mike, Sherry and Ron, Fran.

We make a final run thru Arches.  Ron and Fran's first outing in the "Rock Starts" here at Arches.

Balanced Rock: The caprock of the hard Slick Rock Member of the Entrada Sandstone is perched upon a pedestal of mudstone.  The softer Dewey Bridge Member of the Carmel Formation weathers more quickly than the resistant rock above it. (Geology Lesson).

 Mike and Sherry

Ron and Mike

 

Ron and new truck: The Black Ram

Here is Ron's window on the world!

 Gordon and Kevin have arrived from SLC.  They were delayed there for a few days; however, the part and installer came thru and Gordon drove through the dark night to be here with us at Wyngate Campground at Dead Horse Point.  They have their Jeep Rubicon with new large wheels and raised for clearance.,

Moab, Utah - Arriving DeadHorse State Park 6/27 - 7/11 2020 Travel Tour "Rock Stars" of Moab

From: casarollnotes.blogspot.com 

Tim and Linda Bunyan

Travel Tour 2020 - The "Rock Stars" of Moab
Travel from the town of Green River to Moab to enter Dead Horse State Park

We leave the small, agricultural towns behind and head southeast along the banks of the Green River which is a major tributary of the Colorado River. 

 Gas Station in Green River, Utah  Sinclair (Pilot Travel Center) Aisle 7/8 fuel pump; also water fill station.

 Gas Pump Isle #7/8 has a water station for RV fill up out in these open lands of Utah!

Tim is filling our water jugs for our stay at Dead Horse State Park.  The location of the RV campground is situated between Canyonlands National Park and Deah Horse Point.  We chose this State Park at $40.00 per night with electricity.  It is about 8 degrees cooler on the mesa than the Moab valley below.  This State Park Campground is close to Canyonlands National Park and 25 miles to Arches National Park and downtown Moab.

All that is necessary: Air & Water.......and Prime.

 The General Store of this once thriving town of Green River; remains a hub on Hwy 70 just an hour north of Moab.

  The city of Green River, Utah (population 1,000) a mere truck stop of a town, an Old Spanish Trail trade route, and where the U.S. Army has launched 41 Athea missiles as part of research to improve nuclear missiles.  

The town of Green River is currently operating as the White Sands Test Center headquarters.  The U.S. Air Force built the Green River Launch Complex in 1965.   

 The Old Spanish Trail at Green River started as a river crossing for the U.S. Mail.  The Post Office currently serves nearly 1200 Green River residents.

Along the road: from wagon trains to triple trailers.
John Wesley Powell embarked on the first of two voyages down the Green River all the way to its confluence with the Colorado River and beyond.  (purchased book, journal of John Wesley Powell, "The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons")....more later.


The city of Green River started as a river crossing for the U.S. mail in 1876.  Several trucking companies hauled ore from mines in the Four-Corners Mining District and the area that is now Lake Powell.





Harley travelers along the way; friendly and enjoying the rest stop and view.





We now enter Moab country - the land I refer to as the "Rock Stars" of Moab!
The National Parks of Utah:  Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Zion are on our 2020 Travel Tour.  
We are spending much of July and August toward these National Parks of Utah. 

We travel from Green River to Moab.  The cliffs of time become evident.

THE ROCK STARS 2020 TRAVEL TOUR:

Outdoor recreation contributes to physical, mental, and social well being.

This sign says View Area.  At every curve, there is a view area; only this one sign.  Prevention: protect clean clear air, our watershed, and spectacular scenery, now and for future generations.

The Union Pacific (and the California Zepher) run here from San Francisco and from Salt Lake.  The uranium tailing from the former Atlas Minerals mill moves from Moab to Brendel, Utah.

We found our park: Dead Horse Point State Park, the favorite of Utah state parks.  This is the entrance gate to the park on the mesa.  It is just one year 'new'. 

 It overlooks the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park.  There are campsites and clean bathrooms with running hot (Mike G. noticed the hot running water/cold water, and soap at the sinks.
There is an electricity hookup and we are thankful for comfort. We have the air conditioner on most of the day as the heat in the Southwest is ever-present.
You can see Woodstock walking around on his zip-line.  He wants to find his new space.

Mike and Sherry have met up with us here at Dead Horse Point State Park.  At the mesa of these National Parks, we are centrally located to Moab and the Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park.  We've about 15 days here for scenic drives, bike rides, and hiking trails, and lots of photo moments.

We are off to drive to the visitor center and hike out to the Point!

Due to the covid pandemic, the Visitor Center is closed; however, there is a cafe and gift shop open.  The deck surrounding the visitor center is available for a comfortable seat overview of the Canyons, the Colorado River, and the blue ponds of potassium salt.

  This is the place the infamous scene was filmed of: "Thelma and Louise".

With Mike and Sherry, we walk to The Point overlook here at Dead Horse.  

 The view of the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park. 

Moab: gateway to two national parks: Arches and Canyonlands.  We are located between the two at Deadhorse State Park with its own beauty.  

 Tim and I take an evening walk around our State Park with Woodstock on his leash. 

 The park is 5,362 acres of high desert at an altitude of 5,900 feet elevation.

 The Deadhorse Point State Park has a half dozen Yurts available.  The Yurts have a wood deck all along the base with space for dining and a propane BBQ.

We plan with Mike and Sherry to go to Canyonlands National Park tomorrow.

We began in Reno, Nevada, drove the Loneliest Road in America, spent some time at Great Basin National Park in Nevada, and also visited a couple of small agricultural and mining towns in Utah. 

Sites of Americans along the way.
We have come to Moab to have some time here and see a couple of the National Parks in this area of Utah.  We departed: 6/15/2020 and arrived here on 6/27/20.  To date, we have had 
12 days of adventure, changing landscapes, and discovering our country.  We have traveled about 700 miles.
We will be here at Dead Horse State Park for about 15 days to become acquainted with this expansive landscape and a visual of the geological changes of our planet in this unique area.