22 Jul 2023 - Dead Horse Point State Park and Sunset at Arches National Park - Lots of Pictures!!

 

This morning we drove north from Moab again, like yesterday, and turned down the same road that we took to get to Canyonlands National Park. We just love the scenery as we drove along the entrance road.  

Today our destination was Dead Horse Point State Park.  This park came highly recommended by several of our friends and it did not disappoint.  

There are several legends as to how the park got it's name, but they generally describe how a couple hundred years ago horses were driven to a natural corral at the end of the point which is a mesa located 2000 ft above the Colorado River,  on the edge of Canyonlands National Park.  There are sheer cliffs on three sides and only a narrow access.  Some of the horses either died of exposure or jumped over the cliffs to the river below.   Well that is kind of nasty but I'm sure those things occurred back in the day, considering how buffalo were driven to near-extinction.

We headed down the single highway route into the park and we stopped at the visitor center.  The views there were simply amazing as we walked from our vehicle into the building. 

The visitor center had a large gift shop upstairs, and an educational display in the lower level, focused on the life of a cowboy.

We headed out on the 1.4 mile East Rim hiking trail with more breathtaking views.

We finished the hike and drove to the end of Dead Horse Point where there was another amazing hike, which took us to a viewing platform and all the way around the point.  

The pathway to the Dead Horse Point

From the viewing stand, the winding Colorado River in the background

The viewing platform from a distance

What an awesome view!!

In the distance there are some bright blue ponds visible.  These are Potash solar evaporation ponds, which are shallow, vinyl-lined earthen basins where water evaporates and potassium and salt crystals remain. The process takes about 300 days to produce between 700 and 1,000 tons of potash per day.  The blue color is added and speeds the evaporation process.  

The potash source is located 914 meters under the 300 million-year-old Paradox Basin. The water is pumped through flooded underground mines, dissolving ore from the walls and pillars. After a year or so, the dried residue is scraped up and processed into potash fertilizer.  And now you know!

Dead Horse Point area from above.  Picnic shelters, tons of parking, nice viewing area and an educational pavilion.  So well done!

Rock layers.  So interesting.  And to think this was all under water at one time.

We thoroughly enjoyed Dead Horse Point State Park.  There are a few campgrounds and since this is the weekend they are completely full.  If you visit the Moab area, you will undoubtedly see Arches, and most likely Canyonlands, but don't forget to visit Dead Horse Point State Park.

From there we headed back to our campground, had a later lunch, walked Liberty and watched our grandson's state baseball tournament like we did yesterday.  They lost the first one today 13-14 and then won the next game 11-3.  Tomorrow (Sunday) they play until they lost (single elimination).  Good luck, Calvin!!

 

Temperatures peaked at 102F this afternoon, but inside our Alliance Paradigm we were very comfortable.  We did need to grill some of the meat our kids gave us, so later this afternoon we drug out the Weber Q and cooked some steaks, pork chops and onions.  We typically cook ahead so we have extra food in the fridge for quick lunches, etc.  Dinner was great and we discussed the evenings plans.  We decided to drive north to Arches National Park for a sunset view.  During the day you have to have a timed entry pass, which I do for both Sunday and Monday from 0800-0900 hrs, but after 1600 hrs you do not need a timed entry.

We left the campground about 1915 hrs and drove north from Moab just a few miles to the entrance of Arches National Park.  There was no line and there was no attendant.  The windy drive up from the entrance into the park is simply amazing! 

The sun was going down quickly and the shadows were growing long!

Our first stop was Park Avenue Viewpoint and Trailhead at about 1930 hrs.  For this time in the evening the parking lot was just about full.  I think we are in for a real treat tomorrow during the day...  Anyway, we parked and walked up to the viewpoint for some pictures.  The colors with the sun setting and shining brightly on the western side was amazing.  

The trail that leaves from here is shown in the above pictures, and is 1.8 miles round trip.  We decided against this for tonight since the clock is ticking on the sunset.

Leaving the Park Avenue Viewpoint we passed La Sal Mountains, Courthouse Towers and some other amazing formations.

The sun going down is casting some light on what would have a totally different look tomorrow during the day.  

The next and last stop for the evening was Balanced Rock.  From what we read, this was one of the 'primo' spots to watch the sun set and we arrived about 30 minutes in advance.  

This is Balanced Rock taken at 2003 hrs.  The sun will set at 2037 hrs.

We headed up the trail that led up to and around Balanced Rock.  The sky was as blue as it could be, almost hard to describe.  Erosion created the 'arches' in Arches national Park and erosion also created marvels such as balanced rock.  Each part of this is a different type of stone.  The boulder is Entrada Sandstone.  It is perched on Mudstone.  The base is called the 'Dewey Bridge Member of the Carmel Formation.  Each one weathers differently and eventually the Balanced Rock will collapse.  

The closer we got, the more incredible it appeared!  It is 128 ft tall.  The boulder is 55 ft tall and weighs over 3500 TONS!

Beautiful mountains in the distance with rock formations in the foreground!

The sun set at 2037 hours and the coloring of the rock formations changed a lot.  It will be interesting to compare with how it looks tomorrow morning when we get here between 0800 and 0900 hrs. We loaded up in the truck and the temperature was still 95F! 
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We returned to the campground to find a new Alliance Paradigm camper here!  We will talk with them tomorrow when we get back.