Showing posts with label colorado river. Show all posts
Showing posts with label colorado river. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

One last trip down the Colorado River from Moab

We took one last trip down the Colorado River, this time from the east side.

Looking down river

We saw these two jeeps on the side of the mountain...navigating very slowly...up the side.

There they are...going up the side of the mountain

Let's pan back a bit....still see 'em?

See if you can see them now? Notice how large that mountain side is?
You will find a movie showing them close up then far away here on youtube:

https://youtu.be/ANY9YzR0Y4Q



Anyway...back to the rocks....I took a photo of a side of the mountain, then took closeups on individual spots on the side to show how interesting the rocks are to us. We stood and stared for at least 15 minutes picking out the features.










...and here's the other side of the river...







We ended up taking a dirt road far off the river into a canyon with towering cliffs above us.









That's it for Moab...we head for places south next...watch for 'em.

Steve/Kim/Katie

Sunday, May 29, 2016

We're going to call it Horse Point

We've been disturbed by such a name as Dead Horse Point State Park given the believed talke of....
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.
However....

A more likely 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.  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.

So...we've decided to call this entry Horse Point instead....nicer picture in our minds.
Anyway.....it's a fantastic overlook of the Colorado River meanderings....watch the movie.

Colorado River meandering
With some people in the foreground for perspective

Blue "lakes" are Potash pits

See the jeep trails ?

Watch this movie


Turns out, the Colorado River meandered long ago. Then, when the Colorado Plateau raised up, the carving just got deeper but the paths were already set.

The road leading up there was also scenic...as you can see from these photos:[



Drill shafts to make the road

Close up

More of a closeup

These are call the Merrimac and the Monitor




...and of course, some nature shots and people....and Katie!

Gnarled Juniper Tree
Goofy tourist

Catching some breez

All tuckered out


Steve and Kim and Katie




Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Down the Colorado River in 2016

When we left Grand Junction, there was no availability in Moab so we decided to head to Green River, Utah...only about 90 miles away but....I decided to take a detour and go down the Colorado River road to Moab and then head up to Green River. It's a beautiful drive and only added about 50 miles to our journey. We're sure glad we did ! Once we got to the river, it was spectacular. At the end of the photos is a movie shot out our front window as we drove....worth watching.

Here's the route we took. At Agate we headed south.

The first 45 miles or so was a narrow 2-lane road..kinda rough so we just went slow and enjoyed the "scenery"



Stopped to read the signs.

...and found a large Prairie Dog community. This one was warning the others that we were near.

Heading south to State Highway 128

One in a rare moment, we let Katie ride with me as I drive.

Heading south to State Highway 128

Then we finally got to the road that travels along the Colorado River...enjoy the photos.





Imagine this rock coming down !

The "Castles"



A rest stop along the way.


These cliffs are waaaay above us.





You just don't get scenery like this back east.


MOVIE....About 50 seconds in, it gets real good.


...and our Katie photo....

Looking very attentive.

More Moab entries coming in the days to come....


Steve and Kim and Katie



Along the left side of the blog are past year's entries as well.

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