Day 2

Ken’s Lake Campground Moab, Utah

Happy Birthday Dana!!!

Today we took the White Rim Trail from Canyonlands National Park.  To drive on this trail, you must have a 4×4 and you must have a permit.  The entire trail is 110 miles long.  In a Jeep, it takes 2 days to complete.  It was our intention to travel the whole distance but all of the tent sites along the way were taken.  Tim had seen the trail from the scenic overlooks yesterday and he really wanted to drive “down there.”  We decided to do part of it as a day trip.  See the road down there…

The White Rim Trail begins with a portion of the Shafer Trail that we did yesterday.  So, we went back down the steep and narrow ledge, with tight switchbacks and gorgeous views.  This road took us down 1,400 feet to the roadbed below.  This is the equivalent of descending 140 stories.

The White Rim Road is named for the white rim sandstone that encircles most of the canyon, around the river gorge.

This road was originally built in the 1950’s by miners hauling uranium out of these cliffs.  There are several places in Moab where uranium was harvested.  There is a huge project called the UMTRA project that has been undertaken by the US Department of Energy.  The goal is to remove 16 million tons of  contaminated uranium tailings from a location along the Colorado River. 

This is the Colorado River Overlook.  We are standing on the roadbed above the river gorge.  Our view is of sheer canyon walls, majestic cliffs, and the river flowing far below.  Tim called this a “holy crap” edge…we didn’t venture too close.

We stopped to see Musselman Arch.

Even in this dry desert environment we see reminders of life.  This prickly pear cactus is bearing fruit.

Something enjoyed a meal, leaving the hull empty after devouring the fleshy insides.

We saw lots of ground squirrels today.  There are all kinds of burrows beneath rocks and in cliffsides.   Bighorn sheep thrive in this area.  I spent a lot of the day scanning for sheep, tarantulas, and scorpions. The spiders are nocturnal.  At this time of year though, the male tarantulas walk together in lines looking for mates.

These rock formations were interesting.

Pillars…so impressive here in person…

Airport Tower.

We took a spur to Lathrop Canyon for lunch.  This was my favorite part of the drive.  The landscape was otherworldly as we descended I to the river gorge into the jumble of giant boulders below.

As we headed back, I started to wonder where all of the material that was swept out of the canyon by erosion and water ended up…somewhere south of here…the river flows south…

We climbed back up to the mesa.  This was an amazing day!  Again, we were able to see something that most people never see…

The sunrises and sunsets here are usually fairly unremarkable. The sun slides down behind the mountain and then sneaks up over the peaks the next morning. The air is so dry and there are few clouds. Tonight there were a few wispy clouds and so the colors were pretty!