It is hot out here in Moab, UT, very hot and no shade everywhere. So we take it easy today and follow the Colorado River as it enters Castle Valley. SR-128 follows nicely along the river and it is hard to believe that this river a couple of 100 miles further will have carved the Grand Canyon. Figure time and persistence will do such magic.
After leaving Castle Valley we make a stop at the ghost town called Cisco, UT. From here we find I-70 again which brings us West to Crescent Junction, UT.
Here we drop South again on Hwy-191 to find Moab, UT for some lunch and some cold drinks. We take our time with lunch to let the midday heat pass and then drive South on Hwy-191 to pay a visist to the Southern part of Canyon Land N.P. Our first stop on the way to Canyon Land N.P. is Wilson Arch.
As it is afternoon we won't see the sun sitting in the Arch, but it is a nice sight anyways. We continue passing Lopez Arch and find the turn off to Canyon Land N.P. Our next stop is the Newspaper Rock State Historical Monument. Those petroglyphs are still a mystery to scientist as they can't decipher if those are just ancient doodling, story telling, clan symbols, child play, or else. All we know is they date back from B.C. time to A.D. 1300.
From here we continue into the park to visit some nice arches and towers, and canyon walls.
We leave the park when the sun has already set and make our way back to the camp site.
After a stormy night which ripped on our annex (we didn't connect it tot he rooftop last night as we came back very late) and gave us very little sleep, we are up relatively early and after an inspection of all the sand blown into the tent, we leave for coffee to town. It is shortly after nine in the morning when we enter Arches N.P. and the mercury is already close to 95F. We drive up to to the parking lot near Wolfe Ranch and start our climb up to Delicate Arch.
It is hard work walking up 480 ft in elevation change over an approx. 1.5 mile trail. The hike has no shade, and the sun is burning down on us with no mercy. We have plenty of water with us, and we needed it all. But after all that cursing and swearing, and sweating like a fish, the hike is worth the view. Delicate Arch is a sight to see. After taking in all the sights and having given us plenty of rest, we make the long way back, which is sort of easier as it is downhill, but still a hot walk. Back at the car we drain some more bottles of water and electrolytes and then continue through the rest of the park by car.
We are back in Moab for a late lunch and then let the afternoon pass by in the pool, soaking our old bones in the water and floating weightless in the water.
Today we let the car do the "hiking" as we leave Moab again and turn onto the road to Potash. This Scenic Byway or SR-279 leads to the Potash Mining Plant. The first section of this road takes us along the Uranium Tailing piles which are currently under the UTMAS project relocated. Shortly after that and the the "Wall Street", a popular rock climbing spot, we find some wall panels with nice petroglyphs.
Little further down the road the trail to Corona Arch and Bowtie Arch starts. After that we change onto a dirt road, leading to the potash mining plant. Here the potash, a potassium-rich mineral used in fertilizers, is extracted from underground and processed in evaporation ponds.
The road to the plant is already an unpaved rough road, but what comes after the mining plant puts my driving and the abilities of our car to the test. The road is advised for high clearance 4-wheel drives, and as we fulfill one condition, with the other we are a little on the short side. The road is more or less laid out like a hiking trail, and one has to find its way over the stone plateaus and amongst the rocks. It's a constant turning of the steering wheel, and even though the road sections have names like Shafer Basin Rd, White Rim Rd, South Fork Rd, or Potash Rd, you can not call those trails road.
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