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Published: February 4th 2021
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Castle Rock (BLM)
Castle Rock pinnacle
La Sal Mts. on right After getting my gasoline and other supplies in Moab, Utah I drove back NE up the Colorado River canyon on Utah Hwy 128. I turned East on the Castle Valley road and passed Castle rock. When I got to the Manti La Sal National Forest the dirt road led to Colorado, just a few miles away. I took the right turn up the (extinct) volcanic La Sal Mountains. Since my last visit there in 2017 that road is paved up the La Sal Mts. and on to the South side of Moab. I drove up the La Sal Mts. (about 15 miles) watching the trees get progressively larger as I gained altitude. I drove up through the shrubs to the junipers and scrub oaks.
I turned left (East) on the narrow dirt trail up to the Warner pay campground (about 9,300 feet elevation) as the conifers got large; the Aspen trees was my camp destination. This was my second and last pay camp ($10) on my camping adventure, and well worth it. Driving through the campground most of the camps were taken. I was happy to find a very nice camp in the Aspen trees. I made the walk to
Castle Valley
small volcanic cone the Warner Lake trailhead and on to the lake. Warner lake was calm giving me a photo opp with the 12,000 foot plus Haystack Mountain reflecting in the lake. I stayed by the lake to enjoy the scene. I then returned to my camp and made my dinner. (In the late 1980s I would have this campground solo.) With the campground full the other campers there nicely keep to themselves and were very quiet so all the campers could enjoy this wonder of nature. I had me a rum drink and went to sleep after the sunset.
The next morning I had my coffee and enjoyed the cool breeze. Then I returned to Warner Lake for a short photo opp. The sky was not as colourful as before, but was still nice. Then it was time for me to scoot down the La Sal Mountains to Moab, and on to my next camp in Utah. (The La Sal Mountains extends into Colorado.)
Commentary: According to Wikipedia the Sierra La Sal ("Salt Mountains") formed as an intrusion of igneous rocks through the sedimentary rocks. (No lava flow.) This occurred about 25 to 28 million years ago in the geologic
ages Permian to Cretaceous. Below the Moab Fault (anticline) points directly to the Moab Valley and the La Sal Mountains at the same geologic age. I think that the igneous rock intrusion forming the La Sal Mountains is directly related to the Moab Fault. The Moab Fault runs North to South for about 45 KM (28 miles) With the East Side, including Arches N Park, has a maximum displacement down of 960 meters (3,150 feet).
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