Colorado River by car

---

What an absolutely fantastic day! I drove along the Colorado River 17 miles south of The Arches National Park entrance in the morning. That road is called Potash Road for the potash and salt mine at the end of it. There are Indian petroglyphs on some of the canyon walls (I didn’t work on any of those images to see if I captured them in the morning light), several arches and fabulous views along the river.

While I was photographing at a primitive campground about 5 miles along the drive I struck up a conversation with a couple. They were staying in their RV (dry camping) there and we had a really nice talk. I learned from them that before the potash and salt were mined, uranium was discovered in the area. The train tracks that run alongside the road was used to transport it out. It’s now used to transport salt and potash.

I spent all morning on that section of the Colorado River. I stopped by the Arches NP visitor center and had my picnic lunch and started north along the Colorado River. I drove about 20 miles north and the views were even MORE SPECTACULAR in that direction. I’m sure I didn’t adequately capture the essence of the magnificent views but it sure wasn’t for lack of trying! Around every bend and turn was another breath taking view.

I learned from Cousin Jeff and “Cousin” Brenda that a young man from NC is working out here. They are good friends with his parents. The resort where he works is on the northern section of the Colorado River so I stopped in and visited with him for a few minutes this afternoon. He was totally shocked when I went in, asked for him, and told him how I knew of him. We both enjoyed our brief visit.

Then I made a loop on Castle Valley Road and the La Sal Mountain Loop Road back into Moab. In reviewing my Photo Traveler’s Guide to Southeast Utah just now one of the formations I saw and photographed today just clicked (pun intended). It was Castle Rock and it looks like a huge castle. I didn’t edit any of those images for inclusion in this entry - perhaps another day. Castle Rock was just before Priest and Nuns formations.

I got a late start this morning - departed around 8:30 - and didn’t return to the RV until 6:30. I plan to get an earlier start tomorrow and head up to Dead Horse Point State Park and the northern portion of Canyonlands National Park.

Hope you enjoy the images from the day. Thanks for checking in with us.

BTW the weather is perfect, too. It was 32 this morning but pleasant and about 60 in the afternoon. Tonight is supposed to be around 35 with upper 60s on Friday and warmer over the weekend.

---

Photos

petroglyph walls
I did include two images of the petroglyph walls but neither of these focus in on the petroglyphs. I did not saturate this image to get the deep blue sky - it pretty well reflects what I saw.

perspective
This is the base of the same wall seen in the previous image. I spoke briefly with this couple and this man's wife made the comment about having him in the image to show perspective. I thought it was a GREAT idea so I snapped a shot as well. Even with my wide angle lens, I couldn't get the top (nor the bottom in the earlier image). But hopefully this gives you a good idea of how tall these walls are.

Jug Handle Arch wide view
Here's a wide angle view of Jug Handle Arch. You can see the arch on the right side of the wall. This is right along the road, but even with my guidebook, I missed it initially. I drove about 1/2 mile up a dirt and rock road (which had some awesome views, too) and then realized the arch was back next to the road. Next trip I'll have to tow Ike out here so I can do some off roading. Jeeps are EVERYWHERE.

Jug Handle closeup from parking area
Here's a closer view from a ridge above the parking area for the arch.

Jug Handle from road
I captured this image an hour or so after the previous ones - after I drove past the salt mine and took additional shots along the river. Saw a couple of deer down by the river, but even with my medium telephoto they were too far away.
Take a close look inside the arch for the waning crescent moon. I took several images and moved a little left and saw the moon. As that old photography saying goes - f/8 and Be There!

View near the mine
This is a view from the salt mine. There were several railroad cars on a side track along here. I hope to try a pseudo HDR image with it in the coming days - with the RR car in the foreground and the formation behind.

Colorado River
This is a view of the river and formations at the Red Cliffs Lodge. They have a winery and a movie museum there as well. I learned today that many movies have been filmed in this area.

Priest and Nuns
This is the Priest and Nuns formation. The Castle Rock formation I talked about is off to the left of this formation. While I was taking this shot, about 10 Jeeps came zooming by. The last one pulled over and took a shot of this view, too. They had a Michigan manufacturers plate and I asked them about it. Turns out they were taking some 09 models out on 4 wheel drive roads in this area to run them through the paces and see how they performed.

La Sal Mountains
There was a little snow on the peaks of the La Sal Mountains. I believe the brown area just below the snow are Aspen trees. Too bad they didn't have their bright yellow leaves.

Deer on the La Sal loop
My photo guidebook said it was possible to see deer along the La Sal Mountain Loop in the early morning and late afternoon. Well I was having fun with the 'slap stick' on my rental car (where you can 'manually' shift an automatic) on the mountain road with lots of switchbacks. Somehow I managed to see four does on the side of the road up ahead of me. Fortunately I had my 70-200 lens on one camera body along with the 1.4 extender. I stopped a hundred or so yards from them and grabbed the camera. I got several shots of them on the right side of the road and then drove up a little further, stopped and got out of the car but stayed behind the car door. They ambled across the road and I got this pose just before they went off into the brush. Another f/8 and Be There moment of the day.