Don't Sleep on a Dead Horse (State Park, that is)!

It wasn't yet noon by the time we finished Arches, so we headed out to the potash evaporation ponds.  Potash is a group of chemicals that contain potassium and are used for plant food, primarily in fertilizer.  In Moab, Utah, the potash is mined from 3,000 feet below the surface by pumping water from the Colorado River down to the ore deposits where the salts are dissolved in the water.  The briny water is then pumped up, ultimately into holding ponds at the surface.  In the spring, those ponds are dyed a bright blue to help the sun absorb the water.  As the water evaporates over the summer, the water changes colors, ultimately turning a light brownish color when the potash is ready to harvest.  The colors are supposed to be brighter in the spring and duller in the fall.  Since this is fall, I was expecting the duller colors.  The primary goal for this trip was to just find them.  So, we set off on what Bruce called yet another wild goose chase!

I had an address on Potash Road (UT-279) that I plugged into the GPS as we left the national park.  It was a beautiful drive!  Lots of formations and pull-offs for trailheads to other named arches, formations, and canyons.  We're going to have to explore this road in more depth on another trip!  For now, the goal was the potash evaporation ponds.

I've seen aerial pictures online of a road with steep, red rock, cliffs on one side and a river on the other.  Many people claim it's an AI creation.  This could be the road in those pictures.  Or it could be another, but with a drone, I could see some spots on this road that could be the site of those shots.  This is my best shot.  The cliffs on the left, railroad tracks, road, a little vegetation strip, and the Colorado River on the right.  This was taken over the top of the car while driving.

We got close to the end of the road, where the GPS said we needed to turn right and were met with a No Tresspassing sign!  Apparently, Intrepid (the owners) are tired of people driving up to the ponds.  Once again, Bruce was not keen on ignoring it.  Pfft!  In my disappointment and intent to find another way, I forgot to take pictures.  Double Pfft!  The GPS ultimately sent us down some county roads to a back entrance of Canyonlands National Park and signs saying you must have a permit and OHV (off-highway vehicle) or other high clearance vehicle suitable for rugged roads to go further.  We did not have that and I like our car, so with great disappointment, we turned around.

Just past the entrance to the Intrepid mine and the No Tresspassing sign, was a small memorial park with a couple of benches facing the railroad tracks and the mine.  It is a memorial to a the miners who died and survived an explosion in the mine shaft while digging in 1961, before the Texas Gulf Sulphur Company initially opened the mine in 1963.

On the way back, we stopped and looked at the petroglyphs, which were one of the first stops from Moab and right on the roadside.

After striking out on getting to the potash evaporation ponds, we headed back toward the hotel with a stop at the famous Rock Shop.  This shop is owned by a man named Lin Ottinger, locally known as "The Dinosaur Man" because he discovered so many dinosaur fossils in the area.  One of them was a new discovery and was named after him, the iguanodon ottingeri, which he found in 1970.  The store is now run by his grandson and he comes in once in a while to tell stories.   We happened to come in one of those times.  He and his dog were in the shop while we were there, and he spoke with everybody as they came in or went out.  I didn't want to be crass and ask if he was who he is or to take his picture because he was just authentically there.  But, I looked up pictures of him, and I do believe it was him.  If you're in Moab, check out the store.  It's really a unique place.  I've been a lot of places, and I've never seen anything like it!

When we got back to the room, after having an awesome lunch at Fiesta Mexicana, I started looking up how to get in touch with Intrepid to try to get permission to go to the potash ponds the next time we drive through.  Instead, I found one little blog that talked about three ways to see the ponds without getting permission from Intrepid to go on their land.  One is a place called Chicken Corners, which puts you far away from the ponds, but they are visible.  To do Chicken Corners, you apparently must have a high clearance OHV.  Another is the way we were heading, through the back of Canyonlands National Park, again with an OHV plus a permit (which I believe is free).  The third was was to just drive to a nearby state park and walk a few feet to the overlook.  Well, I wish I had known this earlier!  Bruce agreed that we could slide by this park on our way to Dinosaur National Monument the next morning if we got up early enough.

So, bright and early-ish we got packed up, loaded Big Red, met a couple that were loading up who were on a road trip from just north of Seattle, and headed to Dead Horse State Park.  Dead Horse State Park is on UT-313, the road you take to get to the main entrance to Canyonlands National Park.  Just like Potash Road, there are trailheads to other arches, formations, and canyons along the road.  The drive is more arid, flat lands than Potash Road, though.  Dead Horse State Park has an entry fee of $20 per car.  Your national park pass isn't accepted here.  It is really worth that fee.  It's a small park with camping and picnic areas.  Maybe pack a breakfast or lunch to eat here while looking at the canyons.  It's absolutely beautiful, reminding me a bit of a cross between the Grand Canyon and Horseshoe Bend.

This is Shafer Road, the road that comes in from the back of Canyonlands.  Bruce says he might want to rent a vehicle, get the permits, and drive this the next time.

And just to the left of the Dead Horse Point overlook, TA-DA!  It's the potash evaporation ponds!  You can see some of the brighter blue color in some of the ponds on the left, but they're mostly faded by this time of year.  

On the right, some of the ponds appear almost ready to harvest, having turned tan.  If you look closely, you can see the end of Shafer Road, right up there by the ponds.  I would really like to see them in the spring and mid-summer.  Sounds like a few more trips to Moab might be in the cards!

On the way out, we saw some more views of the canyon and stopped at the gift shop.  The gift shop has a little display of things used by people who lived in the canyons and a museum-style room with other artifacts.

Having met the Dinosaur Man, found the potash evaporation ponds, and seen Dead Horse State Park, it was time to go hunting dinosaurs for ourselves!