2012/06 Western USA trip - Dead Horse Point |
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Wednesday June 13th
The campground was convenient for all three parks, so we just moved outside the closed section and found another site. The price was right too. That day we were going to visit Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands.
We drove a short distance to Dead Horse Point state park. The story behind the name does not have a happy ending. Some cowboys had rounded up a herd of horses on the plateau and assumed that the horses would make their way down the cliffs to the Colorado River to drink. They didn’t, hence the name.
The park’s main feature is its dramatic clifftop views over the Colorado River valley. Unfortunately, the first view, of Pyramid Canyon, is marred by some impossibly-blue angular ponds within the view. The ponds are part of a potash mine and the water is dyed blue to enhance the evaporative process. They are just outside the park, but very intrusive. In this picture, I’ve hidden them behind the tree.
We were at the visitor centre but the actual point was at the end of a foot trail. It didn’t look too far so I set off walking. John decided it was too hot and too far. He was right, at least about the distance, over two miles of rough trail, marked by cairns. The view from the cliffs changed at every turn, so it was worth the walk, and the ponds were now out of sight. The other side of the headland faces the sheer and dramatic Shafer Canyon and the point 
overlooks a great meander in the Colorado River.
When I got to the point I made two discoveries. Firstly, we could have driven there! Secondly, I had lost one of my lenses,
dropped out of my pocket. I thought it may have dropped out where I had to do some climbing so I went back there and retraced my steps. After a lot of walking I returned and reported the loss to a ranger and apologized to the rest for being gone so long. We then drove out to the point so we could all see the view.