An Old Favorite

 

An Old Favorite

There are some off-roads around Moab that we love to do, no matter how many times we’ve done them before.  The combination of Potash Road and Shaffer Trail is one of those roads.  The familiar always seems new and exciting!

Potash Road starts out by following alongside the Colorado River.  Blues and greens dominate, with the LaSal Mountains in the background.  Just looking at this scene makes one feel comfy and cool, no matter the temperatures outside!

There are always towering rock formations, although I’m not certain if I’ve photographed this one before.  The sky makes it look almost surreal, and like something I’ve not seen before.

We always make a stop at the location where the final scene of the movie “Thelma and Louise” was shot.  This is not the view that many may recognize, but it’s where I bet the background movie equipment was staged here.  Every time I think about all that’s involved with shooting a movie, in terms of equipment, I’m always left wondering how they managed to get the large trucks, etc., up to this point.  The road leading here is at times, quite steep, rocky and a bit narrow.

Here's a sort of panorama shot of the ledge that Thelma and Louise drove off.  The area is called The Gooseneck and standing somewhat close to the edge is a bit breathtaking and can make someone who is not all that afraid of heights stop and pause for a moment!!

As we drove on from the movie site, the rocks on the side of the Jeep, are quite high and rocky.  This shot was taken looking up thru the open roof of the Jeep.  It’s enough to make you a bit dizzy!

Here are a couple of views of the Shaffer Trail.  The image on the left is the trail from a distance.  If you look closely, you can see a bit of the light tan road weaving its way toward the cliff face.  The image on the right is as we begin the climb up the cliff face – that is the Shaffer Trail!!  It’s a really fun drive, but perhaps a bit scary if one doesn’t like heights.

Here we are halfway up the Shaffer Trail (top image).  Beautiful view!!  And the bottom image gives you an idea of how sharp the switchback turns are heading up (or down) the trail.  Folks take it slow, so we can always accommodate a vehicle coming in the opposite direction.  One time, we even saw a man riding a unicycle down this switchback trail!!

Here’s a view from very near the top of the cliffs.  You can see how we came from Potash Road to Shaffer Trail (arrow indicates the junction of the two roads).  You can see the Shaffer Trail appears to keep going from the point where it intersects Potash Road.  That becomes another road – one that can be followed for about 100 miles, I believe.

Even when we’re very near the top of the Shaffer Trail cliff, there’s still a bit of rock overhang above us!  Here you can see the trees along the overhang, and even a few at the very top!  By the way, at this point, we are technically in Canyonlands National Park – another back way into a National Park!!  (We have the Lifetime Senior Pass, so we aren’t breaking any rules by not paying our way in!!)

Enjoy!

Shaffer Trail

There were some amazing views along the Shaffer Trail!

(Click on an image to enlarge it and make it easier to read the narrative!)

Enjoy!

On the Shaffer Trail

with Amanda and Kylee

Our second day in Moab brought us a day full of fun and the red bluffs of the area around and thru Canyonlands National Park!

(Click on each image to enlarge it and make the narrative easier to read!)

Enjoy!

Canyonlands National Park – Shaffer Canyon

The third day of our Moab adventure was rainy and the clouds looked very stormy overhead.  We knew that off-roading was out of the picture for us, as the red sandy clay tends to be either very slick or very mucky, and it’s too easy to lose control and get very stuck!  So, Jeff suggested that we stick to the paved roads and check out the Canyonlands National Park section just a few miles away from Moab.  Canyonlands is actually very large and is split into three different sections – The Maze (which is very remote and wild with no facilities), The Needles (a diverse area of rock spires, arches, and canyons) and the Island in the Sky which has views to die for!  The Island in the Sky section is the area that we explored, and our first stop was along Shaffer Canyon.

Canyonlands View

The drive starts out innocuous enough, and it’s difficult to see at this stage what’s so special about Canyonlands.  But, just wait…….

Shafer Trail Overlook

Here’s our first view of the Shafer Trail.  Our original plan for the day was to drive the trail, but we had to be happy with viewing it from up high, something we hadn’t ever done.  Yes, it’s a long way down to get to the bottom of the canyon where the trail leads.

Stormy Tree

Before we get to more views of the trail, isn’t this a wonderful tree?  I loved the balance and symmetry of it, delicately growing on the very edge of the canyon rim.

Looking Down

We’re getting closer here to what I think is the best view of the trail.  This image gives you a good sense of how close to the edge you can get, and how wonderful the native growth and rock formations are right along the rim.

Shafer Trail

This is my favorite view of the Shafer Trail.  It literally winds via switchbacks up the side of the canyon wall!  It’s a really fun drive, as long as you don’t mind riding right on the edge of a long tumble down!  Looking at it made me disappointed that we didn’t get to drive it this time around.  Something to look forward to next time!

Enjoy!