Portal RV Resort, Moab, Utah
Though (a malicious man’s) speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. ~ Proverbs 26:25
It remains stinking hot, but I’m saving my real ‘stinking hot day’ shirt for when I’ll need it most – a day later in the week when we plan on hiking more and it’s still going to be hot. But not as hot as today. These days, I wish I had duplicates of that shirt, or a washer and dryer of my very own . . . .
By 8am, it was already 78⁰. By 8:30, it was 88⁰. 10:30? 91⁰. At 11:30, it was still 91⁰, and I’m thinking either the Jeep’s thermometer broke, or it doesn’t read any higher. However, we checked it at 2pm, and guess what? 109⁰!! Can you believe that??? Back home at 4pm, it’s cooler. All the way down to 104⁰. We’ve never appreciated air conditioning so much! We wonder about the tent campers. How do they manage? Or what about people who lived in the age before AC? And in addition to the heat, they were covered in multiple layers and wool from head to toe!
Now that you know what our day felt like, let’s get on to what it looked like. 😊
We began our day on a very, very interesting short trail exploration, which began at the Poison Spider Jeep Trail. Don’t care much for that name, and I don’t want to investigate how it got it’s name. Just forget the name for now and take a look at what we found here! Waaaayyyy cool! Made me giddy!
Pick what you like, they’re all good! : )
Herd – like goats and sheep they can be found on hills and mountains.
Jamboree – a large celebration or party, typically a lavish and boisterous one.
Heap – a heap of Jeeps. I guess just because it rhymes?
Skipping the Poison Spider Trail, we drove on to Potash Road where we encountered another amazing, but different sight! This time it was man-made.
Read and learn about what this place is!
In order to extract potassium chloride, also known as potash, from the desert landscapes of Utah, Intrepid Potash, Inc. uses a series of evaporation pools whose dazzlingly blue waters lie in stark contrast to the red desert surrounding them.
Intrepid Potash, Inc. operates three potash mines in the United States, with one in New Mexico and two in Utah. The most famous and most photographed of these locations is in Moab, Utah, where the electric blue potash evaporation ponds provide a psychedelic sight in the otherwise reddish desert.
At the Moab mine, miners pump water from the Colorado River deep underground to reach the potash ore, which lies about 3,900 feet (1,200 meters) below the surface. The water dissolves the soluble potash into a brine, which is then pumped into underground caverns. Once it is fully dissolved, the potash brine is pumped to one of the evaporation ponds. And this is when things get trippy.
The water in the evaporation ponds is dyed bright blue to help it absorb more sunlight and heat. This reduces the time it takes for the potash to crystallize, at which point in can be removed and processed for use as fertilizer. The evaporation process at the Moab ponds takes about 300 days, and the mine produces between 700 and 1,000 tons of potash per day.
As the evaporation process takes place, the ponds change color. At times, most of the ponds are a vibrant electric blue. Sometimes, however, the ponds display a range of colors, creating a rainbow of blues alongside strips of turquoise, orange, yellow and white, indicating different stages of evaporation. Either way, it’s quite a sight, the ponds creating an otherworldly landscape along the banks of the Colorado River. ~ Atlasobscura.com
They’re along the way to the National Park.
Blaine cleans it at the beginning or end of each day,
but it only takes moments for it to fill up again. heavy sigh . . . .
It’s actually formed from run off. Cool!
How is it possible that it stays up there?!?!?
Isn’t it amazing?!?!?
We made stops at several places along Potash Road just to check out the scenery, and a few other things.
Do you remember a movie from way back in 1991 called “Thelma and Louise”, starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon? If so, do you remember anything about it? All we remembered was the iconic end – – them holding hands as they drove off the cliff in their light blue convertible. Well, this drive took us by that point! There’s no sign there, but it actually shows up on the gps, if you can believe that. 😊
We didn’t take the time to use Blaine’s app. . . .
Eventually, we came to the point of decision. Explore the White Rim Trail drive for a bit, or continue onto Shaffer Road, which would take us to the paved section of the Canyonlands Road near the Grand Point area. It wasn’t a difficult decision. We took the Rim. 😊
Despite a sign that told us we were supposed to obtain a permit (only one small one, and no mention of it anywhere else, including their website), we drove 13.6 miles (one way) of the 100-mile White Rim Trail. I dare you to say that name out loud without thinking about it. Did it make you smile? Did you giggle? Did you try again? We always end up sounding like Kripke from “Big Bang Theory”. LOL!!
We’d seen a Jeep spur trail (Lathrop Canyon) off White Rim as we were driving around, that dove down into the floor of the canyon to the bank of the Colorado.
We hadn’t seen a soul for some time, so imagine our surprise when we got to the end and there was a guy sitting at a picnic table! No car. No bike. Just him, his two hiking poles, and a very small backpack. Just the drive down the spur was four miles! We talked briefly, he said he hiked. (duh!) But we don’t know from where. We do however, know that the Lathrop Hike from its trailhead to the White Rim Road is a strenuous 7 ½-mile one way hike. To each his own.
We went to the river’s edge where Blaine put his hand in the water, and then we left.
The final thing we tackled was another scary 5-mile road named Shafer. We took it bottom to top, but there were quite a few that chose to go top to bottom. Which meant we had to share the road. More than once. Once you see the pictures, see what you think. I decided (after the fact) that I was glad we drove up. Driving down, you’d be looking at these views constantly! YIKES!!
Back at home, I made Chicken Picatta and doctored up fake potatoes for dinner. Yum!!
CHICKEN PICATTA
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ c. flour
1 t. garlic powder
1 ½ t. paprika
½ stick butter
½ C. water
2 T. lemon juice
1 cube chicken bouillon OR 1 t. instant bouillon
Mix flour, garlic powder and paprika in a bag. Drop in chicken and shake to coat.
Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and brown on both sides.
Meanwhile, mix together the water, lemon juice and bouillon. Once the chicken is brown, add the liquid. Simmer for 15 minutes, turning chicken once or twice.
Serves 3
HINT: I like to add 6-8 sliced fresh mushrooms and 2-3 sliced green onions just before the liquid. It makes an already great recipe even better!