A Hair-raising Experience in Canyonlands

This is a professional shot of the top section of the Shafer Road at Canyonlands. 

We had a hair raising experience back country driving in Canyonlands. It put the recent trip in the snow and flooding up from Sedona in the shade and made jumping out of a plane easy peasy (which I did to celebrate my 75th birthday). Yes, I know we promised to be more careful, but the Ranger at the Visitor's Center recommended the Shafer Road and then the Potash one (after asking about our vehicle) and once we started, there was no going back! Literally, as it was so narrow that planning was necessary if another vehicle was spotted coming the opposite direction to allow two cars to pass each other and luckily we were the ones smashed up against the side of the canyon (most of the time). The planning was all our's too, as etiquette demands that the downward vehicle pull off for the upward one. There wasn't a place to turn around until we were at the bottom of the first descent and we sure weren't going back up it. Then the Potash road turned into stream beds at times and we hit bottom (actually I think it was mostly the steps we had installed and the trailer hitch) several times. And it took 2 hours to get through both of them. My hands were cramped from clenching the wheel.

This is my own photo taken from the top of the viewing spot. The section of the road I could see well, here at the top looked pretty good. But it turns out it got much narrower and the edge of the road often dropped straight down. 

This is someone else's photo of the Potash Road, which was wider, longer and much rougher, often in dried up stream beds. We did not take photos during our trip.

"A very famous point of the trail is the Thelma and Louise Point, where they filmed the famous scene in "Thelma & Louise" when they jumped their car off the edge and into the canyon. The final scene is not the Grand Canyon. The view is one of the most photographed scenic vistas in the world. Towering 2,000 feet above the Colorado River, the overlook provides a breathtaking panorama of Canyonlands' sculpted pinnacles and buttes." (taken from a description of the Potash Road online) And this one: "For sections of this road, the surface is a rough worn slickrock and when you drive over it, your entire vehicle will vibrate and rattle like crazy. I would not want to drive my own vehicle on this road!"

View from the Grand View Point trail

Climbing the steep steps on the trail. What a job building this. Most of the work in the parks were done by the CCC back in the 1940's

I'm a bit clautrophobic but have no fear of heights. Nevertheless I don't go nearer than about 5 feet from the edge. That still makes many people nervous and I sure do when I see some crazy, mostly young men, get right to the edge to have their photo taken!

We've been taking a lunch with us and enjoying it at the many picnic spots

Frankly it's hard to take a bad photo and hard to choose which ones to include

We loved looking at the Green River as many years ago we did a rafting trip down it with Scott's brother Brent and his then partner Katie. 

And last of all, a shot that a kind person took for us. You can see that it was cold, even if sunny. 

But we did have some lovely hikes and views before undertaking this exploit. There are 3 sections of the park: Island in the Sky, The Needles and The Maze. We only had time to do the first one. Our first hike was the White Rim Overlook Trail, 1.6 miles along the canyon rim - easy and gorgeous. Then we did the Upheaval Dome second overlook, 1.2 miles but more vertical feet. The upheaval dome is an enigmatic geological structure that has been variously interpreted as a meteorite impact structure or a salt dome.

That's it for this post - next the Colorado National Monument!