Moab 2018 - Shafer Trail and Island in the Sky

Another day we drove up the Shafer Trail and up into the Island in the Sky unit of Canyonlands National Park.  The Shafer Trail begins near the potash processing facility at the end of Potash Road.

Near the intersection of Potash Road and US-191 is an ongoing cleanup of an estimated 16 million tons of uranium mill tailings and other contaminated material located very near the Colorado River.

The Potash Road was built to service the Cane Creek Potash Mine.  This mine pumps water deep underground into the potash-containing formations and the resulting brine is pumped into large evaporation ponds.  Once the water has been evaporated, the mineral salts are collected using heavy equipment.

Views from the Shafer Basin

We came upon these Bighorn Sheep along the road.

Looking back down into the Shafer Basin from near the top of the famous Shafer Trail switchbacks

A view down to the famous White Rim Trail which winds along the top of the cliffs carved by the Colorado and Green Rivers

Moab 2018 - Long Canyon and Potash Road

One day we revisited Long Canyon (aka Pucker Pass Road), a drive we had last done many years ago.

Natural tunnel at a large rockfall

The narrows of Pucker Pass

Driving down Long Canyon

A balanced rock right next to the road

The Long Canyon Road exits onto the Potash Road which runs along the Colorado River.

We re-visited some Native America petroglyphs located on the cliffs along Potash Road.

Moab 2018 - Arches National Park

In early November we spent a few days in Moab, Utah, to revisit a few of our favorite drives in that wonderful area.

Below are some images from Arches National Park.

 The park's Windows Section with the La Sal Mountains in the background

Various views of rock formations within Arches

There were several rock climbers in the Windows Section.

This pair had reached the top of a rock spire.

And what do they look at from such a spectacular vantage point?
Their cell phones!

Skyline Arch

The very famous Delicate Arch

We really liked the late afternoon sun casting shadows from this dead tree onto the rock walls.

Aux Arc COE Campground

After spending 2 and 1/2 weeks in Red Bay, Alabama, getting various repairs done to the motorhome, we started traveling west again.  One of our stops was a few days at the Aux Arc COE Campground near Ozark, Arkansas.  Aux Arc (pronounced "oh ark") was named by French fur trappers for a section of the Arkansas River.  Over the years, Aux Arc evolved into the name Ozark.

The Aux Arc COE Campground is associated with the Ozark Lake dam, one of the dams along the Arkansas River.

Since Ozark Lake is part of the McClellan–Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, all of the dams have a shipping lock capable of handling barges up to 600 feet in length.  We saw a few barge "tows" being moved by a "pusher tugboat".

Looking across the lake from the campground just before sunset

There happened to be a lot of white pelicans on the lake that were passing through during their fall migration.

Mockingbird at sunset

We sometimes saw a Great White Egret.

This was one of its successful fishing attempts. 

While in the campground, we were told about nearby Mount Magazine, the highest point in Arkansas.  Since it was the end of October and the weather was clear, we decided to visit the mountain and look for fall color.

Views from the top of Mount Magazine

Fall color

At one of our stops we found this great Walking Stick insect.