On Monday, Nov. 11th we drove thirty miles back to Dead Horse Point State Park to do some more exploring there.
According to legend, Dead Horse Point was once used by cowboys as a corral for wild horses in the 1800s. Cowboys rounded up these horses and herded them across the narrow neck of land onto the point. The neck, which is only 30 yards wide, was then fenced off with brush and branches creating a natural corral surrounded by a 2000- foot cliff on three sides.
These sheer canyon walls are hundreds of feet high and nearly straight up from the roadside. There were several groups climbing, some were students of a climbing school.
Even the Park Rangers were there, training for rescue operations that they hope and pray they will never have to use. They diligently train for the day that their skills will come into play in order to save someone's life.
It was windy and cold out there on the plateau and there was a lot of dust blowing around as we hiked parts of the East and West Rim trails. Even so, hiking along the rim in awe of the spectacular beauty and seemingly endless views of the Colorado River and the buttes and pinnacles it has carved over the centuries from this high desert mesa was great fun.
On Tuesday, Nov. 12th we decided to go and see the rock jocks (climbers), both male and female, out on Route 279, also known as "Wall Street". You will soon see why it is named that.
These sheer canyon walls are hundreds of feet high and nearly straight up from the roadside. There were several groups climbing, some were students of a climbing school.
Even the Park Rangers were there, training for rescue operations that they hope and pray they will never have to use. They diligently train for the day that their skills will come into play in order to save someone's life.
Later on, we took another hike around Ken's Lake again just before sunset to finish another day in Moab.
On Wednesday, Nov. 13th we drove back out to Route 279, this time to see Jug Handle Arch and hike out into the desert once more. The arch really does resemble a jug handle.
The hike into the desert was fun, but short-lived because it was too cold in the shade, so we turned back after a few miles. Route 279 follows the Colorado River in a westerly direction closely for about twenty miles out into the canyons that eventually become Canyonlands National Park. So these majestic cliffs you see here are a part of the complex canyon that forms the park further West.
Tomorrow we are going to explore another section of the western part of Grand County near Moab along the Colorado River called Kane Creek😃.
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