Map References - Day 14 - Sep 17
September 17 track:
Shafer Trail:
* large files - 1800 x 1200
Once at the bottom, the trail widened and became mostly a graded dirt road. There were some wash crossings which combined with the steep, narrow descent rates the trail a 3 in the Utah book, with a scenic rating of 10 of course. The washes were quite a bit drier than over at Reds Canyon trail so this area must not have experienced that much rain lately. The first picture below shows the Shafer Trail overlook, its that outcropping with the little point at the top. The Google terrain map indicates a vertical drop of about 1400 feet.
Very close by was the turn off for the White Rim Trail. The Utah book shows the trail as 68.4 miles and strongly suggests a 2 day drive with camping. Particularly if one were to explore some interesting spur trails like Lathrop Trail which takes you right down to the Colorado river, and Taylor Canyon Trail which takes you to Moses and Zeus rocks.
I was considering reserving a camping site (reservations are mandatory) and doing the entire White Rim but in the end, time was against me and I'm not sure if I would be comfortable tackling this trail by myself with my current set up. But it gives me a beautiful excuse to come back and give it a try!
A bit past the turn-off, Shafer Trail leaves Canyonlands NP and continues east. The scenery just keeps going, its incredible.
After taking some photos of the Shafer Trail descent, it was time to head on down. For the steep switchback parts, I was basically in 4LO - 1st gear all the way. This resulted in a nice slow descent with the use of the breaks kept to a minimum. I had one vehicle coming the opposite way so I pulled to the side of wide switchback and waited till they passed.
The trail continues along a cliff and comes up close enough to the canyon's edge to see the Colorado river below.
The next grand overlook was at the Goose Neck where the Colorado river almost doubles back on itself. Several vehicles were stopped here with a group of young Germans taking pictures and horse-playing awfully close to the edge. On the Colorado River below there were 2 separate river trips on opposite sides of the Goose Neck. So I got out my 500mm lens and took some photos. I believe both were setting up for the night.
The final quarter of the Shafer Trail heads into private land, owned by a Potash producer. The border is right around Chimney Rock.
After this point the trail winds around the potash ponds and signs ask drivers to stay on the main road as other roads are private.
The Shafer Trail ends on Utah 279 which follows the Colorado River and heads into Moab. Just before pavement, there is access to the Colorado River, mainly for raft put-ins. I finally was able to dunk my toes into the mighty Colorado.
Its along this scenic byway where I spotted a rally of EarthRoamers set up at a campsite. It's feasible that I crossed paths with Scott Brady from the Overland Journal and his Jeep JK EarthRoamer. The thread on this board places him at Valley of the Gods right around the day I was there, the 18th. Small world!
You may ask why I didn't end up staying in Moab? Well it seems it was filling up for the weekend and I could not find a hotel at a decent price at all. So I ended up down in Blanding. On the way I ran into the tail end of some of those Utah monsoons.
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