Hey, What's That?

I stayed up late last night preparing today's earlier post which, in turn, gave me license to stay abed through most of the morning - ah, retirement. So, when I did finally waken, read awhile, and have my breakfast, I went back to the computer to wander about in search of new and wondrous things.

I came across a Google Maps page which, is not affiliated with Google Maps, but is kind of a clearing house for websites that incorporate Google Maps somehow for all sorts of interesting things. I found one especially interesting one - so far. After having used a map in my post yesterday to show the alignment of the Colorado River and the canyon through which it was running with the La Sal Mountains in eastern Utah, I just have to show you this.

Hey, What's That? is an interactive website that allows you to define a viewpoint. A couple of minutes after you submit it, the program spits out a graphic panorama, that includes highlighted mountain peaks that are within view (i.e., named peaks [features?] from the Google Maps database that are not hidden by surrounding terrain). It also provides a list of the peaks and, when you select one, repaints the map with the direction, line of sight, distance, and elevation of the peak. There appears to be much more to explore here, so I'll drop this and let you explore it yourself if you're so inclined. I've included portions of two screen grabs to provide examples.

The first (above) is similar to the map I included in yesterday's post. The second (below) represents the results of the manual steps I went through last night to describe the Henry Mountains from the Orange Cliffs Overlook in the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands.

Now, how's that for a neat trick?

Dead Horse Point and Canyonlands

After picking up a sandwich in Moab I drove up onto the plateau to eat lunch. First stop - Dead Horse Point State Park. The name of the park wasn't that appetizing, but view from the visitor's center was good, and reasonably conducive to good digestion. The two lakes are are next to a place called Potash, so my guess is they're pools having to do with the production of potassium at the plant nearby. On the horizon are the La Sal mountains, about 27 mi due east.

This picture is looking south from the Dead Horse Point overlook (6000 ft) at a couple of bends in the Colorado. The river is about 2000 ft below the overlook. The biggest trouble with a trip like this is, it's basically a one-shot deal. You don't have the luxury of waiting around for the clouds to show up - or leave - or, even more importantly, for the light to change. I was here in the early afternoon. Sunrise or sunset would have been nice.

After 45 minutes or so in the state park, I backtracked a few miles and took the fork leading into Canyonlands National Park. The focus of Canyonlands is the confluence of the Green River, flowing from the north, and the Colorado River, coming in from the east-northeast. The V-shaped portion of the Colorado Plateau bounded by the rivers (you are Here) is called the Island In The Sky. As the merged river (Colorado) flows south, it separates the two other portions of the park - the Needles district to the east and the Maze to the west.

The picture above is the view looking east to the La Sal Mountains from Shafer Canyon Overlook. You can't see it in the picture, but to the left there's a dirt road from the plateau down into Shafer Canyon and (eventually) to the Colorado with more switchbacks than any reasonable person would ever undertake. And, of course, there are hiking trails all over the place. See the people out near the point? Going out there crossed my mind, but then I remembered the Black Canyon - the notion that there might be a "View" down there, quickly passed.

This view looks south-southeast down the eastern edge of the Island In The Sky from  Buck Canyon Overlook. The mountain range on the horizon to the left of the tree is the Abajo Mountains and is similar to the La Sal Mountains and the Henry Mountains in that each of the ranges was "formed about igneous intrusions" in the Colorado Plateau between 22 and 27 million years ago. These intrusions are relatively resistant to erosion; their isolation from other ranges makes them all the more impressive when you happen upon them, and all the more interesting when you see them in the distance.

Still at Buck Canyon Overlook, this eastern view towards the La Sals is startling, to say the least. Maybe it's just the angles, but my first instinct on seeing Buck Canyon was to look closely and assure myself the Earth wasn't - still - in the process of opening up. I determined that it is safe for tourists and there's little danger that they'll be swallowed up while taking their pictures.

This shot is looking west-southwest from the Orange Cliffs overlook. The mesa in the middle distance in called Cleopatra's Chair, about 6200 ft. Directly behind it, on the horizon, is the third range of igneous intrusions in the Colorado Plateau, the Henry Mountains. No, they're not clouds. The highest peak, Mt Ellen, is 11,506 ft and about 55 miles away. The Henries were named by John Wesley Powell for Joseph Henry, first secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. They were also the last mountain range added to the map of the 48 contiguous states (in 1872).

The View

There are only a few places I've come across in my travels that provide a "perfect view" - a view so impressive you probably couldn't improve it. I described one in my post on Yosemite. I think there's another attribute, however, that's even more important. The view has to be so good you probably can't screw it up! (I say "probably" only because some people can screw anything up.) On this trip I found another "perfect view".

I even provide a Treasure Map so you can find it next time you're out driving around near the Colorado/Utah border country. It's a Google Map, of course - I bless Google every day - and I've added some notations. First, in the upper right, I show where UT 128 joins the Colorado River and the canyon starts, because I mentioned that in yesterday's post. Then, I added a blue sight line to show the canyon is perfectly aligned with the peaks of the La Sal mountains, 16 to 18 miles south-southeast. Finally. I labeled three viewpoints in the two and a half mile long canyon and the closest peak of the mountain group.

Now, the real Treasure. . .

When I rounded the curve the view took my breath away and I stopped as soon as I could find a wide enough shoulder to pull off on. As soon as you're past the immediate valley, the successive layers of varied geology lead your eye to the snow-capped peaks of the La Sals. A Perfect View. But, like Lays Potato Chips, one just won't do. You don't want to get back in the car and you don't want to stop taking pictures - just in case.

So, your zoom lens lets you vary some details, but the "Perfect View" still holds.

It's a good thing traffic on 128 is so light. Every time you glance at the road, then look back at "the View", your car seems suddenly, of its own accord, to veer to the side of the highway and come to a screeching halt. Better get out and take a few more pictures; some of the nearby details have changed, obviously, and could give you a better shot. But "the View" is the same.

If your purpose for being there is to take pictures anyway, you may as well give in to the urge and take every opportunity to shoot as you and the Colorado make your way down the valley.

I generally like to crop this type of picture to eliminate "cultural features" (e.g., roads, signs, buildings, etc.), but even the highway and a Land Cruiser can't screw this up. It may or may not be as good as the one before or the one after. . . but it ain't bad.

As much as I've gone on in previous posts about the clouds and "interesting skies", I have to confess that, "if I'd had my druthers", the skies would have been a bit less interesting this particular day, at least till I'd cleared the valley.