Dead Horse

Schnitzel November 4, 2021

The legend of Dead Horse Point states that in the late 1800’s the point was used as a corral for wild mustangs roaming the mesa top. Cowboys herded them across the narrow neck of land and onto the point. The neck was then fenced off with branches and brush. One time, for some unknown reason, horses were left corralled on the waterless point where they died of thirst within view of the Colorado River 2,000 feet below.

Geologically this State Park is the same as Canyonlands, being just a few km away.
The exposed formations range from the Kayenta Formation (184-188mya) at the top, down to the Cutler group (270-285mya) at the bottom. Most of the rocks visible from Dead Horse Point are sedimentary.

Those bright blues on the desert floor are solar evaporation ponds for a mine owned by Intrepid Potash Inc. Potash is potassium chloride, a salt found in the Paradox Formation. Saly deposited from ancient seas made up this formation as it evaporated and was buried by other sediments. Water is pumped down into the formation to dissolve the salt and then pumped into the shallow, vinyl-lined ponds. A blue dye is added to speed up evaporation. The dry desert air and many sunny days make this a produktive operation. Twenty-ton scrapers, guided by lasers, harvest the dry salt. A local refinery transforms this concentrated form of potassium chloride into plant fertilizer.

Such a small park, so much information. Need a lunch break!
Over time, the Colorado River slowly carved its way through the strata to form what makes one of the most photographed bends of the Colorado River.
Such a nice and underrated attraction!

Schnitzel

Donations in form of Darbo Preiselbeer Kompott are greatly appreciated ;)

Related Posts