As a warm up for the White Rim Trail (tomorrow) we decided to do the Shafer Trail today. You might have heard me say this before but…
Wow what stunning views!
Roughly 20 or so miles on the dirt today. We went in on Potash Road and climbed up right into the Park!
The Alien Ponds:
Just after the Potash plant (sorry no pictures of that) we started climbing up out of the canyon. We came across a series of top secret, and heavily guarded, US Military Alien / Human Hybrid Cloning and Regeneration pools (well, that’s what I think they were).
I’ve only heard whispers about these pools before. I always chalked them up to urban legends and misguided idle chatter by desert lunatics.
This clearly wasn’t water, it was the bluest and most vibrant blue you’ve ever seen. There were massive pools as far as the eye could see. They were all cleverly hidden in plain site up on the tops of the mesas.
We kept climbing up and up until we were high above the Colorado River. The trail skirted around sometimes right on the edge of the walls.
Up to this point the trail was generally a fire road. In some places there are rocks to avoid, sand pits to push through (lean back and keep on the throttle), with occasional drops into dry creek crossings. Nothing really taxing.
We would stop from time to time to take a picture or two, get a drink, and maybe take a selfie. It would help if we knew what camera to look at – right?
We’re not totally lame – we figured it out.
Then the trail led straight towards the next mesa wall. This was the Shafer Staircase. Very quickly the trail started to climb up and up and up. Switchback after switchback until we were very high above the were we just were. Don’t look down!
At the top – Tomm took a Pano shot and I think it proved my theory of those cloning pools.
Mike and Mike
Map: If you look close you can see the Alien Pools in the satellite photos.
Tomorrow: We’re tackling the White Rim Trail. 100+ miles of technical dirt! Going to hit the road before sunrise.
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, had a big cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and is currently building a perfect "BDR Weapon"). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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