Dead Horses and Canyons

First thing this morning was a visit the National Park Service headquarters in downtown Moab. Chris told them he wanted a raft trip in which everyone got to paddle. My first rafting trip in the Royal Gorge in Colorado was one in which everyone paddled. On my second trip through Hell's Canyon on the Snake River in Idaho, only the guide paddled and we watched. Paddling is a lot more fun. If I can't paddle, I don't want to go.

A woman at the National Park Service claimed only one rafting company, Western Adventure Center, let people paddle. So we signed on with them for a full day, tomorrow. They told us we needed water bottles, level 50 sunblock, waterproof camera, hats, and if you take glasses, then put of attachments to keep them on. That evening we purchased what we needed at a Family Dollar store and a local pharmacy/general store. I wanted a net bag to keep everything in. Kathy recommended bags used when laundering lingerie. We purchased these at the Family Dollar Store. We used carbiners to attach the bags to our life jackets or the boat.

After registering for the rafting trip, Kathy and I spent the rest of the day visiting Dead Horse Point State Park, Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park. All are within 20 miles of Moab. The scenery at all three parks are stunning. We also purchased reservations for a camping space at Dead Horse Point State Park.

Dead Horse Point is named after a legend. Back in cowboy days, there was a herd of wild horses the cowboys wanted to capture. The easiest way to do this was to pin them in a place where they could not escape. Dead Horse Point is a spit of land 2,000 feet above the Colorado River. The cowboys chased the herd out onto this point and blocked the narrow neck between the point and the rest of the plateau with a fence of juniper bushes. Legend says that after the cowboys captured the animals they wanted, they left the unwanted horses fenced in. The animals died of thirst standing on a point 2,000 feet above the river.



Standing on Dead Horse Point looking down at the Colorado River 2,000 feet below.