Dead Horse's Sunset

 

What a weird title, you might think. 

You might remember that we had visited the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. On our way back to Moab we stopped at Dead Horse Point State Park, just a few miles away from the entrance to Canyonlands, still on top of the mesa. From here you have a breath taking view over the desert landscape of canyons, carved over millions of years by the Colorado River and the Green River. On a clear day your eyes may travel over to the La Sal Mountains in the distance.

This state park is particularly popular for both sunrise and sunset. It has been on our list for quite a while, because whenever we had been up here it was either completely foggy or we were a bit too late since we had spent so much time in Canyonlands. This time, though, we were right on time.

Above you can see the canyons and also the Colorado River if you look closely. The picture below is directed to the other side which is more hazy because of the low sun, but you can still see the crazy bends the river makes.

So, what about that name, Dead Horse? There are different legends how it came to its name. One of them is described on the park's website:

Dead Horse Point is a peninsula of rock atop sheer sandstone cliffs. The peninsula is connected to the mesa by a narrow strip of land called the neck. There are many stories about how this high promontory of land received its name.

According to one legend, around the turn of the century, the point was used as a corral for wild mustangs roaming the mesa top. Cowboys rounded up these horses, herded them across the narrow neck of land and onto the point. The neck, which is only 30-yards-wide, was then fenced off with branches and brush. This created a natural corral surrounded by precipitous cliffs straight down on all sides, affording no escape. Cowboys then chose the horses they wanted and let the culls or broomtails go free. 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.

A couple more pictures while the shadows weren't too long yet.

Then the light started to change, turned more golden and warm.

The shadows became longer and deeper, obscuring the canyons.

Well, of course, a tree! Is anybody surprised?

The two "lakes" you see on the desert floor are solar evaporation ponds for a potash mine.

One of the last views over the darkened canyons.

Rocks on the mesa were still in sunlight, but not for much longer.

What about some Alpenglühen (alpenglow)?

Even that changed quickly on this winter evening.

The top of the mesa was tinted in pink-purple for a few minutes.

I finish this post with a twisted dead tree.