This set of
Photos was taken over my Thanksgiving break 2005.
This is rabbit
valley in western Colorado.
Large rockslide
near the valley of the gods just north of the Utah border.
Famous movie
backdrop scene(taken through moving car windshield, guess it wasn't
cool enough to bother and stop huh?). You may
recognize this backdrop from the movie "Forrest Gump."
Moonrise over the
Canyon.
Moonrise light on
Canyon walls:
Moon over South Rim
Lodge.
Moonlight in hazy
canyon:
Uranium mine site,
now a superfund site:
This is one of my
favorites of this set. It is a gasoline engine that dates to
approxmatly 1900(mine was operational to 1906).
Notice the single overhead valve, external rocker and spring. It had a
waterjacket on it which ran to a holding tank on the side. The engine
was triggered by a single spark plug which can be seen above the
cylinder. There was a magneto that triggered the spark,
however it is now very much de-magnetized. Use of a compass shows that
it is still barely magnetized, what can be expected after 100 years?
The engine is still very close to operational. It is not seized, and
the crank and piston still appear to be in good working order.
I suspect that with some repairs it would be useable again. It was used
in mining beneath horseshoe mesa. For anyone that is fortuneate
enough to come across this piece of history, please be respectful of
those that follow. Leave it as you found it so that others may enjoy it
too!
Dont fall here:
Time to switch
gears, this is now in Moab. This portion starts off in Island In the
Sky National park and then continues into Dead Horse Point State Park.
Mornin'
This is a view of
Murphy Hogback from the rim. On a previous trip around the white rim
some years ago the trail was
blocked due to a roll-over of a rental SUV. Full Story will be located
in the Moab section.
See that white
patch out on the horizon? That is a salt mine, the groundwater here is
so salty that it is pumped out onto large drying fields and harvested
for the minerals it contians, yummi huh?
Salt mine again:
Dead Horse
Point/Tourists.
This was one of the first white men to travel down the Green River. This poor frenchy came way down the river looking for places to trap furs, guess southern Utah didnt pan out too well for him. Arent you just so glad that everyone else decided to come along and write other crap on this inscription? Tell you what, why dont you bust your ass exploring completely new unknown territory for months and then decide to inscribe your name on someplace that no white man has been before. And I'll come along and write my name over yours, sound good?
Please remember,
leave things as you find them, this is another example of leave no
trace. Pieces of history like this are hard to come by and need to be
preserved.
The nearby ground
is salt caked. The water is dangerous to drink. You are 20 miles from
cell phone reception. Now you know
you are someplace good.
All Images and materials contained within this site are Copyright 2000-2006 James Slaten unless otherwise noted.