The morning of September 27th 2026 began with the endless expanse of the Island in the Sky plateau. Before the true adventure commenced, my wife Hania, my sister-in-law Basia, and I explored the iconic Mesa Arch and soaked in the rugged rock aesthetics at Candlestick Tower Overlook. The air was crisp, but heavy, dense layers of clouds hung over the deep canyons at the Visitor Center when I inquired about the weather forecast.
Our plan was set: we wanted to tackle the unpaved, notorious Shaver Trail (Shafer Trail). Basia had protested all day, swearing she would never drive down there, but a promise finally changed her mind – I assured her that I would navigate the car inch by inch, keeping strictly to the right along the protective rock wall. From the edge of the viewing platform opposite the Tourist Information Office, we took one final look down into the massive abyss.
Gallery 1: The Steep Descent into Shafer Canyon
The drive quickly turned into a true test of nerves, but also an incomparable experience. The hairpin turns loomed before us in dizzying zigzag lines. On the dusty, narrow gravel track, a beefy pickup truck came our way – precision teamwork was required as the deep red sandstone walls of the plateau towered directly next to our car windows. Even a few extremely brave mountain bikers shared the demanding switchbacks with us, likely planning to branch off onto the White Rim Trail deeper in the valley.
Once we left the steepest switchbacks behind, a gigantic, undulating desert basin opened up before us. Our trusty Toyota RAV4 only had front-wheel drive, which posed no problem on the dry ground, but the limited ground clearance demanded full concentration with every protruding rock. Front-wheel drive, we jokingly relieved ourselves, is only for people who don’t know how to drive anyway.
Gallery 2: Red Sandstone Monuments and Initial Vistas
The scale of the landscape below the massive Dead Horse Point was simply overwhelming. Gigantic erosional structures lined our path. Particularly fascinating were the whimsical, pillar-like hoodoos of the Organ Rock Formation, their dark sandstone columns topped by flat protective caprocks. They stood like stone sentinels against the gigantic backdrop of the Shafer Canyon Tower and the vast walls of the Dead Horse Point Mesa.
A short time later, we reached a prominent dip and saw it for the very first time: the venerable Colorado River. The river snaked through the valley in thick, muddy-brown bends, framed intensely by a contrasting, vibrant green ribbon of dense riparian vegetation.
Gallery 3: On the Banks of the Mighty Colorado River
We took a break at the famous Thelma & Louise Point. Basia snapped wonderful commemorative photos of Hania. Both beamed in their red T-shirts against the monumental rock walls of the Amasa Back Mesa. In the distance, behind the prominent, fortress-like profile of Pyramid Butte, the bluish, snow-capped peaks of the distant La Sal Mountains shimmered beneath the dense clouds.
The unpaved road pressed onward, passing the all-dominating Kane Springs Canyon Tower, which rose proudly from its step-like base. Just as we thought the bumpy track must surely be nearing its end, the surreal colors of the industrial potash mines appeared on the horizon.
Gallery 4: The Changing Colors of the Potash Ponds in the Late Sunlight
The artificially created Potash Evaporation Ponds provided an almost otherworldly contrast to the intensely red desert landscape with their whitish-blue terraces. Long chain-link fences now accompanied us for miles along the extraction facilities in front of the steep walls of the Behind the Rocks Mesa.
Behind every bend, the geology looked even more spectacular. As we finally neared the foothills of the Cane Creek Anticline, the clouds parted and the massive cliffs flared up intensely in the late, golden sunlight. It was the perfect, majestic conclusion to a wild journey before the track finally released us onto the long-awaited, smooth asphalt of the highway just outside Moab.
Gallery 4: The Changing Colors of the Potash Ponds in the Late Sunlight II
