Portal into a World UnknownHistory, and ease of access make Utah the land of wonders in the country....
History, and ease of access make Utah the land of wonders in the country. Countless state parks, monuments, protected lands, national forests, and five incredible national parks in Utah provide endless opportunities to experience the enchantment. Today’s article is about one such small state park near Moab in eastern Utah: dead horse point state park. Just miles away from popular Arches National Park, dead horse point does not get as much love as the National Park.
I was visiting eastern Utah and asked a local friend for suggestions. She strongly recommended dead horse point state park. More like, she pushed me to visit it with a promise that the park is just one straight road that would not take long to cover. Upon arriving in Moab, I first made my way towards the state park to validate the hype. As I went deeper and deeper into the park, it became more and more fascinating. The canyon view at the end of the road was spectacular. Before the land was protected, mining was rampant in the area. Old miners’ dirt roads were recreational off-road trails. From the top, the route was clearly visible. Sandstones, grey hues, shale, and mud with red, brown, green colors and multiple geographical layers filled the landscape from the vista point.
A freakish desert storm soon started to develop. I could see the clouds emerging from horizons and swiftly moving towards me. The sand from sandstone was rising and decreasing the visibility with every second. A giant rainbow emerged stretching from left horizon to right engulfing the entire view into it, probably the size of Silver Spring. After multiple attempts with different angles, I gave up on capturing the entire rainbow in one picture. It was getting real dark and we could smell the moisture in the air. With time to leave and get out of the storm, the last look at the clouds I noticed something weird. The clouds were vertical. Vertical clouds and late evening Sunrays penetrating through them was a sight I would remember forever. While driving out of the park, I was caught in the middle of the storm with vertical cloud curtains all around me and sunlight passing through it being converted into ferrous red. The hype was justified.
Dead Horse Point State Park has preserved millennia worth of history in its geological layers. Dinosaurs and prehistoric creatures roamed the area as evident by fossils found. Pre-Columbian Native American tribes had an advanced society in the region. Subsequently, the climate changed and fertile land became a harsh desert with scarce resources. People and animals moved away. Europeans arrived and they systematically wiped out the remaining Native tribes. Large-scale mining for uranium and other metals boomed for decades. Lately, the land was converted to protected land to be enjoyed by the public for sightseeing, education, camping, and related activities.
I saw the rainbow as a portal to all those that have been lost in that area from dinosaurs to ancient tribal cultures to mining. That prompted me to write a poem about it. The poem is the title poem of my new book: Portal into a World Unknown. Visit this place to enjoy the awe-inspiring landscape and you might get lucky to witness freakish storms with vertical clouds.
