The south side of the La Sal Mountains...

is a well kept secret.

The downtown business hub of Paradox, Colorado on a weekday afternoon.

Buckeye Recreation Area at 7,700 feet (2,350 m) in elevation. It’s a nicely clean and quiet US Forest Service campground.

View of the high La Sals at dusk. No astrophotography was attempted as it is a full Moon.

View to southeast at dawn, looking down the long axis of the Paradox Valley. Early explorers were puzzled as to why the Dolores River flows across this valley rather than along its length, finding it paradoxical. Hence the name Paradox Valley was adopted, and the Middle Pennsylvanian age strata responsible for developing these long and linear collapsed salt-cored anticlines is called the Paradox Formation.

A sandstone-hosted copper deposit...

is found deep in La Sal Creek Canyon where a disseminated ore body formed adjacent to a small normal fault. Following discovery in 1897, the Cashin Mine operated here from 1899 to sometime in the 1950s producing both copper and silver.

Copper mineral staining is common on exposures of the Wingate Sandstone (Lower Jurassic (201.4 Ma - 174.7 Ma)) around the mine site.

Copper mineral staining along a normal fault with a mine adit located on the geologic structure.

Uravan, Colorado may be gone...

but its important nuclear legacy will never be forgotten, having served as the hub of the most productive uranium mining district in the nation. The former company townsite has been erased from most maps following complete environmental remediation of the valley.

Wide panorama from the Star 13 mine portal showing the San Miguel River canyon where the former town and uranium mill was located. Recent remediation efforts resulted in the dismantling of buildings and excavation of radioactive waste and the debris is now sequestered in several containment cells south of the former town site.

The mill and town of Uravan, circa 1970. (Rimrocker Historical Society, donated by Wyatt family.)

Link to NRC closure document: Umetco Uravan.

One of several containment cells in Hieroglyphic Canyon. I measured only background levels of radiation while standing at the fence along the road and snapping this image.

The "hanging flume" is a marvel of engineering...

in the San Miguel and Dolores River canyons, built between 1888 and 1891 by very determined miners working a gold placer deposit further up the canyon. Imagine trying to build this incredible project today!

Remains of the five mile-long wooden flume above the San Miguel River, still clinging to the sandstone cliff after more than 130 years.

Closer view of a section of the wooden flume as seen from an overlook from above, on Colorado 141 north of the former townsite of Uravan.

View from below at a partially restored section of the historic flume. The flume only operated several years after its completion, following which the wooden beams and planks were scavenged and re-purposed for other uses.

Around the nose of a meander bend, the hanging flume hugs the escarpment above the San Miguel River, a short distance above its confluence with the Dolores River.

Stalking the wild columbine flower...

at the nearly 9,000 foot (2,740 m) elevation in the La Sal Mountains above Castle Valley, but, alas, none are in bloom during this year of drought in an ordinarily gorgeous patch among the aspens. But it did afford a visit with two of my favorite ancient ponderosa pine trees.

Continuing on to Gateway, Colorado, dropping into John Brown Canyon.

Having a blast at the state line...

this Memorial Day weekend by launching one of the heftier rockets in the arsenal. The Apogee Zephyr is nearly five feet (1.5 m) tall and weighs about 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg) and takes a big engine to get it off the launch pad.

My Apogee Zephyr lifting off milliseconds after ignition. The side-vented pads work quite well and no fires were started on the range.

Zephyr ripping skyward on a 38 mm H motor.

Soft recovery to fly again under a four foot (1.2 m) diameter parachute.

A portal into an atomic future...

at the Mi Vida Mine, the most significant uranium mine in the largest uranium district in Utah. Located south of Moab on the southwest flank of the Lisbon Valley salt-cored anticline, the mineralized zone is contained in the Moss Back Member of the Chinle Formation (Upper Triassic (237 Ma - 201.4 Ma)). Discovered by Charlie Steen and worked from 1952 to 1960, the high grade uraninite ore was transported to the Atlas Mill in Moab for processing. This is what remains at the historic site today.

Mine entrance at the oxidation/reduction boundary in a mudstone in the Chinle Formation.

Wide view of Mi Vida Mine site. Wingate Sandstone forms the jointed escarpment. The red oxidized zone in the Chinle Formation is clearly seen, with the mine entrance (right of center) in the bleached reduced zone.

Tipple to transfer ore from the ore cars onto trucks for transport to the mill for processing.

Electric tender and ore cars, frozen in space and time.

Comprehensive overview: Uranium and Vanadium Resources of Utah (pdf).

An old ranch well is being refurbished...

after being little used for more than 60 years, since the time when the ranch was subdivided into five acre parcels that now comprise our small rural community. Considerable sedimentation has occurred in the 180 foot deep - 16 inch diameter (55 m - 0.4 m) bore that is located mid-valley and will have to be jetted out before pump installation.

Once fully refurbished the new landowner will allow the Castle Valley Fire Department access to the high yielding well for use in emergencies. A big thanks in advance!

Ride the dirt and not the mud...

at the Mud Springs Trail System south of Moab, and that’s exactly what I did this morning with my good friend and neighbor. Conditions were dry and fast!

Scenic view to the east from the summit of the Mud Springs Trail.

Annotated image of my Garmin GPS track, color reflects speed. The turnoff onto Yellow Circle Road is unsigned and is 12 miles (~19 km) from downtown Moab.

Trail information posted by the BLM at the trailhead. Several more trails are planned to complete the network.

Taking the long way...

to the US Post Office in Moab today via the Shafer Trail and Potash Road, about an 80 mile (130 km) long detour. Pretty scenic though!

View from Island in the Sky down to the White Rim in the inner canyon with the La Sal Mountains on the distant horizon.

The Shafer Trail switchbacks descending onto the White Rim Trail.

The Colorado River is running about 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) right now where median discharge on this date is around 10,000 cfs.

Thelma & Louise Point overlooking the Colorado River.

Potash evaporation ponds and the gently dipping red beds of the Cane Creek anticline (left of center).

Petroglyph panel along Potash Road depicting a bighorn sheep hunt and bear encounter. The bear glyph is enormous and is more than three feet (1 m) across.

The acid test for a newly tuned bike...

is an early morning lap at the Slickrock Trail of course! The shop mechanics at Poison Spider Bicycles in Moab are top notch and do terrific work. Highly recommended (no commission earned).

Large-scale trough crossbeds dominate the Navajo Sandstone (Lower Jurassic (201.4 Ma - 174.7 Ma)) and the coarsely etched foresets in the rock adds texture to the rolling landscape. The lack of joints and fractures in this area above Moab makes it particularly fun to ride but there is considerable vertical relief as this image shows, making the trail challenging due to the steep ascents/descents and off camber riding.

View down Grandstaff Canyon from the Slickrock Trail with Arches National Park on the skyline.