Moab must be very well known for its off-roading areas for AHV, OHV, UHV, side by sides (whatever the children are calling them these days!) because there are *tons* of them here. Betty doesn’t have any aspirations to be a tiny little 3-letter toy (she’s very confident in who she is) but all the toys around did seem to give her a yearning for a wild adventure. Soooo we told the park ranger at Canyonlands about her and her size (she wasn’t offended) and she recommended we drive on Potash Rd to Shafer Trail. So off we went !

Potash is a paved road along the Colorado River.

We found out a few days later it’s also a great place to look for dinosaur tracks and to rock climb:

Potash turns into Shafer Trail and the fun begins.

Here I was bouncing all around and exclaiming over the views and I turn around and all 3 kids have their noses in a book. Ha! Those Lil Rookies are hilarious.

Finally when we got to this point, they realized this adventure was worthy of putting in a bookmark:

Shortly after this stop, RR made us pull over again so he could see what this white stuff was all over the side of the road. Through great scientific analysis he concluded it was salt. Around the next corner we did see a sign that the land here was owned by Moab salt. Interesting! Apparently “potash” is potassium rich salt mined from underground but from what I’ve seen it looks like a pink colored rock. I read that potash is very important for farming / crops because potassium helps plants protect against temperature extremes, strengthens them, and helps them fight stress.

The next water overlook was so beautiful! Look at Betty grinning so big 😂. (I apologize. Blame Disney Cars. It’s ruined me.)

And another overlook:

We were so grateful how quiet it was. I think we only saw about 3 other vehicles the whole adventure:

It’s amazing to us how often we think about family and friends we wish we could experience these fun times with! It seems every time we are doing something we think oh Uncle _____ would love this or Aunt ____ would be saying this right now. Or something will make us think about a cousin or a friend. You all are with us! 😊

Next up on the trail were the parts where I had to remind myself to breathe. I only caught one picture because I was too busy holding on like I was on a rollercoaster pretending I wasn’t scared:

But then another beautiful relief before the big climb:

The sun was starting to set so we had to pick up the pace.

And then the climb up was in sight:

Sadly I only have cell phone pics to share because I forgot the memory card for my camera but you’ll get the idea 😊.

It speaks for itself so I will just give you the sights (there’s three videos included too) and see if your body also reacts with sweaty palms. I read that sweaty palms help create friction for rock climbing or fighting and such…. I am not sure if it’s reassuring or not that my body was prepared to get me up the mountain if something happened with Betty.

To show how bouncy it was at some parts:

(sorry for my lack of video skills. I’m new to all this riding-trucks-up-mountains-on-a-trail-more-fit-for-hiking) To show what the switchbacks were like in loong Betty:

And breathe. We made it! Betty is the best!

We got off the trail at exactly 9:00 pm which was our goal. And there was a sunset waiting for us!

The question remains – what would have happened if we met a car trying to come down? Uhhh <shrugs> – the answer remains.

It was another great adventure and one we will definitely remember! 😊

Thanks for following. Hope you had a wonderful 4th of July weekend!