The Majestic La Sal Range Overshadows the Desolation of "Poverty Flat"
On April 15, 2012, I spent my day to revisiting special locations in and around the Spanish Valley, near Moab, Utah. By midday, I had completed an ecological survey of Behind the Rocks, ten miles south of Moab. After lunch, I depart the Moab Rim Campark,
heading south on U.S. Highway 191. Although I did not know exactly
where I might find it, I was looking for an unobstructed view of the La Sal Range.
Near the eastern end of the Spanish Valley, I turned left on to a rough
gravel road that leads to Pack Creek. With jagged gravel the size of
golf balls, the road was not favorable to travel with my fully inflated
road tires. Limping along at a slow pace, I finally found an
unobstructed view of the La Sal Range. There, in mid afternoon, the sun shone down on the mountains and reflected off fresh snow that fell the previous night.
After
pausing to photograph the mountains, I turned my attention to the power
lines that hung overhead. From earlier discussions with Moab
residents, I knew that these high voltage lines originated at a coal fired power plant near Price, Utah to the north. From where I stood, I could see what looked like a series of energy beings
carrying the electrical cables up the valley from Moab. After passing
overhead, the lines continued their climb up the Spanish Valley and
then over the mountains of San Juan County. Where they ended, I had no idea.
Here I shall explain the difference between the Moab Valley and the Spanish Valley.
Other than there being a name change near the San Juan County line,
there is no geographical difference between the two valleys. Anywhere
near Moab, residents call the drainage the Moab Valley. To the east, in
its upper reaches, most people call it the Spanish Valley. The most
beleaguered area of the valley, around Ken’s Lake also carries the historical name, “Poverty Flat”.
Having
experienced the most prolonged overgrazing of any area near Moab,
Poverty Flat is apt moniker for that area. Today, it supports only
sparse seasonal grasses and a particularly thorny species of cactus.
With a large swath of the valley teeming with cactus spikes, no one
would dare to graze cattle there now.
Even for a hiker the Poverty Flat landscape is like an ankle-high low
forest of knife blades. Consequently, the area just west of the Ken’s Lake Dam
is now a no man’s land, bereft of greenery and populated only by the
hardiest desert dwelling species. In the 1890’s, grass in the Moab and
Spanish Valleys grew so high that it hid from view horseback riders who
approached town on the Old Spanish Trail. Current visitors to the
Spanish Valley realize that the area near Ken's Lake is an inhospitable place,
but most have no idea that just over one hundred years ago, this was a
Garden of Eden, not the current rock and cactus garden.
Since it once held the Old Spanish Trail,
I believe that early visitors, ranchers and miners referred to the
entire valley as the Spanish Valley. Later, as Moab became a more
prominent feature, residents and outsiders alike began calling the
lower, western reaches the Moab Valley. Today, the Google Map of the Spanish Valley
as the portion of the greater valley inside the border of San, Juan
County. Given the importance of Moab and the remoteness of the eastern
part of the valley, Google’s dual designation of the Moab Valley and
the Spanish Valley seems like a good one to me.
After viewing the extreme environmental destruction in the Spanish
Valley, I headed for the human made creation called Ken’s Lake. You may
read about that visit in my next article.
By James McGillis at 05:08 PM | | Comments (0) | Link
