Potash Ponds Mesa
Potash Ponds Mesa is a geological feature and state park in the Hellmouth region of Utah, approximately 10 miles (16km) southwest of the town of Hellmouth, adjacent to Living Horse Point State Plark. It is comprised of 1036 acres (1.62 sq mi) of high desert at an altitude of 4265 feet (1300 meters) surrounded by sheer vertical cliffs that descend into the depths of the Hellmouth sinkhole.
Its most notable features are a series of bright blue potash evaporation ponds, originally built by the Texas Glulf Sulphur Company and owned by Intrepid Potash, Inc. The site was designated as a state park by the state of Utah shortly after its sudden creation during the Hellmouth sinkhole event.
Before the Hellmouth swallowed the surrounding hillside, the vibrant blue evaporation ponds were a distinctive and vital part of a large potassium-chloride (potash) mining operation. Potash-laden water would be pumped into these ponds and dyed blue to speed their evaporation, and once evaporated, the crystalized potash would be collected and shipped. The pools are the last fully intact portion of the mining operation, the rest of which was swallowed and presumably destroyed during its descent to Hell.
The Hellmouth appears unable or unwilling to swallow the bright blue evaporation ponds, which now protrude from the infinite darkness atop a tall mesa. Despite the cessation of normal mining activity and the complete destruction of all necessary water pumping equipment, the pools appear to be refilling and evaporating in accordance with their normal schedule. The blue-dyed potash-laden water appears from an unknown source, suggesting that the Hellmouth may possess a detailed understanding and possibly a curious respect for the potash mining process.
Intrepid Potash, Inc. continues to collect the evaporated Potash salt from the ponds as though nothing has changed, though they now require a complex rope-and-pulley system to cross the gaping Hellmouth. When asked for comment, two Intrepid employees exchanged a terrified look and fled from the scene, shedding their purple Level B hazmat suits and chemical-resistant boots, each adorned with occult imagery, to speed their escape from the site.
The state park designation requires that the site be open to the public, against the wishes of Intrepid Potash, Inc. The ponds are becoming a popular tourist destination despite their remote location, treacherous cliffs, and steadily rising number of armed security personnel.
