IntrepidXJ's Adventure Weblog

Since Amanda had to work today, it was up to me to figure out what I was going to do. While having breakfast this morning, I figured I would head up on the Uncompahgre Plateau to explore a few roads I haven’t been on yet. I started out on Divide Road and made a large loop all the way back home. Here’s a few pictures from my day.

Stopped in a large grove of aspens on Campbell Point

Coming down the other side of the plateau, there were great views of the La Sal Mountains

Drove through a historic uranium mining area…..I will have to spend more time here in the future

Near Mesa Creek

Found a few petroglyphs

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This last weekend Amanda and I decided to head for the Henry Mountains. I have skirted around them many times in the past, but for some reason I had never made the time to stop and check them out. This was my weekend to correct that little problem Last week was very hot and sunny around here, so I thought the weather would be perfect when I started planning the trip. Unfortunately, there was a cold front that came through and screwed up all that nice weather while we were out exploring. We managed to still have a great time, even with the cooler temperatures, rain and snow.

We left home early Saturday morning and stopped in Hanksville to fuel up before heading to Starr Spring Campground. This was our planned camping location for the weekend. When we arrived, we were disappointed to find all the sites full. We decided to do some exploring and find a campsite later. Before heading out, we stopped to check out the never completed Starr Ranch house.

Starr Ranch house with Mount Hillers in the background

The stone cellar behind the house

We then headed west on Clay Point Road to reach the Bullfrog Road.

Mount Hillers in the background

Headed towards the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park.

On our way back towards Bullfrog to loop back around, we took the side loop around Big Thompson Mesa to some overlooks of Halls Creek and the Waterpocket Fold

Great view of the Waterpocket Fold over Halls Creek

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I was on my own to find something to do on Saturday, so I hopped in my Jeep and headed north a little ways to Canyon Pintado to visit a few sites I didn’t make it to the last time I was there.

My first stop was at East Four Mile Draw where I would find the Sun Dagger pictograph.

Then I hiked to some petroglyphs nearby.

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On Memorial Day we packed up camp and headed a short ways down Comb Wash to check out some ruins in Lower Mule Canyon.

There were a few petroglyphs here as well.

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On Saturday morning we headed out on our annual Memorial Day weekend trip to the Comb Ridge and Cedar Mesa area in Southeastern Utah. As usual, we would be meeting up with our friend Jared for the weekend and heading out to find some ruins.

After the drive down to Comb Wash and setting up camp, we headed out to check out some ruins that Jared had spotted along Highway 95 not too far from camp. We parked off the highway and made our way to the rim of the small canyon where we quickly spotted the ruins. We had to hike down the rim of the canyon to reach the bottom so we could hike back up a little bit in order to reach them.

We then hiked up canyon a little further and found a few petroglyphs.

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Since our original plans for the weekend were to go rafting near Glenwood Springs on Sunday, I ended up heading to Davis Canyon on Saturday to do some hiking and exploring. Unfortunately, because of the wind, our rafting trip on Sunday never happened

After driving up Davis Canyon to the Canyonlands National Park boundary, I parked my Jeep and hiked in. My first destination would be the Five Faces Pictographs. These pictographs are in amazing condition.

All five faces.

Below the pictographs on two sandstone slabs were ten large depressions.

After leaving the Five Faces, I backtracked a little ways down the canyon to check out this small, but well-preserved granary.

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After packing up camp on Sunday morning, I revisited the San Rafael Bridge in the light before we took off.

Then I stopped at the Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel again, this time in some better lighting.

We continued along the Buckhorn Draw Road and then headed west on the Oil Well Dome Road to Castle Dale. This road followed part of the Old Spanish Trail.

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I’ve spent plenty of time in the San Rafael Swell in the past, however it always seems that whenever I go, Amanda is not able to go with. This time Amanda was able to go with me, so we ended up hitting up a lot of sites that I’ve been to before that she hadn’t. Don’t worry, I also checked out some new trails and sites along the way, too.

After setting up camp near the San Rafael Bridge, we made our way up Buckhorn Draw. Of course we stopped at the Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel, but the sunlight was shining right on the panel, so I didn’t take any photos at this time. Next we continued on past the ‘Mat Warner’ inscription.

Followed by the Buckhorn Cattleguard Petroglyph site….

…and then a quick stop at the dinosaur track just off the road.

Soon we were headed towards The Wedge and the Little Grand Canyon overlook.

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Sunday, April 11, 2010 | Day 4
Monday, April 12, 2010 | Day 5

We had camped pretty close to the end of the trail the previous night, so once we were up and packed up we made our way back to the highway. I didn’t stop for anymore photos on the way out. Once back at the highway, a few of us stopped at Cal Black Memorial Airport to fuel up. Everyone else was heading back home, but I had one more day to do some exploring. On my way back towards Blanding I decided to try and head down Red Canyon to Lake Powell.

It started out as a recently maintained county road through some great scenery

Henry Mountains in the distance

Eventually the road started to get a little rougher and had not been maintained recently. There were a lot of rocks and small boulders that had fallen from the canyon walls and had to be avoided…..even one large boulder I was able to squeeze by.

Unfortunately I took a wrong turn by staying on the main road and not following the bottom of Red Canyon and didn’t quite make it to Lake Powell. By the time I realized my error, it was time to turn around and head back out, so I’ll have to come back other time to finish all of Red Canyon. There are a number of side trails in the area, so I need to go back anyways

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On Saturday morning, Amanda and I headed out to the Dome Plateau area north of Moab in search of some arches. The main arch I wanted to find was Covert Arch above Lost Spring Canyon. I figured since we were planning on looking for at least one arch, I should stop by as many as I could find throughout the day and get some photos.

Our first destination for the day would be Covert Arch, so I got off the interstate and took the Yellow Cat Road to the Dome Plateau Road, across The Highlands, and then made our way out on Winter Camp Ridge. When we drove as close as we could to the arch, we began our 1.5 mile hike to find the arch.

Views down into Lost Spring Canyon were very cool.

We followed the canyon rim for a ways and then trekked across a sandy area.

Shadow on the sand

Lots of sand. Luckily it was still moist, so walking across it was pretty easy.

Then we finally found Covert Arch.

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