IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Sunday, October 28, 2012

It was one of those days that I just needed to get out hiking and exploring by myself, so that’s what I set out to do. Last year around Christmas I had planned to hike along the Dolores River near Bedrock but got a severe headache on the drive there and had to turn around and head back home. I hadn’t made it back that way yet, so I thought it would be a good time to try again. After leaving home and driving through Unaweep Canyon to Gateway, I then followed the Dolores River to Paradox Valley and turned off at the dead-end road by the Bedrock store to the boat ramp. One day soon I want to float the Dolores River from the Big Gypsum Valley to Bedrock and wanted to check out the takeout. After leaving the boat ramp the road I was on got a bit rougher, but I managed to drive a little ways further until I reached and area that was completely washed out. I parked my Jeep there and continued along the river on foot. The hike was easy and for the most part since it followed an old road that hadn’t been drivable in quite some time. After a few miles I reached a few boulders with petroglyphs on them that I had hoped to find.

On the back of the main boulder there were a few faint bear paw petroglyphs next to some nice lichen.

Bear Paws by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The front of the main boulder had a bunch of faded petroglyphs that have been vandalized over the years.

Petroglyphs & Graffiti by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Triangle body with big hands.

Long Arms by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Two more paw prints.

Prints by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Moab Area Rock Art XXI
Saturday, October 20, 2012

This weekend, even right after my week-long trip, I was ready to get out hiking and exploring again. I figured that since I hadn’t been down to Moab for a while it might be a good time to get back for a day trip. Last year I spent some time exploring Mill Creek Canyon and wanted to get back to continue my search for rock art.

Before driving into Moab, I stopped at La Boca Arch to catch the sunrise. Here’s the arch in the soft dawn light before the sun came up.

La Boca Arch Dawn by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Early morning light striking the arch.

La Boca Arch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at the underside of La Boca Arch.

Under the Arch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 8
Saturday, October 13, 2012

It rained again on Friday night. Not near as much as the previous night, but enough to make everything wet when we took down camp in the morning. Once we got our camp packed up into the Jeep and had a little breakfast, we drove over to the Bullet Canyon trailhead so we could start our hike for the day. Our main destinations for today would be Perfect Kiva and Jailhouse Ruin, but we would explore the canyon along the way, too.

About seven miles to Grand Gulch from here, but we weren’t planning on going that far this time. I’m definitely going to have to check out the full canyon on a future backpacking trip.

To Grand Gulch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Shortly after descending into Bullet Canyon from the rim, Jared spotted these pictographs.

White Pictographs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We also passed the remains of a tower up on the rim of the canyon.

Rim Tower by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 6
Thursday, October 11, 2012

After sleeping in a little later on Thursday morning, we had a little breakfast and hiked down the old road past the washout in search of rock art. After looking at the washout closely, I’m pretty sure I could have driven my Jeep across if I really wanted to, but we were more interested in hiking today, so that’s what we did. We managed to find plenty of petroglyphs on the scattered boulders along the way, some were better that others, but they were all fun to discover as we hiked.

This large boulder had a few footprints pecked into the top of it like tracks.

Footprints by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This was one of the better petroglyph panels we found.

Hands by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Two atlatls and another duckheaded man.

Atlatl Boulder by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 5
Wednesday, October 10, 2012

On Wednesday morning, after a great night sleeping under the stars on Alstrom Point, we woke up just as dawn was starting to break. I rolled out of my sleeping bag, grabbed my camera and walked a few feet to the edge of the cliff overlooking Lake Powell. Looking towards the sky to the east I had a feeling that there was going to be a great sunrise.

My campsite for the night as the sky begins to light up. I’ve had a lot of questions about my tentcot in the past, and another great feature of it is that I can use it as just a regular cot, too.

Morning View by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Lake Powell and the cliffs in the distance as the sky above turns pink.

Warm & Cool by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Right before the sun came up, the sky exploded with color! One of the best sunrises I have witnessed.

Alstrom Point Sunrise by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr