- Joined
- Dec 7, 2017
- Messages
- 264
April 3 - 6, 2019
Blake and I arrived by mid-afternoon and were surprised to see so many people in the Swell. We passed numerous camping sites that were packed to the gills with RVs, tents, ATVs, and their owners. Made us worry that we wouldn't be able to secure a site sufficiently large enough to accommodate all the BCPers that would show up in the following days. Luck was on our side, though, and the #1 site that Nick had chosen was empty. Yay! We set up camp and had a leisurely evening.
Evening view of the La Sal's from camp:
The next morning we drove over to Old Woman Wash in search of rock art. Either the coordinates we have are way off or we seriously need to get our eyes checked because we found only 2 of the 5 panels we were seeking. Rather frustrating!
A large, but very faded figure we found:
Ekker Site with Blake in the foreground for size comparison:
Fading headdress:
Unfinished sheep:
We found some other petroglyphs near the end of the hike, but nothing to write home about. From there we drove over to the Three Finger Petroglyphs and were far more successful on this hunt! It's an unusual site in that there were glyphs on the "floor" of the alcove.
Three Finger Man:
Alien-like figure:
Faint paint over the figure's chest:
We got back to camp and enjoyed the evening 'round the campfire with Dennis #1, Dennis #2, Miya, and Bobbi.
Friday morning we headed south to check out Wild Horse Canyon. Once in the canyon proper, the walls quickly slot up:
The "slottiness" doesn't last long, though, and the canyon rapidly opens. After about a mile into the hike the alcove containing the pictographs came into view and, wanting a closer look, we started sorting out how to get up the steeply inclined slab of sandstone. Eventually, we resorted to crab-crawling over to the alcove because standing up and hiking over was too unnerving.
We liked the fines details in the panel:
We had planned to rappel in Goblin's Lair that afternoon, but a nasty, oozing cut on Blake's hand prompted us to spend a few hours in the Green River medical clinic. Note for future adventurers: Hanksville has a doc come in every Wednesday whereas Green River's clinic is open Monday - Friday. However, at present, there's not a pharmacy in Green River. Closest pharmacy is another 51 miles away in Moab.
Anywhoooo, we got back to camp late that afternoon and got to meet more BCPers (including a very large, yellow banana named Chris). It was a fun evening with many persons acting as a human rotisserie around the fire.
Saturday morning, gluttons for punishment that we are, we drove out to another section of Old Woman Wash in search of yet more rock art. Same as a couple days before, we came up dry. Grrrrr.... I think we would have found it had we had more time and not needed to hustle back home (and to the pharmacy).
We did manage to capture some "blue sky" photos, though:
With a greater understanding of the Swell's layout and an appreciation for what it has to offer, I'm sure we'll be revisiting in the not-to-distant future.
Blake and I arrived by mid-afternoon and were surprised to see so many people in the Swell. We passed numerous camping sites that were packed to the gills with RVs, tents, ATVs, and their owners. Made us worry that we wouldn't be able to secure a site sufficiently large enough to accommodate all the BCPers that would show up in the following days. Luck was on our side, though, and the #1 site that Nick had chosen was empty. Yay! We set up camp and had a leisurely evening.
Evening view of the La Sal's from camp:
The next morning we drove over to Old Woman Wash in search of rock art. Either the coordinates we have are way off or we seriously need to get our eyes checked because we found only 2 of the 5 panels we were seeking. Rather frustrating!
A large, but very faded figure we found:
Ekker Site with Blake in the foreground for size comparison:
Fading headdress:
Unfinished sheep:
We found some other petroglyphs near the end of the hike, but nothing to write home about. From there we drove over to the Three Finger Petroglyphs and were far more successful on this hunt! It's an unusual site in that there were glyphs on the "floor" of the alcove.
Three Finger Man:
Alien-like figure:
Faint paint over the figure's chest:
We got back to camp and enjoyed the evening 'round the campfire with Dennis #1, Dennis #2, Miya, and Bobbi.
Friday morning we headed south to check out Wild Horse Canyon. Once in the canyon proper, the walls quickly slot up:
The "slottiness" doesn't last long, though, and the canyon rapidly opens. After about a mile into the hike the alcove containing the pictographs came into view and, wanting a closer look, we started sorting out how to get up the steeply inclined slab of sandstone. Eventually, we resorted to crab-crawling over to the alcove because standing up and hiking over was too unnerving.
We liked the fines details in the panel:
We had planned to rappel in Goblin's Lair that afternoon, but a nasty, oozing cut on Blake's hand prompted us to spend a few hours in the Green River medical clinic. Note for future adventurers: Hanksville has a doc come in every Wednesday whereas Green River's clinic is open Monday - Friday. However, at present, there's not a pharmacy in Green River. Closest pharmacy is another 51 miles away in Moab.
Anywhoooo, we got back to camp late that afternoon and got to meet more BCPers (including a very large, yellow banana named Chris). It was a fun evening with many persons acting as a human rotisserie around the fire.
Saturday morning, gluttons for punishment that we are, we drove out to another section of Old Woman Wash in search of yet more rock art. Same as a couple days before, we came up dry. Grrrrr.... I think we would have found it had we had more time and not needed to hustle back home (and to the pharmacy).
We did manage to capture some "blue sky" photos, though:
With a greater understanding of the Swell's layout and an appreciation for what it has to offer, I'm sure we'll be revisiting in the not-to-distant future.
