Thompson Hole

[Udink]

This was kind of a long drive for such a short hike. I went down the Tidwell Draw road in the Swell to the San Rafael River, then hiked into Thompson Hole to find a geocache and some petroglyphs. Thompson Hole is an abandoned river meander where the San Rafael cuts through the Reef, and there's an old bulldozed road leading into the bottom. There's a new (within the past few weeks) "No Vehicles" sign just before the road descends, however, so I parked there and walked the rest of the way. I hiked about two miles and spent two hours looking for rock art in the area. Afterward I intended to hike a couple of small drainages in the San Rafael Reef north of there, but in the nearly-100-degree heat I wasn't feeling up to it.

Thompson Hole panorama

The Jeep parked on the San Rafael Reef above the river

WSA sign before the road descends into Thompson Hole

At first I thought I was seeing Indian ruins, but these are just rock walls to keep cattle from wandering

Sharpening grooves

Grinding marks

San Rafael River

Petroglyphs

Cowboy glyphs

More petroglyphs at a second panel

Exploring a small side-canyon

Climbing out of Thompson Hole

It was only 91 degrees when I finished hiking, but I saw a high of 98 on the drive out

Dust on the back of the Jeep

Full photo gallery:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Dennis.Udink/ThompsonHole

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[gnwatts]

Your post makes me want to explore closer to home. Nice pics too.

 

[Nick]

Dang! Too hot and dry for me! Nice petroglyphs!

 

[TannerT]

Awesome! We've explored the San Rafael quite a bit but never this section. Very cool. thanks for sharing.

 

[pixie1339]

Beautiful! This looks like a fun place to explore, but you're braver than I am to brave those temps! 90 is about my limit for hiking.

 

[Michael]

That's cool, Dennis.
Nice rock art.
I love this part of Swell.

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