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
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-iYHgFoksZgo/UbZjLT2iR9I/AAAAAAAAeGA/JiZSOQVipNg/s800/IMG_5200_stitch.jpg


The Jeep parked on the San Rafael Reef above the river
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-M0zBVK6jbb8/UbZjPlP4kKI/AAAAAAAAeGI/y4AFU-o6XiU/s800/IMG_5212.JPG


WSA sign before the road descends into Thompson Hole
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-uoIXTMfiEAU/UbZjYnaYjsI/AAAAAAAAeGQ/ek3-sKDKr4Y/s800/IMG_5214.JPG


At first I thought I was seeing Indian ruins, but these are just rock walls to keep cattle from wandering
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-OKmtWK7S8vk/UbZjcGxJKtI/AAAAAAAAeGY/2tsClkkmabE/s800/IMG_5218.JPG


Sharpening grooves
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-E4543ZPSEGk/UbZjt7_nUfI/AAAAAAAAeGw/UrKifvMUeBQ/s800/IMG_5228.JPG


Grinding marks
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Jzt_6jMIl8Y/UbZj2IwLCFI/AAAAAAAAeG4/pdEyVcsNY0E/s800/IMG_5229.JPG


San Rafael River
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6z6VXf8f6P4/UbZj4q-DTaI/AAAAAAAAeHA/xS3y9fvVeuA/s800/IMG_5240_stitch.jpg


Petroglyphs
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WXAK-nY9wek/UbZkDd-EbAI/AAAAAAAAeHQ/WQ_WWPvvcYY/s800/IMG_5245.JPG


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-JUgnBP8rRI4/UbZkONzFr0I/AAAAAAAAeHY/bqGlgF3BNyg/s800/IMG_5250.JPG


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-F6Vk-vslv1c/UbZkXY3BYlI/AAAAAAAAeHg/EYQpLkVdaW0/s800/IMG_5252.JPG


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-xNcU3NTEA5Y/UbZkvu7QWiI/AAAAAAAAeHw/PkWuAqueLIU/s800/IMG_5254.JPG


Cowboy glyphs
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WJX1kuW3n4o/UbZk-2J1d5I/AAAAAAAAeIA/8V9McoOAakA/s800/IMG_5285.JPG


More petroglyphs at a second panel
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-837191NBalU/UbZlS5Mj4HI/AAAAAAAAeIY/2Tnafitu-iA/s800/IMG_5310.JPG


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-T0vNfw2gTx8/UbZlcUjI3II/AAAAAAAAeIg/dAGbDjlyMjg/s800/IMG_5313.JPG


Exploring a small side-canyon
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Nhlu2XS2-Q8/UbZlqVWgUxI/AAAAAAAAeIw/2Ysx3-4z5_w/s800/IMG_5321.JPG


Climbing out of Thompson Hole
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6K4SNkRJoY4/UbZlwmOLAdI/AAAAAAAAeI4/xhncfTJXgcM/s800/IMG_5323.JPG


It was only 91 degrees when I finished hiking, but I saw a high of 98 on the drive out
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-T51SfFjMxxM/UbZlys97giI/AAAAAAAAeJA/sngQLrcoKdo/s800/IMG_5324.JPG




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

[accadacca]

Its starting to warm up around for sure! Nice report. :cool2: