Memorial Weekend, San Rafael Swell
I spent Thursday through Sunday of Memorial Weekend in the San Rafael Swell. My family and a friend camped on Buckhorn Flat at the base of Cedar Mountain. We covered about 120 miles on the ATVs throughout the weekend, hitting some places close to camp and also riding to Box Flat and Buckhorn Wash and Calf Canyon.
http://castlecountry.org/geo/Memoria...afaelSwell.kmz
I pulled into camp on Thursday evening, and after setting up, went for a short ride. We checked out some rock art and an abandoned school bus that had been converted into a camper.
Petroglyphs
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School bus
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Our campsite
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Petroglyphs at camp
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Power lines across Buckhorn Flat
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On Friday, we rode down Buckhorn Wash to check out the rock art panel, then headed up Calf Canyon. There was a trickle of water flowing through Calf Canyon, and there we saw some toads and a bat. The canyon was mighty green and it looked very inviting to hike further up-canyon past the end of the road.
Globemallow at the Buckhorn rock art panel
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Buckhorn pictographs
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Toads in Calf Canyon
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Bat in Calf Canyon
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8cs7Dpd6FI
A pond in Calf Canyon
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End of the road in Calf Canyon
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Pine Canyon
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Cactus growing on a boulder back at camp
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Friday evening sunset
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Saturday was a long, fun-filled day. We rode along the old railroad grade at the base of Cedar Mountain and checked the many petroglyph panels. Then it was a fast jaunt over to Box Flat for lunch, and after eating we explored a nearby cave. After returning to camp that evening, the kids and I hiked up Cedar Mountain above camp.
Petroglyphs along the base of Cedar Mountain
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Riding along the old railroad grade
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Kiln near the railroad grade
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Culvert under the grade
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Cut along the grade
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Box Flat was surprisingly green
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Above the cave
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I dropped my gear here to explore the cave
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My family waited near the entrance while I went deep inside
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A water course has carved the cave out deep below a thick sandstone layer
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Cave entrance
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Climbing Cedar Mountain above camp
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Sunday was a relatively easy day. We rode to "Hamburger Rocks," then to the end of the road at Hambrick Bottom. On the way back to camp, I stopped to photograph a gopher snake, but it slithered away from me and crawled up into my wife's ATV. It took about 10 minutes to get it to leave. Later in the afternoon, I rode up a gnarly trail on Cedar Mountain north of camp, then took another trail up to Little Cedar Mountain and enjoyed some nice views of Buckhorn Flat.
Hamburger Rocks
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San Rafael River at Hambrick Bottom
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Gopher snake in the 4-wheeler
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Trail up Cedar Mountain
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Parked above camp
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The main road up Little Cedar Mountain
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Parked near the summit of Little Cedar Mountain
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Pano from Little Cedar
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Torrey at the summit
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Here's the full photo gallery:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Dennis....anRafaelSwell#
