This past weekend was the 13th semi-annual San Rafael geocaching event. Attendance was light--about 15 people showed up--but it was nice having a tight-knit group around the campfire each evening. There was a fair amount of rain--it came down all Thursday night and Friday morning, and again Saturday afternoon.
http://castlecountry.org/geo/SanRafaelFall2010.kmz
On Wednesday evening I went for an ATV ride with PlumNuts around Temple Mountain. I spent Thursday again riding ATVs with PlumNuts and doing some hiking in the southern Wild Horse Creek area.
Camp on Wednesday afternoon
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East side of Temple Mountain
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_8474.JPG
West side of Temple Mountain
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Temple Mountain framed by the window in an old stone cabin
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The moon over South Temple Wash
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Camp on Wednesday night
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ATVs parked at a geocache near Wild Horse Creek
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Hiking up to another geocache
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Two geocache locations are visible in this photo
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Cottonwoods near Wild Horse Creek
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Around the fire on a rainy Thursday night
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On Friday, I hiked to the top of the San Rafael Reef near Farnsworth Canyon with Dorkteam6 and GEOTlr to find a cache (http://coord.info/GC1TR78) that had been sitting for more than a year without any finds. That evening I spent a lot of time wandering around on foot and taking night shots.
Low clouds over South Temple Wash
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Finding a geocache in North Temple Wash
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Hiking up the backside of the San Rafael Reef
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Steep, bouldery hiking up the Reef
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GEOTlr on top of the Reef
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Dorkteam6 on the Reef
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People camped in "the Corral" in South Temple Wash
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Some strangers throwing a lighted frisbee
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My kids light painting
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Dorkteam6 on fire
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Dorkteam6 on the Temple Mountain road
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I went for another ride on Temple Mountain with PlumNuts and Dorkteam6 on Saturday, then later in the day went with my wife and Dorkteam6 for a ride on the Behind the Reef trail. We found a geocache in upper Little Wild Horse Canyon (http://coord.info/GC1NTBR) and another near Ding Dang Dome (http://coord.info/GC1NZTH). We got rained on pretty good riding back to camp, then enjoyed a potluck dinner and blew up a 1-gallon can of corn in the campfire.
Temple Mountain
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ATVs near a vertical mine shaft on Temple Mountain
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Temple Mountain
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Cabin near Bell Canyon on Behind the Reef trail
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Ding Dang Dome
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Getting soaked on a ride
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPjtjeU1oo
On Sunday I hiked with KimBest and Dorkteam6 to Thor's Cache (http://coord.info/GC1D360). Then my family and I took down camp, and went for one more short hike near our campsite before heading home. I found some pictographs and a rattlesnake on the hike.
North Temple Wash
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View up the San Rafael Reef
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KimBest and Dorkteam6 hiking up the Reef
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Pictographs in South Temple Wash
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_8939.JPG
Rattlesnake in South Temple Wash
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/TM...0/IMG_8951.JPG
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTzr3K7mhqE
http://picasaweb.google.com/Dennis.U...afaelFall2010#