Valentine's Day in the Northern Swell
A few weeks ago some old friends spent the weekend in Price and we hit up a few spots in the northern San Rafael Swell on Valentine's Day. We entered the Swell via Cleveland and made our first stop in a small drainage coming off the northwest side of Cedar Mountain. There we checked out a fossilized dinosaur skeleton and some very cool and small pictographs.
Michael and Bradley hiking up a canyon
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The rest of the gang following on the canyon rim
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Fossilized dinosaur
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Fossilized dinosaur bone
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Small pictographs near the dinosaur fossil
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Pictographs
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Pictographs
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Pictographs
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4Runner and Grand Cherokee off-road
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The next planned stop was at Hamburger Rocks, but during the drive I was surprised by how much water there was in Buckhorn Reservoir so we stopped to skip rocks.
Skipping rocks at Buckhorn Reservoir
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Small island in Buckhorn Reservoir with the Wasatch Plateau in the background
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Buckhorn Reservoir
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At Hamburger Rocks I wasn't surprised at all to find some people already there. The weather felt more like April than February and we'd already seen a lot of people camping and enjoying the warm weather. The people we ran into were nice enough to share some Valentine's treats with our kids, but unkind enough to leave a fire burning when they left. I doused their coals with water and put the dogs back into the Jeep to keep them away from the food and litter they left behind.
Jeep parked at Hamburger Rocks
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Bradley and Michael at Hamburger Rocks
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Boulder and Torrey hanging out in the back of the Jeep
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We stopped at Buckhorn Flat for a bathroom break on the way to the Wedge Overlook. None of Mike's family had been to the Wedge. We only stayed for a short while--long enough for me to take a single photo.
Metal silhouettes on Buckhorn Flat, representing travelers on the Old Spanish Trail
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Indian slave
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Ze Vedge
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The sun was on its way down so we headed north and then made our way southeast up Cedar Mountain to the picnic area. There, we had a camp fire and cooked a dinner of bratwurst and hot dogs while the sun went down. At about 7,600' elevation I was surprised to see some snow still on the ground, but that made it easier to smother the fire before we left. ;)
Distant Henry Mountains and Window Blind Peak
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Fire for cooking a dinner of bratwurst and hot dogs
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Sunset from Cedar Mountain picnic area
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Roasting marshmallows over coals
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Photo Gallery: Valentine's Day in the Northern Swell
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