Land of the Dinosaur

[Iceaxe]

We discovered a couple of other fun looking canyoneering possiblies this past weekend..... one canyon will be somewhere between fairly good to really great with a punishing approach hike. We did parts of the canyon but ran out of time and rope to do the entire descent. I plan to put it on my to-do list and finish it up one of these days.

For now I'm calling the area ....The Land of the Dinosaur.....

here are a couple of pictures for anyone who wants to take a guess at where Land of the Dinosaur is located.

[Scott P]

West side of the Dirty Devil, not too far south of Hanksville?

[Iceaxe]

West side of the Dirty Devil, not too far south of Hanksville?

NOPE
It really surprised me when we walked into this area because I was not expecting to find this.....

[Scott P]

San Rafael Swell, east side, southern end.

That last picture-those two mesas way out on the horizon upper right look familiar for some reason, but I can't put a finger on it. Was at first thinking they were the "Flat Tops", but thy must not be. Swell has some mesas like that too.

[stefan]

here are a couple of pictures for anyone who wants to take a guess at where Land of the Dinosaur is located.

northern swell....somewheres...away from the reef?




stefan

[Sombeech]

Wherever that is, it looks pretty cool.

[rockgremlin]

Looks pretty "Swell"- esque to me. Either Northeast: Somewhere north of Mexican Mountain, or southest end: sandwiched between Factory Butte and Hanksville somewhere.

[Iceaxe]

San Rafael Swell, east side, southern end.

BINGO

We have a winner..... Top of the reef, somewhere between I-70 and Temple Mountain.....

Lets see if anyone can narrow this down......

Hint: We were visiting a recently discovered arch that some consider to be the most spectalur arch in the Swell.

[shaggy125]

Just a random guess because I don't know that these would be considered "recent" discoveries, but I'll throw out a guess. How about Mystery, Camelhead, or Exclamation Point Bridge? I've attempted Mystery and Camelhead and this doesn't look like the area, but I haven't tried for Exclamation Point.

Eric.

[Iceaxe]

Exclamation Point Bridge?

Give the man a cigar.....

Nice guess.... Exclamation Point is an amazing triple bridge. Its really hard to get to and takes some primo route finding. I'll try and post a route description when I get some time.

[LJ]

Wow! How cool is that triple bridge?!

[stefan]

very very cool!

stefan

[tatwood]

Wow, that place looks awesome. Any info on how to find it?

[stefan]

Wow, that place looks awesome. Any info on how to find it?

Well, i don't want to step on shane's toes or nothin', since he wants to reveal a route, but it's location can be found on the nabs website....

http://tinyurl.com/7lx5m

of course knowing it's location and actually determining how to get there are two different things, but shane may soon show the way.

Shane, the nabs page also mentioned ropes were needed to decend below the bridge...how long a rope was necessary and what kinda anchor was used?

looking forward to checking out this bridge someday...

stefan

[Scott P]

Hint: We were visiting a recently discovered arch that some consider to be the most spectalur arch in the Swell.

Shane, is that the same arch as Hurst Arch?

[Iceaxe]

I'll post a route description and map in the near future that also includes Hurst Bridge. I just need time to write it up. Knowing the waypoint of the bridge only gets you to within about 1/4 mile. That last 1/4 mile takes some major route finding and scrambling. The last 1/4 mile took us at least one hour, maybe two, and we were not even sure how accurate our waypoint was. To descend below the bridge you probably want a 50 meter rope and the gear to jug back up the rope. Dozens of solid anchors at the top to pick from.

We never did get below the bridge because of several factors... we were short on rope, the best below the rim routes were covered in ice, and we were running out of daylight when we finally found the bridge.. Damn short winter days..... I think I found a way below the arch that does not require rope but again its a long route finding advanture and we just ran out of daylight before we could explore more.

[hesse15]

We never did get below the bridge because of several factors... we were short on rope, the best below the rim routes were covered in ice, and we were running out of daylight when we finally found the bridge.. Damn short winter days..... I think I found a way below the arch that does not require rope but again its a long route finding advanture and we just ran out of daylight before we could explore more.

and they have a chick with them that totally freak out of the idea to rapell into the unknown!!!
and Ice was very kind of thinking of me
it is not exactly the hike you will do in moab to see delicate arches
mostly with rock covered with ice

[rockgremlin]

Well thanks for affirming what I've suspected all along. Every time I drive that stretch from Hanksville to I-70, I always look towards that stretch of reef to the west and wonder........what kind of crazy cool stuff is in there just waiting to be found?

AWESOME!!

[Iceaxe]

Shane, is that the same arch as Hurst Arch?

Nope, Hurst Bridge is about 3/4 miles away and easy for hikers to reach with a good route description. I'll include Hurst Bridge in my soon to be posted map and route.

Hurst Bridge was discovered in 1950. From my understanding Exclamation Bridge is a very recent discovery. Still trying to find the date it was recorded by the NABS.

Below is a pic of Hurst Bridge I took Sunday.