Swazy's Leap

[Udink]

After spending most of the day hiking and finding the 20 caches in the "Heart of the Desert" series, I wanted to go to Swazy's Leap to find the oldest unfound geocache in Utah. It's in one of the more remote areas of the San Rafael Swell. The road going there just kept getting worse and worse, but I kept going and going because I thought to myself, "It can't possibly get any worse that what I already drove over." It turns out that, yes, it can get worse--much worse. The road wasn't technically difficult to drive on, it was just rough and rocky. I only needed 4WD for one brief section on the drive out of the area. I finally reached the "end" of the road where the BLM has barricaded it from further vehicular travel, but the actual road continues another 2.2 miles to the cache at Swazy's Leap. I was already nearly exhausted from the earlier hiking, and the drive to this place had taken a lot longer than I expected. I barely had a signal on my cell phone, so I decided to call my wife to let her know where I was and what I was planning on doing, just in case something went wrong. The hike started off badly. I thought I could get there faster if I left the road and cut cross-country, but I ran into a couple of deep canyons that had to be negotiated. Now I know why the road follows the course that it does. I eventually regained the road and decided to stick with it the rest of the way to the cache. I kept a fast pace, but my muscles were paying for it. It took me more than an hour to reach the cache, but it was an awesome place and well worth the effort. Swazy's Leap is a relatively narrow spot along the canyon rim of the Lower Black Box, through which the San Rafael River flows. Legend has it that one of the Swazy brothers jumped his horse across this spot. It's easily possible to hike down to the "Leap," but I was too tired and the sun was sinking low in the sky. I snapped a few photos and hurriedly began the march back to the truck, this time not straying from the road much at all.

I covered the return hike in less than an hour, even though it was the same distance as the hike in. I called my wife again to let her know that I was on my way home, but that I'd be a while. The sun had set behind the cliffs to the west, and I began the long drive home as it began to get dark. The drive home was just plain crappy. It was stressful because I was in a hurry, but I couldn't see the road as well and couldn't go as fast as I wanted. My legs were sore and began to cramp up, and twice I had to stop the truck and walk around a little to loosen my leg muscles up. One nice thing about the drive home is that, when driving through Buckhorn Wash, I caught a glimpse of the sky out my window and noticed that the Milky Way was visible and extremely bright. Despite my hurry, I pulled over, turned the headlights off and shut the engine down so I could enjoy that sight for a few minutes. The drive home was only 75 miles but it took me three hours to make it there. I barely had enough energy to take a shower before I collapsed into bed. It was a tough day, but well worth the effort.


Me at the ****hole on the way to Swazy's Leap



BLM sign



Start of the Lower Black Box



The San Rafael River northeast of the Lower Black Box



Mexican Mountain



Swazy's Leap



The sun setting on Mexican Mountain



The sun setting on the backside of the San Rafael Reef



My truck just after the worst part of the road to Swasey's Leap and the Lower Black Box. I had to get out here to unlock the hubs--I only needed 4WD for the short stretch of road behind the truck here.



Two knolls east of Drowned Hole Draw