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06-01-2011, 11:21 AM #1
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
School bus
Our campsite
Petroglyphs at camp
Power lines across Buckhorn Flat
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
Buckhorn pictographs
Toads in Calf Canyon
Bat in Calf Canyon
A pond in Calf Canyon
End of the road in Calf Canyon
Pine Canyon
Cactus growing on a boulder back at camp
Friday evening sunset
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
Riding along the old railroad grade
Kiln near the railroad grade
Culvert under the grade
Cut along the grade
Box Flat was surprisingly green
Above the cave
I dropped my gear here to explore the cave
My family waited near the entrance while I went deep inside
A water course has carved the cave out deep below a thick sandstone layer
Cave entrance
Climbing Cedar Mountain above camp
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
San Rafael River at Hambrick Bottom
Gopher snake in the 4-wheeler
Trail up Cedar Mountain
Parked above camp
The main road up Little Cedar Mountain
Parked near the summit of Little Cedar Mountain
Pano from Little Cedar
Torrey at the summit
Here's the full photo gallery:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Dennis....anRafaelSwell#
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06-01-2011 11:21 AM # ADS
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06-01-2011, 11:49 AM #2
Nice panels, Dennis. Looks like a nice weekend with family
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06-01-2011, 01:48 PM #3
Great TR and pics - THX!
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06-01-2011, 05:01 PM #4
Awesome.
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06-01-2011, 09:31 PM #5
nice way to spend the weekend !! cool pics to
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06-02-2011, 05:10 AM #6
Nice trip report, looks like a lot of fun. The swell sure is green this year!
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06-03-2011, 09:27 AM #7
Cool weekend trip report, can't wait to go now. thanks
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06-07-2011, 12:22 PM #8
Great TR!
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