Goat Park

On our third day in the San Rafael Desert, Daisy was tired from the previous days.  She didn't protest when we left her at the trailer.

We rode on an old two-track down Goat Park.  Above, Steve checks his GPS.

Boss's ears pricked up as he saw something moving maybe a quarter of a mile ahead.  That alerted me to this group of donkeys.  We rode very close to them before they ran away.

We rode along the rim of Blue John Canyon, checking for water where we had seen small pools before.  Surprisingly, in spite of a rainy spring, we didn't find water in the usual places.  We rode to the Red Nubs before turning back.

Daisy, of course, was glad to see us return.  Boss and Coco took us 50 miles in 3 days, a good workout for all.

Head Spur

On our second day in the desert, we rode toward the pyramid-shaped Head Spur.

Daisy enjoyed a dip in a pool.

Steve pointed out the Princess pictograph, which is faint now, faded by with sun and weather.

Behind some brush, a pour-off marks the entry of Moqui Canyon into the Spur Fork.

These small pictographs, only a couple of inches tall, have amazing detail.  The 4 figures on the right wear elaborate headdress.  They seem to be under some kind of tent or overhang.  On the right, we see 3 figures, a bird and a couple of insects?  It's always interesting to try to interpret ancient drawings.

On a rock wall near the Head Spur, we saw this rock art.  Someone in 1924 made his/her mark.

We rode back to the trailer at a trot, covering some rough country.

Shifting Sands

In early March, we squeezed in another trip to the San Rafael Desert.

 It's lonesome territory out there.  No wonder train robbers and other outlaws hung out there a century ago.

We rode toward the Chimney Rocks,

and down to Outlaw Springs.  The tip of Boss's ear appears in the photo.  Taking pictures off a horse's back doesn't provide the best quality.

The word is that the water is quite alkaline.  Our horses didn't drink much.  Daisy didn't mind swimming in it, though.

We explored some rock outcroppings, and found a few petroglyphs.

Underneath the hand prints, you might be able to see the shape of 2 horses and riders pecked into the rock.  This rock art isn't very old.  It might be the work of outlaws or cowboys.

Canyon Water and Wildflowers

Water in the San Rafael Desert is not as rare as one might think.  We find many pools and water pockets in the sandstone canyons.  These water sources are not on any map, but many of them are reliable all year. 

One of the many small springs makes a handy place for a drink.  Some of these are on maps, but many are not.  Also, the maps are often inaccurate, sometimes placing a spring several miles away from the actual water source.

 Water that hides in the shade of a sandstone shelf will satisy a thirsty animal.  

Sometimes water can be found at the base of a cliff, a pour-off pool that gathers from melted snow and spring rain.

And of course green grass goes with water.  The horses love that!

The wildflowers are just getting started in mid-April. 

A claret cup cactus brightens up the rock and sand.

Milkvetch (purple)  and wallflowers (yellow) bloom between the scattered juniper trees.  

A Fremont's mahonia bush grows near a spring.

   Here is a closer view of the yellow flowers.

This one is my favorite, a Showy Stoneseed.  The lackluster name comes from the seed with an extremely hard, thick, impervious shell, which must allow survival of the species through winter cold and summer drought.  I think it's the prettiest of the desert flowers.

The Indian paintbrush is a close second for color and beauty. 

Into the Wild

Most of our San Rafael Desert rides are cross country, sometimes following the ghost of an old two track for part of the way.  Above is a distant view of the Head Spur (a triangular shaped peak) that makes a good landmark.   It's about 2 miles away in this photo.

Here's the Head Spur in a closer view.  The peak looms 400 feet above the desert floor and is about 1000 feet wide at the base.  Up top is a square formation that looks a bit like Stonehenge.  The top is unreachable by horse.  A climber might be able to get up there.

The going is rough in places.

And very rough in others.

Here's Coco taking a careful look down a break in the rock, 50 feet down the Moqui Creek pour-off.  Below is the Spur Fork of Horseshoe Canyon. Believe it or not, we found a way to get down, but NOT in that particular spot!

We stop at an ancient pictograph site that we have visited before.  It is located under a rock ledge where it has been protected from sun and weather through the centuries.

The dragonfly art is unique.

Three granaries are nearby, complete with rock lids.

We locate a few pot shards,

and some jaspar chippings.  Jaspar was used to make arrow points and other tools.  We leave our finds on the closest rocks.  Taking anything from an archeological site on public land (BLM in this case) is illegal.

Gathering storm clouds follow us back to camp, but only a few raindrops fall. 

Canyon Country Burros

The wild beauty of the San Rafael Desert never grows old.  This view of the Henry Mountains and red rock formations is a favorite.

On our first afternoon ride in Canyon Country, Daisy meets this wild fellow.  He hee-haws at her vigorously and gives us the evil eye.
That's our first burro sighting, but not the last.

 A handsome burro pair gawks at us from a meadow.

 Later, and miles farther from camp, we spot this trio, one of which appears to be a youngster.

 This is our camp, with Steve and the horses settling in.

 Daisy settles in, too.  She enjoys her Dinty Moore beef stew.  (She gets the can to lick after we eat most of it for our supper.)
At night, we hear coyotes howl.  Toward morning, we hear the burros hee-hawing loudly and close by, perhaps urging us to come out and explore.

And the next day, that's what we do.
To be continued...

Water is the Desert's Gem

On the rim, Horseshoe Canyon.  The Great Gallery is about 5 miles down the canyon

On an early October trip to southern Utah's San Rafael Desert, we began a ride  the Horseshoe Canyon Unit of Canyonlands.  Horseshoe Canyon (sometimes called Barrier Canyon) features the world famous Great Gallery, a panel of ancient native American petroglyphs. The trail into the canyon follows an old roadbed blasted out of the sandstone  in 1929  This time, we followed the road out of the canyon to the east, where it is mostly washed out, but enough of it remains for a horse or hiker to follow.

Faint trail crosses the arid landscape

After crossing Horseshoe Canyon, we rode 15 miles across old 2 tracks and trailless desert to reach what is known as the Spur.
From the air, the bends in the Green River create what looks like the rowels (points) of a spur.

One of the rowels of the Spur as seen from the Moab (east) side of the Green River

From the Moab side of the river (east), each rowel looks like a peninsula sticking out in a river bend. Last week, we were on the west side, up on one of those peninsulas.
As we neared southernmost rowel of the Spur, the horses were ready for a drink.

Light Green Tree Marks Water

The lighter green tree, a cottonwood, in the left middle of the photo shows us where to look, although Steve had already scouted out the waterholes on Google Earth.  We needed to be fairly certain water was out there before making the ride.

Desert Gem

Here's that tree, close up, where a pool of water awaited us.  Boss and Coco enjoyed a nice long drink.  Shortly after this photo was taken, Boss moved on into the pool, reaching belly deep in a few steps.  He intended to go swimming, but I was able to turn him around before he got carried away and soaked his saddle.

view of Green River from the Spur (west side of the river) 

We rode out onto one of the rowels of the Spur for a view of the river.  We dubbed the area Pothole Spur, because it was covered with potholes filled with water from a recent rain.

Boss looked at one of the potholes, then at me, as if to say, "How the heck do you expect me to go swimming in this?"

Some of the potholes were more sizeable, but not deep enough for Boss to get his belly wet.

Some areas have good grass.  No cows graze on the Spur, and even the burros don't venture out there very often, possibly because the water holes are so scarce.
We did see quite a few jackrabbits, and as we explored a small canyon, we surprised a large owl, probably a Great Horned Owl, which are said to be fairly common in the Canyonlands.  The land between Horseshoe Canyon and the Green River, known as The Spur, encompasses well over 50 square miles.  All of it is nearly untouched, lonely and wild.