May 17: Buckhorn/Cottonwood Wash

I have company this trip - my oldest nephew Mike. And we're heading south ultimately towards Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon.

Nice warmish day but rain is predicted and we're heading to explore The Wedge and Buckhorn Wash Road. We're approaching from the North by turning east on HWY 6 through the mountains toward Price. Last time I was thru this area, there was still snow on the ground but not today - pretty green. When we got to Price, turn south towards Castledale. Just before Castledale, left turn onto Green River Cutoff Rd. This is the start of the journey on BLM roads (dirt/rocks) thru the San Rafael Swell. And I will add, nicely kept and marked BLM roads. :)

There a bunch of roads thru this area, some going to Dinosaur Quarries and various scenic locations. The BLM is building a visitor center on the Green River Cutoff Rd to help draw more people to this wonderful area. There's plenty of information on the area on the area, with maps, points of interest etc. And I had my printout for the Wash.

First stop was The Wedge - or UT's Little Grand Canyon and yes, it was very nice and deserving of its name.

We also got lucky and hit the desert flower spring bloom - white, red, orange, purple, yellow -- the most I've seen yet! And going to keep me busy identifying them.

We saw our first lizard here (one of many). This little guy looked like he was wearing a toupee. :)

After the Wedge, onto Buckhorn Wash. This is a 22.7 mile drive thru the wash, tall canyon walls, etc. Still lots of flowers and in some of the wetter spots near the San Rafael River, trees -- probably good bflying spots if it were sunny.

The first stop was the Morrison Knudsen Tunnel. This tunnel was dug by the DoD in 1948 for some Top Secret experiment. The guide marker said its unclassified but unfortunately did not give the reason for the hole. We did peer in and when we turned around we almost got face full of raven feathers...as a raven appeared to be landing just where we were trying to exit. Not sure who was more shocked.

Then off to a dinosaur track - which was not marked from the road (the internet guide indicated folks have vandalized it in the past).

Next was the first of a few petroglyph. This one was some but it was easily found because and I quote from the internet guide "so look for a series of bullet holes where some fool shot his initials". The initials were clear as day from the road -- not so much for a petroglyph.

A short distance down the road was another large panel of petroglyphs which aren't visible from the road but well worth the short hike.

And then finally the 130ft petroglyph wall. The panel is said to be over 2000yrs old. It has pix (in red pigment) from the "Barrier Canyon Culture" and others from the Fremont Indians.

Can't forget the swinging bridge crossing the San Rafael River which was built by the CCC in 1938. The bridge is no longer used.

It was a fun ride and I'm so glad a couple of people at work suggested the road. But its off to Capitol Reef.

The day was supposed to be 77degrees - short/t-shirt weather but in the wash it only made it that high for a couple miles -- mostly windy and upper 60s. We took the scenic (thru the mts) way to Torrey UT and the rain clouds were building so there wasn't much sun. When we got to the summit at just under 9000ft is was 48 degrees and extremely blustery. Not a good day for shorts and no jackets :)
But there still was some snow at the summit -- too cold to get out of the car to play.

Lots of cattle grazing along the road (had to stop for a few). Its very lush and green - much different from the Wash we just exited. Saw about 10 deer on the side of the road.

Thankfully the temperature rose a bit as we went down and it was back in the low 60s when we got to Torrey.

Very cloudy now but the sun was peaking thru in spots. We took an evening drive into the beginnings of Capitol Reef and those peaks of sun made for some beautiful highlights on the Capitol Reef rock formations.

The controversy of the day were 5 deer that were in the front yard of a house in Torrey. When I saw them, I thought "Boy are they scruffy deer". My nephew thought they were fake. I was almost buying it (as I've never seen deer like that) but we saw some other deer that evening and they were real AND they were scruffy. Unfortunately, we left town with me forgetting to drive back past the house so its still unknown whether they were real deer or fake but the controversy still exists.....