Cowboy Cave – Day 5

We camped at Granary Springs that night, in the desert just off the Hans Flat Road, but this time we weren’t alone. Several tents were occupying the spot where we’d set up our camp before. Later, the group returned from a ride with their horse trailers and 8 horses.
Since water is a scarce resource and we needed some for our horses to drink, we stayed in the same area, just moving downhill and a little closer to the infamous “motel 6” (see Day 1 post).

Our fellow horse campers turned out to be friendly and informative. When one of them came to invite us over to eat and chat, we learned that they’d been to Cowboy Cave! That very day!
They were kind enough to show us their mapping information, so we felt confident that we’d finally be able to find the spot. The group (from Idaho and Orem, Utah, riding foxtrotters) was compatible with us in age and interest. They do rides of similar length and speed and are also into natural hoof care.
The next morning, we visited with our new friends again, then were off on our ride.

With our new guidelines in hand, we headed for a canyon not far from our previous explorations and this time, found our cave.
Two caves, actually, a main one and a smaller mother-in-law dwelling.

Archeologists, passersby, or both, have removed pot shards and other artifacts. We saw only a broken grinding bowl within the larger cave and this sign, warning people not to take or deface anything.

Apparently the warning wasn't entirely effective. There's always someone who can't resist splashing their initials on a rock art panel.

The University of Utah Natural History Museum houses the artifacts, some of them 7000 years old, that were found during the excavation of the cave. We'll plan a visit to the museum on our next trip to Salt Lake City.
However, even standing within the cave gave us a sense of an ancient people and their lifestyle.
We saw surprisingly few petroglyphs.
Steve made an attempt to reach another cave – but wisely gave up when the climb seemed a bit perilous.
Now that we know where to find it, we’ll go back to explore the cave and vicinity more thoroughly another time.
Even with our 2 hour, ten mile ride that morning, we were able to drive home before dark.
Mischief and Boss both enjoyed a good roll as soon as they entered their pasture. After Mischief shook off the dust, he trotted across his turf, kicking up his heels in delight.
It was a great trip, but we were all glad to be home.