January 21, 2012

Cane Wash

A glance at the weather report shows a good enough stretch for a 2 night, 3 day trip to the San Rafael Swell in central Utah.  We head for the part of the Swell north of I-70.  Click here for Wikipedia information on this geologic uplift formed 40-60 million years ago.
On the first day, we ride through sandy Cane Wash. 
About mid-way to the San Rafael River, we come to some free water and a lot of ice.  The horses learn to tippy-toe across the ice, placing each hoof carefully so they won't slip.  We aren't worried about breaking through because the water is only a couple of inches deep. 
The San Rafael has ice along the banks, but plenty of free-flowing water in the middle.
A window in the rock overlooks the river.   We look for petroglyphs but don't see any. 
On the return trip, Daisy finds a petrified log.  She would love to fetch it, but it's a little heavy.  It's probably 250,000 million years old, from the Shinarump formation.
We discover the detritus left over from an old mining claim, including a storage room built into the hillside.  We think it may have been where the miners stored dynamite.  In case blasting caps might still be lying around, we do not enter.
and a rusted International pickup. 
We complete the 16 mile ride at nearly dusk.  Little do we know, the weather report lied.  Instead of night time lows of near 30, temps dip to 10 F that night, a little cooler than we bargained for.

17 comments:

  1. Hi Janie, We can never count on the weather report to be right, can we???? ha

    Beautiful place.. Where is the San Rafael Swell??? Amazing photos.

    Loved seeing the old mine room and the old truck... How does it feel to be the only humans in that area????? Bet it's neat!

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  2. You already know how much I enjoy seeing this scenery. Nice find on the petrified log and old miner's camp. I would not have thought about blasting caps. Makes me wonder now having explored all the old claims I have in the past. Still have all my legs and hands. 10 degrees, yikes!

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  3. Brings back memories, Janie, of camping in the Swell with girlfriends one March. Winds gusted so hard that I didn't get out of the tent to eat dinner. The second night snow began falling, and we drove out just in time. Love all your photos with the finds and "window" rock.

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  4. I'm glad you are home today--we are getting pounded with snow :)

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  5. Ten degrees is downright frigid! How neat to have found the old rusted truck, petrified log, and mining shack.

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  6. You just never know what you'll find out in the middle of know where. Including a wrong weather report. I'll bet everybody had multiple blankets.

    Had a few sprinkles today and now the wind's rockin' the trailer.

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  7. Brrr...awesome photos..what a beautiful place...

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  8. Amazing pics of the Swell. You are on the fortunate few who seek adventure on horse back. Love your posts. Have a great weekend.

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  9. Very pretty, it looks like it was a nice trip, even with it getting colder than you thought. Brrr, that part doesn't sound too fun.

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  10. Beautiful, its interesting about all the remnants of old mining and ranching activity in the desert. I guess that dry air preserves it and the lack of vegetation keeps it visible.

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  11. The scenery of the San Rafael Swell is gorgeous, and that window in the rock is neat. You had beautiful blue skies for this first day, but I'm sorry the weather man lied.

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  12. These rock formations are awesome. Great textures and colors. What amazing places you two ride through.

    Just a wee bit chilly for me. Our temp reached 78 today which is high even for south Florida.
    :)

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  13. Can't trust those weather-men! I bet that was really cold for the horses as well!
    The views are gorgeous and I love all the history of this place...and I really love that you wrote tippy toe!

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  14. What a beautiful area to explore. I enjoyed seeing the scenery, the window rock, petrified wood and rusted truck.

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  15. 10 degrees, that is cold!! Such spectacular scenery!

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  16. The blue skies overhead are so lovely. It must have been fun to come upon the old mining claim. I've been to a couple in Arizona (a long time ago) and thought they were fascinating.

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  17. Beautiful place! Love the rock formations.

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