Riding Back in Time

Boss is shaking his head as we prepare to descend into Horseshoe Canyon (also called Barrier Canyon), the deep cut in the earth behind him.  There are only a couple of safe ways into this canyon.  This one crosses through a part of Canyonlands National Park.  National Park = no dogs.  Poor Daisy had to stay in the trailer, where she whined and sometimes howled pitifully in protest. So sad.

Much of the trail is sandstone.  Above, paintbrush and a blue flower ( perhaps a form of mint called purple sage, but the photos are not good enough to confirm) grow in the cracks.  We carefully avoided treading on the flowers.

The rangers keep this dinosaur footprint, about 12 inches long, outlined for the tourists.

The canyon also features several panels of rock art in the Barrier style.  Above is a pictograph called "The Holy Ghost" panel, part of what's known as the Great Gallery.  The anthropomorphic figures are life-size, and the design is unique.  It was painted at least 4000 years ago by archaic hunter-gatherers.
From the bottom of the canyon, we continued up the other side on an old roadbed built in the late 20's by the Phillips Petroleum Company hoping to make big money on a well.  The road is crumbling and long since impassable to vehicles.  Horses and hikers can easily follow the track.

You can see the remains of a wooden derrick behind me and to the right.  The well was a dry hole.  ranchers used a lot of the wood and cable to build corrals or other structures. 

This low emission vehicle must also be 20's vintage.  Alas, it wouldn't start.

Maybe that was because a few of its parts have become displaced.

From a high point of the Spur, the view goes on forever, or at least as far as the snow-capped LaSal Mountains, about 50 miles away.  No civilization is apparent.  This scene has remained unchanged for millenia.