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.

Slickrock Ride and Robbers Roost - Day 2

The next morning, we decided to make one more foray in our search for Cowboy Cave.

We went back to the same canyon, then up the other side and around a slickrock hill (Navajo sandstone, I think).

Didn’t see anything but a few dents in sandstone that looked like they might be caves in a few thousand years. We did see a lot more of the burro trails, but still no actual burros. The scenery had Utah's deserts' wild, stark, beauty, though, and we had another fun, fast ride to and from the canyon on sandy roads and trails.
After returning to the trailer for a quick lunch, we drove to the vicinity of Robber’s Roost and took a walk down to the spring. This canyon was a hangout for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and other lesser known lawbreakers.
The area is a long, long way from civilization, even now, so it’s easy to imagine it as a hideaway.
Here’s a big cottonwood growing near the spring. No leaves yet, but I assume it's still alive.

This is Shootout Canyon, a quarter mile away.

Outlaws were cornered here by a posse, and many shots were fired. The outlaws did not fare well.
This fireplace was in a cabin that was built by a rancher in 1890 as a line cabin for cowboys. Off and on, the outlaws also stayed there.

It’s rumored that some cowboys were attempting to smoke out a nest of rats and accidentally burned the building down. The stone fireplace is all that remains. The good news is, the rats are gone...

We arrived back at camp just as the sun set, which was getting to be a pattern.

It's good to wear out the day, but maybe not so good to wear ourselves out. However, after a good night's sleep (in the gooseneck, not in motel 6), we were ready for more adventures.

To be continued...

Wild Burro Trails - Day 1

Last Tuesday, we packed up dog and horses and headed out for five days in southern Utah. The photo above shows the Henry Mountains, 50 miles in the distance, over desert red rock.
Our first destination was the Hans Flat Road, which leads to thousands of acres of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land adjacent to and just west of the Maze district of Canyonlands. The drive was under five hours, so we had time for a ride that first day.

The above photo shows the LaSal Mountains in the background, 80 miles away.
Steve had been researching the area for weeks and reading the journal of a cowboy who ranched there in the 30’s. The journal described Cowboy Cave, a dwelling in which a subsequent archeological dig found baskets, sandals and figurines dating back 7000 years.
We had a great ride on sandy terrain that allowed for some nice gallops and great conditioning for all. Along the way, we saw this unusual corral, made of pinon-juniperl logs piled up.

The last part of the trail into the rugged canyon where Steve believed, from the old cowboy's description, we would find the cave, consisted of a wild burro trail. We saw lots of small barefoot hoofprints and manure, but didn’t actually see the burros.

We explored as well as we could in the time we had, but saw no sign of a cave. Since the day was nearly done, we cantered back to the trailer and returned to a spring where we planned to camp.
Here’s our rustic motel:

Comfy-looking, huh? It contained a couple of packrat-chewed mattresses, and broken lawn chairs out front. And there was even a rotting burro’s leg with hoof attached to add to the aesthetic effect.
(Actually, we slept in the gooseneck of our trailer on our own clean and comfortable mattress.

But the details about "motel 6" are all strange but true.)
The horses had a nearby cattle tank to drink out of, and plenty of hay. We'd ridden 10 miles that day, over rough terrain only wild burros had traversed before, (at least recently). Man and beast welcomed a night's rest.
Tune in tomorrow for the second day's tales and more photos.

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