IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Monday, October 17, 2011

Living in Grand Junction, I see Mount Garfield towering above the Grand Valley almost every day. Every now and then I think to myself that I should finally hike up to the summit, but since I usually seem to spend most of my time exploring Southern Utah, I always put it off. Finally, I decided to stop putting it off and set a date to hike it before the days got too short this year. My friend Jackson was supposed to join me on this hike, but he got sick and ended up not going, so I did the hike alone. Right after work I headed straight to the trailhead and got started on the climb. I managed to summit just before sunset and made it back down to the Jeep just before I would have needed to get out my headlamp. It certainly was a climb, but it was also a nice hike that’s close to home.

A warning at the beginning of the trail. This sign is actually wrong, the hike is shorter than 2 miles. There is a lot of quick elevation gain on this trail.

Mount Garfield Trail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The start of the climbing.

The Beginning by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The trail continues to climb this ridge quickly.

Follow the Ridge by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Return to Dinosaur National Monument
Saturday & Sunday, October 15 – 16, 2011

I’ve wanted to get back to Dinosaur National Monument most of the year to re-photograph some of my favorite petroglyphs and visit some new ones. I had to be patient while the Fossil Bone Quarry was being rebuilt because Amanda really wanted to check out the dinosaur bones. At the end of September the Quarry finally reopened and we were looking forward to getting back up there. Since I was was in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah for the first week in October we had to wait until the third weekend in October to finally spend a weekend there.

On Saturday morning we left early and drove right to the park.

Dinosaur National Monument by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Our very first destination was the newly rebuilt Fossil Bone Quarry. It has never been open when we’ve been to the park before, so this was our first time there.

Dinosaur Quarry by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Close-up of a dinosaur skull.

Dinosaur Skull by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 8
Saturday, October 8, 2011

Our plan for Saturday was to drive from the Snake Gulch trailhead to Bluff, Utah. We would be going through Page, AZ and making a few stops along the way. When we arrived in Bluff our plans were to search for some new rock art and then to setup camp along Comb Ridge somewhere. In the end we didn’t stick to that final plan.

Our first stop was at a large alcove containing some rock art in Catstair Canyon. The lower portion of the panel has a few large petroglyphs and some red pictographs, but is pretty well vandalized.

Lower Catstair Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The higher panel is in a little better shape and has a red outlined anthropomorph and a zig-zag design. If you look closely, there are also some faint petroglyphs that are visible.

Catstair Pictographs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A view in Catstair Canyon as it cuts through The Cockscomb.

Catstair Canyon by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 7
Friday, October 7, 2011

After a cold night of camping near the trailhead for Snake Gulch we woke up shortly after the sun began to rise. We had some breakfast and then set off into the canyon. Our hike turned out to be a long one at about 14.5 miles round trip, but it was mostly level without much elevation gain so it was pretty easy. Despite the cold night, the sun warmed things up nicely during the day for some very pleasant hiking weather. We ended up spending all day in the canyon between hiking, searching for rock art and taking a lot of photos! It was amazing just how many pictographs were in this canyon, and I’m sure we could have found many more if we had more time. Most of the pictographs in this canyon are attributed to the Basketmaker people from about 300 BC to 800 AD.

If you don’t like to look at a lot of photos of rock art, it’s probably best that you stop reading now 😉

Seeing our campsite in the light for the first time since we setup in the dark the night before. Yes, that is hail covering the picnic table and on the ground…it was a cold night!

Trailhead Camp by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Shortly into Snake Gulch we entered the Kanab Creek Wilderness.

Kanab Creek Wilderness by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Typical scenery in Snake Gulch. A very nice canyon to hike through.

Snake Gulch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 6
Thursday, October 6, 2011

On Thursday we decided to take things easy again since we had another long hike planned for Friday. We didn’t really have any plans for the day, so over breakfast we brainstormed some ideas and decided to head over to the White Pocket for the day. I had not been there before and it was on my long list of places to visit. Plus, since it had rained all night, we thought there might be some nice puddles and full potholes out there.

Shortly after turning onto the House Rock Valley Road on our way south to the White Pocket we came to the Buckskin Wash crossing. The water was high and flowing pretty good. In front of us were some people that were on their way to The Wave in a rental Jeep Liberty. We arrived just in time to watch them floor it and cross the wash with a lot of speed. Apparently they were pretty determined to put their permits to good use that day. They made it across fine and I drove across the wash with ease, putting my transfercase into 4×4 just to be on the safe side.

After crossing the state line into Arizona we parked the Jeep and hiked to the Notch Petroglyph Panel so that we could visit at least one rock art site. This is a view of the right side of the Notch Panel.

Notch Panel Right by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The two large petroglyph panels found here.

Notch Panels by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A spiraled-snake hidden on a boulder.

Spiral Snake by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr