You might want to grab a beverage of your choice for this one…We were to be rewarded for our efforts of the year on this four day adventure Into The Heart Of The Swell over the Labor Day weekend. We started out getting our usual jump on the weekend by heading out right after work on Friday. We arrived in the Swell just after dark with hopes of camping at the Goblin Valley campground, but it was already full…so we made our way Into The Heart Of The Swell and picked out a level spot just off the Temple Mountain road shortly after it turned to dirt. Our overall itinerary was to start at the southern end of The Swell to hike a slot canyon and then explore our way to the northern end.
There are some treasures in life that are occasionally presented us…they are very few and sometimes far between…This day would become one of those that would be etched into the memory cells of my brain forever! We were up before the dawn to catch the morning spectacle as the sun rose magnificently over the San Rafael Desert. While SuzAnn and Zoey played nearby the Jeep, I scrambled to the top of some rocks to gain a vista and capture some great images of the scene. After the magic of the golden hour faded, we struck out to head deeper Into The Heart Of The Swell and find a more suitable campsite. After a bit of searching, we 4wheeled off the Behind The Reef Road and down an old stream bed and found a great spot with a wonderful view.
With camp set up, and most of the day still ahead of us, we traveled the Behind The Reef Road in search of our next goal…Crack Canyon. Another of the many slot canyons in the San Rafael Swell, Crack Canyon was chosen because its not supposed to have any technical difficulties…well as I have found from previous experience, conditions in slot canyons are ever changing with each flash flood. What during one season can be a walk in the park…the next it turns to be a life threatening testing ground of aerobic dexterity and determination!
This was our first testing adventure with the newest member of family…Dr. Jones’ other faithful companion…Zoey. A five month old Beagle mix with an endless supply of energy and curiosity. Crack Canyon turned out to be the perfect adventure to break her in to the wonders of slot canyoneering. She was a typical child excited to be out exploring something new and occasionally get caught by her own uncertainty. Her favorite pastime in the narrow sections was to run up one side of the canyon wall as far up as she could go and turn around and run back down at full speed and up the other side…just like a snowboarder/skateboarder in a half pipe! Sometimes she would find little ledges way up high and would follow them along, gazing down at us, until she decided it was time to come careening back down…It was great fun to watch a brought a smile to our hearts to see how much our little one was enjoying what we too loved to do!
The adventure in the slot canyon ended well before our desire to continue as we were faced with one of those sections that had obviously changed since the treasure map that I had acquired had been written. A 10-15 drop into a pool of water…there appeared to be a way we could skirt along under an overhanging section of the wall and gain spot where we could slide our way down to the canyon bottom…but could we make it back up? We though not…lacking a rope, we decided this was as far as we would go and turned back for the 4 mile hike out.
Back at camp we enjoyed our fire grilled burgers and brats before deciding to make the drive back for a bit of exploration and the sunset at Goblin Valley…What an otherworldly place! Amongst the grisly hoodoos that seem to have spawned up out of the dry desert mud, we spent a couple of hours hiking around before returning to the parking area to witness the sunset on the surrounding San Rafael Desert. The perfect ending to an otherwise perfect day…one of those rare treasures…in the adventure of Dr. Jones Into The Heart Of The Swell!
The following morning we continued our journey north across the San Rafael Desert through the Land Of The Wild Burros. I had been to this section of The Swell back in 2012 when exploring Eardley Canyon. I had read about the Wild Burros which were supposed to be roaming the area, but other than being awoken one night by their hee-haw’s in the dark, I had not seen any. Apparently they date back to the beginnings of the Old Spanish Trail in the early 1800’s when unlucky travelers would lose animals or have them run off by Indians or rustlers. We were fortunate on this trip to encounter a herd of them off the Temple Mountain road. We caught a glimpse of them off on a hillside next to a watering hole. We decided to set off on foot to get a close look, but not too close as we did not want Dr. Jones’ other faithful companion to scare them off!
Continuing our northward journey now on the Cottonwood Wash Road, we were presented with dramatic scenery as we neared the San Rafael River. In an otherwise bone dry barren landscape, the San Rafael River creates this oasis that meanders through the desert following its path. Here where the road crosses the river we found the old original swinging bridge that was built by Civilian Conservation Corps in 1937. The Swinging Bridge was the only bridge over the river until the early 1990’s.
Although there is a BLM campground at the crossing, we decided to search the surrounding area for a more secluded camp. We found the Indian Bench road and traveled several miles down to locate a great spot alongside the river in the trees. Wanting some refreshment from the dry desert we found a nice spot to go for a little swim in the river…Zoey became comical again…running as fast as she could through the river splashing until she was worn out and found a spot in the bushes to take an afternoon nap.
When the golden hour arrived, we scrambled to the top of a nearby Bentonite mound to capture the sunset as it fell behind the mountains to the west.
Our last day was spent exploring an ancient Puebloan Indian granary and the huge pictograph wall at Buckhorn Wash. The messages from the Ancient Ones always fascinate me! Out of the canyons we traveled north through the Manti-La Sal National Forest and then through the Wasatch Mountains to make our way home.
Treasure was certainly found in our adventure Into The Heart Of The Swell!
