Ockey Family Adventures: Capitol Reef Day 4

We stayed in Green River in a crumby little hotel. The shower leaked, the lights didn't work in the bathroom, and the floor was dirty, but we survived. After breakfast at Burger King, we drove west on I-70 to our first adventure. Mom had planned a day of driving on some of the roughest roads in Utah, and the first adventure was an eyebrow raiser.

We pulled off the side of the freeway and opened a gate. After a short drive on a rocky road, we got out and hiked to a pictograph panel. This area was called Black Dragon Canyon. There was actually a black dragon on the wall. There was also a really cool little cat. We looked at the pictograph for a while and then hiked back to the van.

We were on rocky dirt roads most of the day, but it was a great adventure!

So many of the pictographs in Utah have been damaged,
but it is still amazing to see them.

A short drive later, we got off the freeway again, this time at an actual exit. We drove on a smooth dirt road and then turned off on a rocky one. We turned off two more times, and each time the road got a little rougher. We even drove through a narrow tunnel right under the freeway. By the time we arrived at the destination, the boys were laughing and bouncing in their seats. But the arch, called Dutchman Arch was amazing. We climbed right on top and took a bunch of pictures. The boys really enjoyed it.

You can see this arch from the freeway, but no one ever has before.

It was easy to climb. Mom loved the view up there.

When we got back to the exit, we didn't get on the freeway. Instead we crossed it and continued on dirt roads for the rest of the day. Our drive took us north through Emery County, and there were many amazing stops along the way.

The first stop was the sinkhole. This was Mom's favorite of the day. She laughed and clapped and laughed some more at the beauty of the sinkhole. No one else was much impressed, though.

Did they think that fence would keep us back from the sinkhole?

The next stop was a suspension bridge across the river. It was built in 1937 by the CCC. It opened up the canyon through the Buckhorn Wash, which was absolutely beautiful canyon country.

The San Rafael Swell is really beautiful country.

The bridge still looked pretty stable after all these years.

We spent a long time in the car, but their smiles never wavered.

The main stop along this road was the Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel We really enjoyed it. It had dozens of images. There were angels and animals and people. They were stacked on top of one another and spaced across 130 feet of rock. It was the most amazing rock art we've ever seen.

This panel has been protected and painstakingly preserved.

This shows just a tiny area of the massive panel.

Just a few miles down the road, there was another rock art site. We stopped a made the quick hike over to the petroglyphs. It wasn't as impressive as the Buckhorn Wash Panel, but we love checking out all the images we can find on rocks.

This one required a short hike, but we needed to get out of the van for awhile anyway.

Petroglyphs are carved into the rock like these.
The pictographs above were painted on.

Farther up the road we came to a perfect dinosaur track. The boys found it easily. The toes were easy to spot, and it was obvious that a dinosaur had stepped there millions of years ago.

This perfect specimen is right off the road.

It looks like he or she stepped there yesterday.

A few miles later we stopped and hiked to a small cave. The ceiling was blackened from camp fires, and the floor was really dusty, but the boys enjoyed climbing to it.

This cave wasn't very deep and had seen a lot of use by the locals.

Soot blackened the walls and there was a bit of litter, too.

We drove a few miles and stopped at a slot canyon called Furniture Draw. The boys really wanted to hike this one because we'd seen water in the narrowest parts on the Internet. Seth kept asking, "When do we do the swim hike? Are we almost to the swim hike?" We only saw a few muddy puddles, but the hike was nice. The boys really enjoy those slot canyons.

The San Rafael Swell is dry, sandy, and rocky.

We'll hike anywhere!

Dax had a great time climbing the walls of this shallow ravine.

Mom found this rock, which captured Mark's heart.

The canyon narrowed pretty nicely, even though it was shallow.

We turned around at the top, though you can hike out to the road.

Utah is the most beautiful place in the world!

That's pretty much the "swim hike."

Dax captured and carried a fly for about half the hike.
I guess we need to get him a pet!

The day wasn't too hot, but shade is still a premium in the desert.

The boys love their jumping pictures.

The slit in that slot canyon is so beautiful behind Seth.

We are always just glad to be together.

Our last stop was called The Wedge. This is a narrow wedge of land that sticks out into a massive canyon. Many people compare it to the Grand Canyon, and after we saw it, we were in full agreement. It seemed as if we were driving across the desert and suddenly the world opened up. The huge gash in front of us was indescribable. Even better, The Wedge allowed us to walk right out over the canyon. We couldn't believe we'd never heard of it. It capped a perfect day.

We've explored so much in Utah, yet treasures like this still amaze us!

This is Natalie standing at the end of the Wedge overlooking the Canyon.

This looks south back toward the Buckhorn Wash.

This is the actual Wedge. You walk out into thin air right over the canyon floor.

Mom and Mark were the biggest posers on this trip.

It was only about 40 miles into Price, where we played at a park for a little while before trying out a new restaurant. The boys were crazy and dancing at the outdoor restaurant because they'd spent so much time in the car. We had a nice meal and still made it back to Lehi in time for Mom's 7 o'clock meeting. This was the best day of the trip, even though we didn't do anything we'd ever heard of before!