​​In The Shadow of Longs Peak

Lockhart Canyon

​24 April 2005

Yet another Steve Allen suggestion:  The idea was to hike down Lockhart Wash then hike back up White Horse Canyon – seemed like a good plan anyway…We followed Lockhart Wash down to a fall and which point we were able to find a steep shoot – probably approaching class 3 – and climb out to the rim of the wash.  Supposedly there is a way to climb back down to into the wash, below the fall, but we were not able to find this route.

So, instead, we continued along the rim, headed toward the San Rafael River, which turned out to be a very pleasant hike.  We crossed at least 2 washes with cairns.  We followed each set of cairns on their end and each time ended at a cliff, high above the river…At some point we passed the intersection of the Lockhart Wash and the Upper Black Box. 

We continue on toward the river.  The point where we reach the river has a few cottonwoods.  We continue downriver along the rim for another 100 feet or so…the river necks down here and both sides are cliffs.  Upriver is more open…this is the area of geodes – in some places, you can see the geodes imbedded in the bedrock.   We had considered returning via Whitehorse Canyon, but instead decide to return to the car, taking a slightly different route up another wash.  Tire tracks are visible here.  There are geodes a good way back along this wash, with many imbedded in the bedrock, though they all are quite small compared to those we saw down by the river. 

It seems that I did not take any photos on this outing.