In The Shadow of Longs Peak
San Rafael Swell
15 October 2006
We left Lyons around 7:30 AM, stopped at Whole Foods in Boulder. We headed out of town at 830 AM and in Grand Junction at 1:30 which included a stop at Copper Mountain to pick up our 4-packs.
Our next stop was for gas at Green River Utah then we got off the exit for the swell and the Buckhorn Wash Road – one or 2 exits beyond Green River – at 3:45 or so to meet up with Dave Barnes, our friend who lives near Cortez CO.
Before leaving, another friend Dave Cooper sent us an email about Utah and the rain and a 500 year flood. At the time, I did not pay much attention but should have. It’s pretty muddy at the exit and the road was washed out in a number of places. We were able to go around all these, though the last one was dicey enough that the preference would be to not return this way.
Our plan was to head over to the Tidwell Flats / Smith Cabin area and camp by the standing pipe – not the prettiest place but with good access to various destinations. Unfortunately, there was one final gully to cross, filled with standing water and pretty mushy underfoot so we turned around and headed back down the Buckhorn Wash Road to a spot that Gary had camped in before: As you travel south toward I-70, we pass a large sign on the right with a mine warning. About ½ mile further there is a track marked with a white post, also on the right. We drove up the track for another ½ mile to a very nice spot overlooking the valley about 200 yards short of a slab of Navajo Sandstone. We could see the road but you cannot see the campsite from the road.
New equipment for this trip was a Kelty Large Sunshade, highly recommended to help keep out the weather and not difficult to assemble. We setup camp – tent, sunshade, table, kitchen – and settle down to a supper of sushi and saki. Before long, I turn in and sleep soundly and peacefully. We wake up to sunshine, have a leisurely breakfast, and then set out to explore. Our goal is to see if we can find a way to Smith Cabin without having to cross that gully.
First we head to Hwy 6, which looks like it might access Smith Canyon via a completely different route; In addition, we can see if it might provide another way back to the main road without having to backtrack down Buckhorn Wash. We try a couple of side roads. The first goes on for a bit then crosses a gully. There is a natural sandbridge across the gully and prudently we decided not to continue at least not by truck. We back-track to the main road and continue toward highway 6. Off to the north are a row of high tension lines and surmise that there would be a maintained service road along them. There is a road to start with but it seems to move away from the poles, turn downhill and disappear into nothingness. We backtrack again and continue, pass an area of very squiggly tire tracks and intersect highway 6 about a mile north of the interstate and turn north up the highway. We turn west again at a BLM sign which seems like a good omen. The map shows another stream crossing and, due to its proximity to the highway, we are hoping that there will be a bridge. We travel down the road which is in good shape for about ¼ mile then get out to scout. Going straight is not an option. There is a track off to the right that we follow into the wash. It goes down the wash a bit, then turns uphill which is steep and rutted. The guys want to give it a try but we turn back instead and head back into the swell and park at the spot on the road to Smith Cabin where we turned around yesterday. Now we are on foot, hiking down the road toward Smith Cabin, about 4 miles away. A pleasant walk and we reach the cabin at about 3 PM.
The cabin is in a really beautiful setting, tucked into the mouth of a canyon but above the wash. The root cellar and barn are intact though the house has fallen in on itself. All look to be made of railroad ties notched at the end like a log cabin. The cottonwood trees in the wash are turning which contrasts nicely with the surrounding Navajo Sandstone. The canyon beckons but we decide to turn around as we figure it will be nearly 2 hours back to the car. And we do plan to come back tomorrow.
On the way back, we notice storm clouds overhead but do not pay much attention, at least not at first. As we walk, the sprinkles become rain so we stop and put on raingear. The rain becomes a downpour and it is raining so hard that there is a small brown cloud coming up off the ground. There is water everywhere, we hop over new streams and continue back toward the car. I look out across the landscape and the air is gray with water. It seems to be a localized storm though so perhaps our camp is dry. I wonder about the stream crossing we are parked beyond. At least we will not have to drive thru it.
We get back to the car and exchange our wet clothes for those that are semi-dry. Gary starts the truck (a sweet-sweet sound) and we start back. There are several places where water covers the road and at each we get out and scout and Gary is able to drive thru each one as the road bed is not too mushy. We reach the Buckmaster Draw Road and head south toward camp. Water covers the road in a few more spots and we check each. I think ahead to the one wash we need to cross. Up to this point, it has not been problematic as the bed is mostly rock and gravel but I wonder what it will be like now.
We soon find out: It’s a mass of brown water and standing waves, too deep to drive thru. What to do? Dave walks down and inspects and yes, it is as bad as it looks. We could park the truck and walk back to camp. But, since the rain has let up, we decided to sit and wait an hour and see what happens. After 10 minutes, the water level has noticeably decreased and after 25 minutes, it is low enough to drive thru. But now, it seems like the road bed is softening. There are a few more places where the water covers the road, with the last being at the turn-off to our camp which is at a flat spot and I am convinced it will be impassable. It turns out to be in pretty good shape and the road up to our camp is less soggy than the main road, which is good. We do make it back to camp.
We make supper and go to bed. Before long, it is raining again and it keeps up all night.
I do not have notes about the remainder of this trip. I think the next day we hiked from camp. It did not rain much that day. The next day we drove out the north side. The place of those ‘very squiggly tire tracks’ was a mud fest that nearly sucked the trucks up. But both made it thru and we reached highway 6 without further incident. We parted way, Dave to SW Colorado and us to finish up our vacation at Rabbit Valley in western Colorado.
Truly a memorable trip!