San Juan Hill and River House Ruins

I wish we had a dollar for every time one of us said, “wow, or what a great day, or how in the world did those pioneers do this!”  We did have a spectacular day—we loaded all four ATVs into our trailer which Larry then pulled with his Dodge.  We traveled less than five miles from our campsite at Sand Island to the trailhead.  From then on it was a constant chorus of “WOW!” 

The next photo does not do justice to the steepness of the route the Mormon pioneers took—Combs Ridge was the last major obstacle—seven teams (probably 14 horses) were used to pull each wagon up this steep incredibly rocky slope!! 

We hiked up a portion of this route and it was so steep you could feel the pull of gravity—I can’t imagine how teams of horses managed to pull loaded wagons up that slope! 

Next up was River House Ruins—having visited ruins in Mesa Verde National Park and others such as Montezumas Castle National Monument it was amazing to be able to walk around in these ancient dwellings.  There is a BLM sign asking you to respect these ruins and it appears most visitors have done so.  As we were walking along the rock ledge which might have served as the native’s “patio” it began to rain.  We took shelter inside the ruins and experienced how perfectly situated this home was—so quiet you could almost hear the former residents talking!

There were many petroglyphs inside the dwelling and along the rock wall of the ledge. 

Once the rain stopped we left this special place and headed off to see some more rock art—Kachina Panel and the Butler Wash panel.  Hundreds of petroglyphs on the walls of these canyons.

A very special day spent with special friends in spectacular country!  The guys cooked tonight treating us to a great dinner at Cottonwood Steakhouse.  Life is very good!