San Rafael Swell
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Wild Horse Window San Rafael Swell |
April 22, 2014
It's EARTH DAY! Which means it's adventure-time. My next destination won't be found in any park brochures, and it is marked on the topo map simply as "CAVE". One has to know it is there and must want to find it. I do. On the way over from Hickman Bridge in Capitol Reef, I must stop and pay tribute to the great metal sculptures in Hanksville:
Rock band
There are many other sculptures as well; but enough of that.
My trailhead is unmarked, as expected, and there are other choices of starting point. All that really matters is that I get down into Wild Horse Creek Wash and head southwest.
A well-established use trail
Wild Horse Creek Wash
Looking back at the car
After negotiating a few curves in the wash, I spot a cairn or two suggesting a right turn toward the hills.
Just following the cairns
At no time is the going difficult
The trail alternates between slickrock and soft sand; I prefer the rock myself.
Taking the path of least resistance
There can be no variation in the route now
Almost there
The cave on the left is shallow and uninteresting, but the one on the right...
This is why I go hiking ⇔
This place is great! Although I am aware of other such formations, I have yet to visit one. This is a good opportunity to munch some gorp and stare up at the sky.
Wild Horse Window
Inside the cave
Looking out
One final shot
Heading down
Now I could just retrace my steps, but there is another item on the agenda. I know its location, but getting straight over there might not be so easy.
I could just head back toward the road...
Nah. It's adventure time!
There is a canyon to cross, and I don't see a way to do it. I veer left toward the shallow end, with no luck. Now I am faced with going back around this big rock, or finding a way up through those bushes. True to form, I opt to plunge ahead, into the same unforgiving brush that bloodied my shins a week ago over in Escalante.
No easy way across yet
That doesn't look like fun
The bushwhacking gets old in a hurry. Although it would be prudent to keep going, a route up the rock looks doable; so I try it. About fifteen feet up, I am compelled to rely upon a piece of brush for a handhold. Because it is alive and firm, all is well.
Steep, but problematical only near the bottom
All right! There is another little canyon dead ahead; but this time there is an easy way down into it, and it proves delightful.
More obstacles to surmount?
Nah. Piece of cake
And a strawberry cake at that.
This is fun
Near the far end of the pink pathway is my objective, right where the GPS said it would be:
It's a bit obscure from this angle
It should look better from below, and it does:
Squint Arch
I guess it does resemble a squinting eye at that.
An unlikely place for such a formation?
From here it is a trivial amble back down to the big wash. Rather than redo the curvy section, I try to access the roadway instead. This results in some unexpected ups and downs, and I wind up on the other side of the car; but it works out fine and actually saves some walking distance.
I'm comin, I'm comin'
§: What a delightful outing! Although one could easily avoid
any scrambling and semi-exposed climbing simply by proceeding down closer
to the wash before heading over to the little arch, my route was a lot more scenic
and a lot more fun. All that one really needs in order to find either Wild
Horse Window or Squint Arch is knowledge of their general locations.
GPS coordinates provide an easy solution.
While you are in the area, there are other places to visit that are far more
interesting than the nearby Goblin Valley State Park. Check out the
exquisitely pink Little Wild Horse Canyon just a few miles southwest of here,
or take a 30-mile drive eastward to Horseshoe Canyon and scope out the
continent's finest pictographs.
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