My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Sticky9.....dogs have always been a part of my life.....Yukon, Montana, Tanner & Trapper have been all of my life.....real sorry about Lilly. That's all good stuff you posted & there's absolutely no problem sharing here, thank you for taking the time to post & to let us know about your adventures.....



March 17, 2022.....11.40 miles hiked.....1,590' elevation gain.....

Everyday that we'd spent here up to this point had been exploring to the north & to the east (mostly to the east).....this day we headed south & then to the east.....



And once again, just like every other day here, we just scrambled up the mountains.....







.....to see what we could see.....







This cave sure caught my attention but it turned out to be inaccessible to us.....those rocks were sharp right there as were the cactus that covered that ridgeline.....I quickly determined that the anticipated pain would not be justified.....





We moved on.....there was plenty to see here.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We continued our scramble in the rocky sections.....







.....but eventually we got a bid bored.....so now I decided to go look for Desert Tortoises.....and it was obvious they wouldn't be up here so.....



.....we downclimbed and crossed a few ridges and that's when I came across this small Desert Tortoise shell.....



The Desert Tortoise is rare so I felt fortunate just to see a shell.....we continued hiking up the ravines & across the ridgelines.....



.....and then it was down in one of those ravines that I came across a much larger Desert Tortoise shell.....I'm not sure how unusual that would be to see two.....I felt very, very fortunate to have seen these things.....



The last thing I found that day was this rock.....arrowhead or not ? It's difficult to tell (for me anyhow).....probably not.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

And the dogs.....well.....







.....they were constantly seeking the shade.....









And that's pretty much how that day went.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

March 18, 2022.....12.64 miles hiked.....1,480' elevation gain.....



This day was like most days spent here at Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area.....we headed over to the climbing walls to have a bit of conversation.....I'm not sure if I was getting lonely at this point but more than likely it was simply that I just enjoy conversation with like minded people.....







This guy I'd guess was close in age to me.....I had such great respect for him knowing how difficult it is to keep climbing when those joints and bones don't feel so good anymore.....



When I asked him how it felt to still be climbing the walls.....he simply grinned, gave me a slight head shake, and that pretty much said it all.....words weren't required.....



From here we headed up into the mountains.....no goals were had that day.....



I thought I found an ancient Indian ruin.....it wasn't.....





.....and we continued to climb.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We eventually found our way up into the cliffs which were way up the mountain side.....



The dogs took refuge from the hot rays of the afternoon sun.....it was interesting to see the change of color in the rocks along this particular ridgeline.....red was the dominant color unlike any other place that we had explored here.....





Here you see the contrast.....



While down climbing the mountain I swore that I had spotted that wild, undiscovered, deep cave that I so desired.....



Unfortunately it wasn't that wild, undiscovered, deep cave that I so desired.....but it was still pretty cool.....



And another day wandering around the desert & mountains was had.....



Such a remarkable place to hang out.....

 

[Sticky9]

I think you posted about your giant a while back and I thought it was interesting. You don't see too many out and about. Mine are rescues and had it pretty rough early on. It's a shame they are prone to the toe cancer. Part of it I guess. My female was one of the smartest dogs I've ever had.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

After eight nights camped at Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area we finally decided it was time to move on.....now nearly two weeks back on the road, we had traveled only one hundred and eleven miles north. We needed to move along so we headed north into St. George, Utah to resupply and from there I decided to go east rather than north as was originally planned.....a fellow camper had suggested I check out the red rocks east of St. George.....



A fire along our route stopped us from going to our planned campsite for the night.....so that night we slept on the side of that roadway.....it turned out to be an excellent spot to spend a night (or two).....



A beautiful tree towered over us.....







The following morning we continued east and made our way to Fort Pearce.....along the northern banks of the Virgin River.....



Honestly.....there's not a whole lot to see right here.....but the cliffs to the north of this spot were absolutely unreal.....I took my pictures and we moved right along.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

.....to a hike along the north bank of the Virgin River which is where we found these petroglyphs.....







Next up was a visit to a dinosaur tracks site.....







At this point we left the camper behind as the sandy roads along the cliffs just became a bit too challenging.....

 

[Arjan]

Sit in white sludge / mud / rain here in France and enjoy the pics & story.

Thanks !!

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Arjan.....I left the nice weather behind as well.....I miss it now but I always enjoy the beginning & ending of the winter season.....so here we are.....



So our next stop for this day was just down the road at the Warner Valley Dinosaur Tracks Heritage Site .....



Now we dropped the Jeep and headed out on foot.....



Dinosaur tracks were never a thing that had interested me in the past but I swear they've begun to grow on me.....





Apparently a few species left their tracks behind here.....



The dogs waited in the shade while I explored the dinosaur tracks.....



That entire slab of rock that is beneath the dogs is covered in dinosaur tracks.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

It was late afternoon when we finally headed out.....



I loved this area quite a bit.....I was pleased that we had visited it but.....these things were everywhere.....and I do mean everywhere.....not much in the way of restrictions on the BLM lands in this area and where I did see restrictions, most people seemed to ignore them.....



That night we returned to the side of that road where we had stayed the night before.....there wasn't much traffic on that road and I pretty much knew that nobody would be staying nearby.....





.....and our views to the west from the side of that road were simply out of this world.....





The following morning we returned to St. George, Utah and from there we drove north.....along the interstate. I had wondered if people would drive slower due to the high fuel prices.....they didn't. We left the interstate at Summit, Utah (you've got to love that name for sure.....I loved it anyhow).....as we looked to take a slower pace north.....



.....and we took the road "less traveled" .....



.....and we passed by a big tree.....and the sky was wonderful and I took a moment right there to be thankful.....

 

[Arjan]

Thank you.
Some really stunning pictures here

 

[longhorn1]

Picked up our trailer and spent a month in Texas. I tried not to check the news. The pain of what has been going on was way more than I wanted my brain to absorb. Try as I might, I checked periodically. Such sadness to think about all of the sadness and cruelty. Took me over and hour to catch up. When I see the pictures of the dogs I always get a big smile. I must say, the luxuries we now have in our Oliver Trailer make life much easier. Look forward to getting off-road and see what it can do. Keep on trucking.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Arjan.....Utah is absolutely amazing ! Thank you.....

JD.....yea, the dogs bring me my peace of mind.....so thankful for my knuckleheads.....



Now we had crossed the interstate once again and found ourselves driving west.....we made our next stop at yet another dinosaur track site.....this one was appropriately named Dinosaur Track Recreation Site.....



At this point in my travels I had become fairly confident in my abilities to find the dinosaur tracks.....unfortunately here I didn't see a single one.....supposedly these metal signs marked their locations.....





I always take pictures of the informative signs and read them later on.....usually at night.....



So it appears that the dinosaur tracks were actually on the boulders and not on the rock slabs which is where I looked.....



There were also some nice climbing routes along that massive rock wall that was the backdrop to the dinosaur tracks.....



We hiked around a bit.....chatted with a few climbers (there were only 3 here on this day).....





.....and then we continued driving west.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Later that afternoon we arrived at the Parowan Gap Petroglyphs.....it was a short drive from the dinosaur tracks.....



These petroglyphs are found at the base of the small mountain to the north (the right side in the photo below) .....



.....and could possibly be the finest petroglyphs that I've ever seen.....



I looked around this place and immediately knew that I'd need to spend at least one night here.....so we set up camp in a grassy area that once was a shallow pond.....





.....and we set out to explore.....