My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Mekcanix, Sierra Valley, & the deputy.....thanks guys.....



We continued driving south along Highway 191.....but not too far south.....as we were in no hurry. We spent a few nights dispersed camping on BLM land and getting out in the Jeep to continue to explore the high desert.....



So.....Mill Canyon was really not my cup of tea.....but we were there and it was there as well.....so we went to check it out.....





Dinosaur tracks.....of course they're kind of cool.....kind of interesting.....and actually kind of boring too (but certainly not always).....





Maybe it was the fact that you could drive right up to these.....maybe it was the iron fencing and concrete sidewalks.....maybe it was all the signage.....but it was not a place where the mind could wander.....this place was just a bit too developed for me.....

 

[Ace Brown]

Well if it wasn’t developed vandalism would be rampant.

Happy 2025 everyone!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....unfortunately.....so true.....



Not much further to the south is the Mill Canyon Dinosaur Trail.....



This place was much like the last place.....signage everywhere.....and kind of boring.....



And once again I wasn't so impressed with what I saw.....I think my interest level was about equal with the dogs.....

Note to readers: if you really want to see dinosaur bones you definitely need to go to Dinosaur National Monument.....they're insane amazing at that place.....





I will admit that if it wasn't for all the signage, I could have walked down that path and would have never seen a single bone.....it's kind of amazing to me that there are people that can actually see these things (without the signage).....





And next you see a picture of fossilized wood.....the sign said that this tree was probably over one hundred feet tall and was related to the Norfolk Island pines that grow in Asia.....and apparently you can actually see the tree rings (I think they had people like Foy in mind when they said that).....



And when I saw this next sign, I immediately thought of Foy and said to myself that I'll need to post a picture of it for him.....he'll love it ! We'll Foy.....this one is for you.....

 

[Foy]

Ah yes, the Morrison Formation: Deposited by terrestrial (nonmarine) sedimentation arising from eastward flowing streams originating due to rising landmasses in the vicinity of today's Klamath and Sierra Nevada. The landmasses arose due to collision of island arcs with the western continental landmass and the resulting subduction of oceanic crust beneath the North American plate. The western US was at that time (late Jurassic--150 million years ago) located in the tropical latitudes, making the floodplain and delta swamps at the seaward ends of the streams lush in vegetation perfect for feeding grounds for the dinosaurs.

 

[the deputy]

Love geology (not that l understand a ton about it, still find it fascinating). Paleontology, like you, not much into or would consider myself to be any type of 'dinosuar guy' either. However, recently l've been listening to the Paleo Nerds podcast...they are quite humorous, educational and entertaining. Just the right mix for your average listener.

Paleo Nerds: A Prehistoric Podcast | Paleo Nerds

Homepage

www.paleonerds.com

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Foy.....thanks so much.....it had your name all over it.....

the deputy.....I'm with you.....I love rocks but only to climb on them.....



After a good night's sleep in the high desert, we headed further south along Highway 191 making our first and only stop in Moab, Utah for a hot shower, propane, and groceries. Oh man that is one expensive town !

Then we continued south along the highway looking for something interesting to do or something interesting to see. Well, it looked like Jail House Rock just might do so we hung a right from the highway and headed west to see the big rock.....



The thing that stands out about this rock is that there's a 15 foot deep pit near the top of the rock. The dogs and I tried to climb up there but the dogs slipped so bad on that sandstone that we moved on to something that was much more intriguing.....



These bands of cliffs were a few miles away and we had to cross over private land.....or so it appeared by the sign posted along the fence line.....



.....and by the gate which happened to be wide open when we crossed onto the private land (on foot of course).....I was afraid that if I drove in, that it would mysteriously be locked when we tried to head out.....



There were four wheel drive roads that led us in the direction of the cliffs, and all was going well until we came to a double locked metal gate. There were the remains of what I thought could have been an old barn and other fallen buildings and also this pretty cool looking well pump.....



I was walking around checking everything out when I found another gate which was wide open, so off we went to explore those cliffs.....



Of course what I hoped to find here were the remains of Freemont villages or anything related to that.....




These alcoves.....and there were a bunch of them at the bottom of those cliffs that I could see from Jail House Rock, and it was while standing there that I first thought that I just might find something interesting like a kiva or a grainery or maybe some pottery shards.....anything really.....at the bottom of those cliffs.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

We spent the entire afternoon & early evening exploring at the bottom of those cliff bands.....



We came across one alcove that was fenced off and as much as I wanted to crawl under that fence to see what I could see, I didn't do it.....and it just killed me not to do that.....




This was the kind of place where a man's mind can wander.....nobody was here.....the sounds of silence.....




While these alcoves seemed like they would have been the perfect place to build a small fortress, it wasn't.....it was missing one key ingredient.....I noticed.....water.....



The moon.....it was setting.....made for an interesting photograph.....




We didn't bother driving any further south that day.....why would we ? The views were sensational and we were the only ones here.....except for the coyotes that howled and barked that night.....

By the way.....that gate that I spoke of, it was indeed mysteriously locked on the way out.....so that fence we did indeed crawl under.....



The following morning, while the dogs relaxed in the camper, I returned to Jail House Rock to have a look into that 15 foot deep pit.....I liked the cliffs so much more.....honestly.....

 

[Dougnuts]

These alcoves.....and there were a bunch of them at the bottom of those cliffs that I could see them from Jail House Rock, and it was while standing there that I first thought that I just might find something interesting like a kiva or a grainery or maybe some pottery shards.....anything really.....at the bottom of those cliffs.....

Jerry, I know someone posted this YouTube channel earlier, but I think you'll like to check out this video at the 10 minute mark, such an awesome find:

Love geology (not that l understand a ton about it, still find it fascinating). Paleontology, like you, not much into or would consider myself to be any type of 'dinosuar guy' either. However, recently l've been listening to the Paleo Nerds podcast...they are quite humorous, educational and entertaining. Just the right mix for your average listener.

Paleo Nerds: A Prehistoric Podcast | Paleo Nerds

Homepage

www.paleonerds.com

Cool podcast, I started listening to it this morning, thanks for the suggestion.