I went on a backpack with friends in the San Rafael Swell in south-central Utah. "The Swell" is an area of uplifted, eroded sandstone, with steep-walled canyons, slots, mesas and buttes. It's less than 4 hours from SLC and a fun place to explore. Ayla had a lot of work to catch up on and chose to stay home.
The start of the hike into Spring Canyon along Mexican Mountain Road.
Harvey, Susanne, Beth and Rich, the other campers taking a break on the Mexican Mtn. airstrip. It was built for oil exploration and now used by local pilots comfortable landing on a gravel runway.
Windsock sponsored by Chevron.
Ancient petroglyph can be found on a rock near the airstrip.
Our campsite was near the junction of the North and South forks of Spring Canyon. This was the rock formation above our tents.
An arch formed by a piece of the cliff that had fallen and gotten stuck.
Another shot of the arch from halfway up a "trail" that went from the canyon floor to the top of the mesa.
Harvey triumphantly summiting the mesa.
Enjoying the views from the top of the mesa.
We scrambled down through the boulder-strewn Horsethief Canyon. Yes, it was named for the route that stolen horses were taken on.
Harvey and Susanne back at camp.
A last look up Spring Canyon as we hiked out on Sunday.
The plane boss, the plane!
Beth by the San Rafael River.The following are more petroglyphs along Buckhorn wash. They have been painstaking restored to remove traces of grafitti, bullet holes and other vandalism.
