San Rafael Swell/Little Wild Horse Canyon- October 2011

I wanted to make it down to the desert one more time this year before the snow flies, and I have not spent a lot of time in the San Rafael Swell. My friend Muskie has spent a lot of time in these canyons, so we decided to make a last minute trip on Friday down there for some camping and hiking. We got to the T Junction that goes into Temple Mountain right about sunset, so we headed for the closest site to relax, have a few beverages and get some sleep after the long drive. It was a nice site, a few too many ATV's for me, but I did not care. The night was awesome, stars, big red rock walls, and the moon to boot. Around 11 pm this family drives in with their Camper and truck with ATV's and asks if they can set up shop in the lot next to us. Being neighborly we said that was ok. Around 12:30 we both crashed out. I awoke to the most terrible noise around 4 am- they were running a generator not 50 ft from my tent. Muskie woke up and was pissed! He walked over and turned it off. Thank you Muskie!

We finnally got a few more hours of shut eye, then got up. After coffee we overhear those inconsiderate people saying they were only running the generator so their microwave would have power. Microwave? really? We needless to say bounced to a new spot by 10 am. We found one of the sweetest spots I have camped in. It was like a huge balcony overlooking the swell. We pitched shop, got some sun, the headed into Little Wild Horse Canyon. This was an awesome hike! The narrows in here are amazing! There is one section that was a bit tricky, but manageable. We just enjoyed being in there and we wandered near to the road that would allow us to make the loop, when we encountered a section that was too dangerous for Muskies dogs. So we turned around at about 3.4 miles to head back to camp. We had a beautiful sunset, and an orange moonrise to compliment the beautiful place we were in. This was a really relaxing trip, lots of photos, and being in a semi-new place for me. Unfortunately this is probably my last trip this year, as the snow flies and my time between work and school is gonna get hectic. Enjoy the photos, stoked to have gotten out one more time.