Three-4-Thursday

Desert Guideposts

Our second day on the San Juan River was spent exploring Lower Chinle Wash and the cliff dwellings, pictographs, and petroglyphs located there.  We were particularly impressed with the dwellings located in a set of alcoves located high in a bluff several hundred yards to the east of, and about 325 feet higher in elevation than, Chinle Creek.  We found the alcoves to be inaccessible, at least to those with our limited climbing skills.

Using a small drainage to the south of the cliffs as a starting point, I was able to ascend about 200 feet in elevation to the top of the ridge.  It turned out to be a rocky plain stretching for miles in several directions.  Working my way back north and west, I ended up looking back down onto Chinle Wash from a viewpoint slightly above the highest alcove.  The bottom photo in this earlier post is of the cliff dwelling located in that alcove.

Rather than returning to camp using the circuitous way I had come, I decided to attempt a more direct route.  Looking for a way down, I came across some drainages marked by several rock cairns like the one pictured above.  The first two routes led to dead ends -  a drop over a sheer cliff face that I was unwilling to attempt.  I think it was the third path, perhaps the one marked with the above cairn, that finally led me all of the way down to Chinle Wash and the trail leading back to our campsite.

The much more impressive cairn pictured above marks the start (if you're beginning at the river) of Honaker Trail.  The trail climbs over 1,200 feet to the rim of the canyon.  This earlier post contains two photographs of the San Juan River from the trail.  

The pile of rocks below is located at the top of Honaker Trail.  From that vantage point high above the river, one can see Monument Valley in the distance.  It's possible that from here I heard a faintly whispered "That'll be the day."   But it may have just been the wind mixed with memories of The Searchers.