Completing a Forest Trail; Only Took Two Years.

Back in April 2014, Roy and I traveled the dirt road past Recapture Reservoir, up into the Manti-LaSal Forest, but were stopped by snow and ice along the way.  We kept saying we would go back and finish the trail, but so many other adventures kept enticing us.  Well, in November 2016, we finally finished the forest trail; backwards!

Ok, when I say backwards, not the vehicle going backwards, but finishing the trail from the other way.  It goes back to the junction at 6.6 miles past the entrance to Devil's Canyon, off Highway 191 , and the decision to turn left and follow CR 110 to Camp Jackson.  Well, we sort of missed the turn off a little ways along, continued along, not realizing we were traveling further south, then west, then south again.


It was at mile mark 1.1 (set the odometer to zero at the junction) that we noticed an open area with a rocky crest at the edge.  We noticed a couple of campfire rings, but what interested us the most was the appearance the rocky crest gave to our imaginations...the remains of a castle.  The views from this rocky crest were breathtaking, from the peaks of the Abajo Mountains all the way to Bears Ears in the far distance.  Another one of those, "on a clear day, you can see forever" moments.

Bears Ears in the far distance.

We were able to make our way downwards into the crest; Mother Nature did a heck of a job on sculpting the walls of this castle fortress.

Up ahead we spotted a cave; at the same time we heard movement.  Immediately we looked down at the soft dirt and spotted them, very large cat prints...and we backed up quickly, but silently.  We were armed, we are always prepared, but why engage when we can quietly leave?  We're not hunters, we don't begrudge those who hunt to feed their families; hey, we eat meat too.  We are also not trophy hunters; we don't see the point of killing beautiful animals for fun and pleasure only.  Personally I see it this way; you want to hunt for fun?  Make it fair play; animals have claws and teeth; so then the hunter should only be armed with one knife (the claw) and his/her teeth.  See, fair play....oh, if you could see the sly smile on my face right now.

Along the top of the crest, some of the rocks had potholes filled with water; we saw movement, but could not make out what tiny creatures were residing inside.  There was also a dead tree that seemed to have been cut and used for fire wood, yet still had an artful elegance to it.




















Now here comes an amusing story, and sadly I have no acceptable photos of the incident.  As we were returning to the trail, we looked ahead to see dust floating up and two rather large "things" running ahead.  At first we thought, "Coyotes?", but didn't see any long tails swinging as the creatures ran.  We were doing about 40mph, and could not catch up; then they did a left hand turn to run down an decline and we could see them clearly...bears!  They looked to be about a year old; we found a trail paralleling the decline into the forest, but they were too fast to get a clear photographic shot.  There is only one photo where the outline of two heads can be made out, but not much more.  What a thrill for the day, being mooned by two bears!


Mile mark 1.2 there was a rocky ridge line; it was then we figured out that this area is the same one that can be seen from Highway 191 as we drive north from Blanding back to Monticello.  We were always commenting, "Wonder how we can get up there?", and here we were!  The ridge line stretched for several miles, sometimes seen through the trees, and sometimes a full view of their naked glory.

Being resigned to the fact that we weren't going to Camp Jackson, we continued onward until we finally saw two signs; FR084 and Manti-LaSal Forest.  It didn't dawn on us where we had been until we came to an overlook of Recapture Reservoir, and saw familiar old barns, cabins and open ranch land.  We had been here before; this was the forest road we had started back in April 2014, but not completed!  We did it, but backwards!  We began to laugh so hard, that some cattle nearby looked at us as if we were totally insane.  Perhaps we were, insane with the glee of accomplishment, the thrill of seeing bears, and having one of our glorious adventures...together.

So, coming to San Juan County and want to try out this little adventure; here are some landmarks:

Monticello Welcome Center on Main Street (Highway 191), set odometer to zero and begin traveling south; 8.9 Miles is the Blue Mountain Dude Ranch (cabins and other facilities are available for rental); 9.5 Miles is Canyonlands Lodging (cabins and a lodge for rental); 11.7 is Devil's Canyon (NFS Campground and FR 085 - 6.6 miles and you're at the junction).  If you want to read more about the trails at that junction; use the Search function on the right hand sidebar of this blog.  Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour

Recapture Reservoir and North.

When Roy and I go out exploring, most of the time it is a matter of, "Hey, here's a road, lets see where it goes!"; and so it was for a road above Recapture Reservoir. Well, the road is just before you cross the bridge over Recapture if you're traveling south, and on the right hand side; traveling north from Blanding, it's just after Recapture and on the left. It's also another one of those "no road sign" roads, but it's known as Radio Hill Road North; that is until you go onto the gravel road to the left and down to the reservoir. If you continue on the road past Recapture, then it becomes San Juan County Road 264 aka Bulldog Road; oh, but wait, there's more; that little dirt trail leading off to the right is the ATV trail for Bulldog Canyon. Confused already...map time!

 
Recapture Reservoir is not as glorious as it usually is; Blanding has been experiencing drought conditions, so the water level is low.  While that affords more camping area around the man made lake, it does inhibit boat usage somewhat.   Even though not at full capacity, the sunlight upon the water sparkles like diamonds; the surrounding scenery is still awesome to behold.

Back to exploring, heading up CR 264 the scenery is quaint and pretty; a great view of the Abajo Mountains in the distance.  It's about three miles before you reach a junction; CR 110 to the left and CR 264 continuing up to the right.



We decided to go left first; CR 110 only goes for about 3.5 miles before reaching the entrance to the Manti-La Sal National Forest and FR 084.  Now I have to let you know that we did this adventure in April and while it didn't look like much snow was still in the mountains, don't be fooled.  We were only able to travel four miles before we met up with a snow packed section of road we had no intention of trying to travel upon.  Here's a hint for visitors to the area; April snow, May mud, June dry...general rule of thumb for traveling up in the Abajo Mountains, and arguing with the employees at the Welcome Centers will not make the snow or mud conditions go away.  Don't be rude, you'll only look a fool.

Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) Trails are aplenty up in the forest.

Alrighty then, backtracking those four miles to the junction, it's back onto Bulldog Road which, of course, parallels Bulldog Canyon.  The ATV trail for the canyon can be accessed/exited back at Radio Hill Road North, but it can also be accessed/exited at the end of CR 264.  It does end, in two miles, at a fenced area which has a "No Trespassing, Land Leased for Hunting" sign on the post.  The ATV trail is somewhere off to the right hand side of the road, but we didn't go looking for it; it's rated moderate for ATVs though.

Hunting season for wild turkeys begins at the end of April, so these guys were not sticking around to find out if we were "friend or foe".






While looking at the rocky scenery, we noticed a darker area in the cliffs and wondered if it was a cave; caves sometimes have ruins in them.  We were able to get a closer view with the zoom lens on my camera, but the darker area turned out simply to be desert varnish.  It was on the ledges nearby that we finally spotted the cliff dwelling; this was at 1.5 miles up from the junction, looking westward.

Desert Varnish

Cliff Dwelling off Bulldog Road (CR 264)

The temperatures seem to have finally made a decision about getting warmer and staying there; the snow is melted, the mud is drying.  During the summer months, we're hoping to get back this way again and explore FR 084 deeper into the Manti-La Sal National Forest.

Mary Cokenour