An ARS Adventure: Sojourn into Virgin Spring Canyon

A brief break in the weather and an unexpected day off in mid-February 2004 offered an opportunity for a winter hike. I invited my young friend Kirk, KD7LUA, who has completed his studies at the local two-year college, for one more hike in the desert before he leaves Utah for New York City. Kerry, who is a respiratory therapist at the little hospital where I work also joined us.

\We traveled to Utah's San Rafael Desert, hoping that the river would be frozen hard enough to allow us a dry trip up the "Little Grand Canyon" to Virgin Spring Canyon where there are some wonderful ancient pictoglyphs. Friday morning the sun was shining and the temperature climbed to the high 30s. The ground was a bit muddy, but the ice on the river looked thick enough to allow us to cross safely. I have floated the San Rafael River gorge through the sixteen mile "little Grand Canyon" in a small raft a number of times in the early spring of a particularly wet year, but that has not been possible in recent years due to drought. Virgin Spring Canyon is a beautiful box canyon about half way through the gorge. Hiking the canyon in the winter offered a unique view of the towering sandstone walls and an opportunity for absolute solitude.

The hike started with a good view of a small herd of Desert Sheep. We followed coyote tracks along a faint cow trial and reached Cane Wash without incident. We stopped briefly to examine some handprints and patterns painted on a rock ledge by ancient inhabitants of the desert.

Soon after misfortune struck when Kerry broke through the ice during one of our many forced crossings of the river. The water was not deep, but was very cold! We sludged on to within about two miles of our destination and set up camp to allow Kerry to get dry and warm. Darkness came rapidly and the night was bitterly cold, but we were cozy in our tent. Kerry suffered no injury except to his pride, and was in fine shape as soon as his feet and legs were warm and dry.

The next morning was much colder and threatening clouds moved in to cover the sky. Kerry elected to remain behind at the camp while Kirk and I hurried up river toward Virgin Spring Canyon. We quickly hiked up the canyon to a beautiful impassable dry fall and stopped to study two beautiful pictoglyph panels on our way back to the main gorge (PHOTO). These paintings are "Barrier Canyon" style glyphs thought to be about 3000 years old. They are located high on a sandstone wall (PHOTO) and show stylized men and delicate animals reminiscent of Hopi sand paintings. The remote location of the pictoglyphs, the solitude, and the breathtaking beauty of the surroundings struck me with reverent awe.

Returning to camp, we quickly gathered our gear and began the hike out as snowflakes began to fall. By the time we reached my four-wheel-drive truck and started on the road for home it was snowing in earnest. The long drive on a dim, snow-covered graveled road to the I-70 freeway was a bit of an adventure! We joined the freeway about midway between Green River, Utah and Salina - a beautiful 110 mile stretch of freeway with no services of any kind.
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Dr. Bob Armstrong, N7XJ, an expert outdoorsman, QRP operator and builder, is a contributing editor to The ARS Sojourner and country doctor living in Manit, UT.



	An ARS Adventure: Sojourn into Virgin Spring Canyon
		By Dr. Bob Armstrong, N7XJ Contributing Editor, the ARS Sojourner
A brief break in the weather and an unexpected day off in mid-February 2004 offered an opportunity for a winter hike. I invited my young friend Kirk, KD7LUA, who has completed his studies at the local two-year college, for one more hike in the desert before he leaves Utah for New York City. Kerry, who is a respiratory therapist at the little hospital where I work also joined us. \We traveled to Utah's San Rafael Desert, hoping that the river would be frozen hard enough to allow us a dry trip up the "Little Grand Canyon" to Virgin Spring Canyon where there are some wonderful ancient pictoglyphs. Friday morning the sun was shining and the temperature climbed to the high 30s. The ground was a bit muddy, but the ice on the river looked thick enough to allow us to cross safely. I have floated the San Rafael River gorge through the sixteen mile "little Grand Canyon" in a small raft a number of times in the early spring of a particularly wet year, but that has not been possible in recent years due to drought. Virgin Spring Canyon is a beautiful box canyon about half way through the gorge. Hiking the canyon in the winter offered a unique view of the towering sandstone walls and an opportunity for absolute solitude. The hike started with a good view of a small herd of Desert Sheep. We followed coyote tracks along a faint cow trial and reached Cane Wash without incident. We stopped briefly to examine some handprints and patterns painted on a rock ledge by ancient inhabitants of the desert. Soon after misfortune struck when Kerry broke through the ice during one of our many forced crossings of the river. The water was not deep, but was very cold! We sludged on to within about two miles of our destination and set up camp to allow Kerry to get dry and warm. Darkness came rapidly and the night was bitterly cold, but we were cozy in our tent. Kerry suffered no injury except to his pride, and was in fine shape as soon as his feet and legs were warm and dry. The next morning was much colder and threatening clouds moved in to cover the sky. Kerry elected to remain behind at the camp while Kirk and I hurried up river toward Virgin Spring Canyon. We quickly hiked up the canyon to a beautiful impassable dry fall and stopped to study two beautiful pictoglyph panels on our way back to the main gorge (PHOTO). These paintings are "Barrier Canyon" style glyphs thought to be about 3000 years old. They are located high on a sandstone wall (PHOTO) and show stylized men and delicate animals reminiscent of Hopi sand paintings. The remote location of the pictoglyphs, the solitude, and the breathtaking beauty of the surroundings struck me with reverent awe. Returning to camp, we quickly gathered our gear and began the hike out as snowflakes began to fall. By the time we reached my four-wheel-drive truck and started on the road for home it was snowing in earnest. The long drive on a dim, snow-covered graveled road to the I-70 freeway was a bit of an adventure! We joined the freeway about midway between Green River, Utah and Salina - a beautiful 110 mile stretch of freeway with no services of any kind. * * * * * * * * * Dr. Bob Armstrong, N7XJ, an expert outdoorsman, QRP operator and builder, is a contributing editor to The ARS Sojourner and country doctor living in Manit, UT.