Canyons of the Ancients

[DirtyDesertRat]

We got drenched with rain and snow for a while, and now we've had a nice warm dry spell, so things are finally dry enough for a little trail run.

I drove out on my farm road and dropped down on one of my trails to the outer rim. Just easy stuff this time of year; I'm not going down into the inner sanctum right now. A little sun and fresh air, put the boots on the ground and wander a bit.

 

[GregBelleville]

Nice rig, we have similar looking builds although you're looks much cleaner than mine.

 

[DirtyDesertRat]

Nice rig, we have similar looking builds although you're looks much cleaner than mine.

View attachment 661044

Really sweet!

 

[DirtyDesertRat]

It was still decent weather today, a bit cool and breezy.

I went out and drove a little further down the trail to the boundary with the BLM/National Monument land. There's a firebreak they carved in many years ago, to prevent a fire that was burning on our private land (long before we came here), from spreading to the public land.

That's a good demarcation point. There's an original 1915 USGS survey monument along the line, dated 110 years ago, back when they opened it up for homesteading. They opened up the high ground along the canyons for homesteading, and left the canyon bottoms in the public domain, as they're watercourses that flow on down to the San Juan, then the Colorado, and on to the ocean. So if I pee off the canyon rim, that's where it's going.

The outcome was that there's a vast stretch of public land, now designated as a National Monument, with very little public access. Fine with me; it's like living on the edge of the wilderness.

 

[DirtyDesertRat]

It was another fine day of mild weather, considering we're coming up on the Winter Solstice.

I went out and poked around again. It's a good time to smash in my trails that were neglected for a few years. There's a conventional narrative that this is an incredibly fragile place that falls apart when anyone treads on it. B.S. The wilderness is always pushing in, ready to take over.

I finished a circuit around all of my farm road, and went out onto another spur that goes down to the BLM boundary. It was a lazy day, so I didn't go down through the rocks. I do enjoy sitting in my warm little tin can when it's cool and breezy. Elizabeth Cook's Apron Strings on Outlaw Country. Yee Haw!

 

[DirtyDesertRat]

Well I reached a decision point. I thought about charging off into my old stomping grounds in SE Utah, but I'm just not feeling it.

I have miles of fun trails right here on my own place. There're tough places I haven't been to for years.

I'd rather run out here and take the chance of a problem than have it take place out who knows where in Utah.

Chain saw, winch, 4WD, go like hell.