An Adventure to Celebrate Our 40th Anniversary – September 2023 – Part Five

 

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Please click here for – Part Four

 

A Return to Utah

 

It was an X on our map. I don’t remember the source, but someone contacted me a few years back with a story about a possible flying saucer crash site in Utah. I’ve written about our interest in and visits to historic military aviation crash sites on this blog, an interest that landed the Lady and me on a History Channel program years ago back when the History Channel still had shows about history. The most remote and intriguing was the B-24 WWII bomber that is melting out of a glacier in the high Sierra.

 

The Lady took over navigation as she directed me onto a smaller dirt two track. “This should go,” she told me. After two rough crossings of a wash, she said, “We should be close.”

A rough track led to a round disc on the ground. We had arrived.

 

It was late in the afternoon and we also hoped this quest would lead to a fine spot to camp for the night. It sure did.

 

 

 

 

 

With camp set up, chores and dinner taken care of, the Lady wanted to explore further up the road.

 

 

 

 

 

It was near dark and I attempted a few low light handheld photos. What most interested me was that one of the rock layers along the shelf road as we walked looked like a thin band of coal. I’d never seen a layer of coal before “in the wild” and it fascinated me. It was far too dark to get a photo, unfortunately.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were up before dawn and I explored outside as the Lady took care of her morning fussing about in the camper.

 

 

 

 

 

Soon our coffee was ready and it was time for our morning wander. I was hoping we’d get back up to the coal seam but that changed when the Lady, in the cool shadows, said, “Let’s go up to the sun!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

High spots always require a thorough search of the surroundings below with the Lady’s see mores.

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast awaited us if we could work a way back down the opposite side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After breakfast and packing up, we examined what was left of the flying saucer. I suspect that it came apart in flight and the top half frisbeed into the ground here. Usually at crash sites there is an abundance of electrical wiring littering the area. There was no sign of wiring or any other known system of power distribution. This had to have come from beings processing extremely advanced technology.

 

 

 

 

 

The Lady noticed what looked like four little port holes. “Boy, these creatures must be really small,” she exclaimed. “Look at the size of the doors!”

“It’s a drone,” I said. “No creatures or beings were inside.”

“Why do you think it’s a drone?”

“Most all our aircraft here on earth have people inside,” I explained. “It’s a natural assumption that alien spacecraft would too. But think about it. What has technology, in the big picture, done for us? It’s made us lazy and fat. Alien beings so advanced to have the kind of technology to travel light years through space in a blink of an eye would have to be so lazy and big it is impossible to do anything physical, let alone pilot spacecraft. Drones. We use drones on Mars. Drones make sense. And who’s to say any of these flying saucers are from some official alien government capacity? I bet ‘fly a drone to earth’ is part of their comcast entertainment package. And those sudden direction changes everybody talks about in the grainy videos, that happens when the alien parents let their kids take over the controls.”

“So, we don’t need to look for alien bodies?” the Lady inquired.

“No, we don’t. But please remind me, when we get home, to look in my notes to see who sent me the info on this crash site. I want to be sure and send him a thank you note.”

 

We drove into Green River, Utah, filled up with gas, and found the dirt road that would take us 40 miles to the south and to a destination we’ve wanted to visit for years – Horseshoe Canyon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horseshoe Canyon is known for its pictograph panels. It was one in the afternoon, ample time for us to do our planned seven-mile round trip. With boots and packs donned, we dropped down from the rim to the bottom of the canyon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part way down the trail the Lady made a quick side step. “It’s a little fence lizard.” I don’t want to step on it.”

Then the excitement began.

“It got it! Right at my feet! The lizard darted to get out of my way and the snake nailed it! You’ve got to get a photo.”

The little whipsnake, maybe a foot long, was rapidly retreating backwards with the little lizard violently fighting for its life in the snake’s jaws. Before I could get the camera up, it disappeared under a rock.  I did not get a photo; no way was I quick enough. But Jim Boone did, as seen in the link above.

 

We continued down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving up canyon, the first panel is the High Gallery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DStretch brightens the images.

 

 

 

 

 

We met nine people down in the canyon. They were all on their way out. After we moved on from the High Gallery, we were alone in this marvelous canyon.

 

Next was the Horseshoe Shelter Panel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hidden behind a large rock pile were additional, quite incredible, pictographs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We continued our hike up canyon, excited to see what was around the next bend.

 

 

 

 

 

We came to The Alcove.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here the pictograph figures seemed ghostly, mysterious.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A short distance away was another panel with more faded pictographs.

 

 

 

 

 

DStretch helps just a bit to bring out details.

 

 

 

 

 

The alcove has a large sheltered area.

 

 

 

 

 

The sandstone walls of the canyon are, themselves, pieces of fine art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, maybe, a bit of comedy.

 

 

 

 

 

We continued up canyon……….

 

 

 

 

 

…………to the last panel - The Great Gallery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look closely, many of these photos also include petroglyphs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a great gallery, indeed. We were humbled by our visit here, especially seeped in the silence and solitude.

 

We turned back down canyon with no desire or need to hurry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Climbing up on one bench, we found we were not completely alone. The cottontail stayed put and let us pass by.

 

 

 

 

 

It was 1730 hrs when we reached the truck. The others vehicles were gone but three new vehicles were claiming the few primitive campsites at the trailhead. If alone when we returned, we had considered staying here, but now, we, as we most always do, wanted more solitude. We drove north several miles to see if a spot we had noticed on the way in would work for us.

 

Our adventure continues. Please click here for - Part Six.