Temple Mountain and South Temple Wash

4/1/09

With satisfied appetites, I looked at the map for an adventure close to the park. An 8-mile canyon hike looked promising except for Olympia's inability to walk farther than just a few miles. As I was contemplating how to get Olympia through the canyon another nearby land formation caught my eye - Temple Mountain.

The guidebook stated that Temple Mountain is the highest point along the San Rafael Swell. This was something I just had to see. After getting warned of the old uranium mines in the area - highly radioactive, lots of radon . . . and bats - Olympia and I set off to explore the area leading to Temple Mountain. We wouldn't be able to reach the top as most of the upper trail had been destroyed by erosion, but I wanted to get a good view and get a little more walking in.

Along the way, we stopped to look at some ancient pictographs. chunks of sandstone with the paintings had fallen away either by erosion or stupidity. If it was stupidity, I'd like to kick a few chunks off the idiots who thought it would be fun to destroy this ancient art.

Olympia and I walked up old roads past abandoned mines and equipment. At one point this area was a thriving community of uranium miners. Then the bottom fell out of the market - odd thinking that since nuclear power had been the ideal power source for so long and is still highly recommended in some circles. We turned around after a good look at Temple Mountain, thinking this would be a great place to come for sunset.

On the way to Temple Mountain, I had noticed white rounded sandstone hills that looked like they might be fun to explore. And explore them we did. Little pockets of vegetation and expansive views of the prairie were what awaited us. Olympia even tried her paws at rock climbing when I climbed up a rock for a better view. She must have thought I was leaving her behind because I heard the scrabbling of claws on rock and turned around to see her hoist herself up the same incline I had just scrambled up myself. The determination of a dog, even a gimpy one.

By the time we ate dinner the wind had died down quite a bit and I was able to clean out the tent before heading back for sunset. Still, I would be shaking out sand even after I got home.