Bluff, Ut -River house Ruins and San Juan Hill passage

  Today April 26th 2015 we drove south on Hwy 163 and 191 intersection, 3 mi south to a dirt  road to the left to stage , or cross the bridge to dirt road 235 to the left, if you go back in one mile there are some old wooden corrals you can park at boondock at. From this point it is a 4x4 road.

  We traveled south and enjoyed Combs Ridge to our left, the river to our right plus some more mountain ridges. our first stop was at the San Juan Hill where the Mormons in 1880 drove their wagon train up the only hill passable up Combs Ridge.  Combs ridge is 120 miles long and 300-900 ft high. and one mile wide.  At the sign:  You can walk up the San Juan Hill and see where they piled rocks on the downward side so the wagons to navigate the steep rock ravine to the top = 1500 ft long. What hardship they endured. 37*13.317N 109*41.857W

Then we stopped along the river, stone foundation is visible, where a trading post was operating in 1885, run by Amasa Barton who traded with the Navajo Indians. This was a good place to cross the San Juan river. In this area you can look across the river and see Mule's Ear peak and wild burros grazing.

  Then we came to the River Ruins high up on the cliff. What a perfect spot for a home, the river below, it is a passive solar home,  the winter sun streaming in and the hot summer sun doesn't come in. There are several rooms, just be careful not to pull on the rocks when investigating this area. You will also see petroglyphs on the ceiling and in the rooms. 37*13.367 N 109*41.279W

Further west along the ledge walkway you will find a grainery, all built with stone to store their corn, beans and squash. We did find two inch long corn cobs in the house area.

  While we were looking at the ruins, a rain shower came thru and we spent an hour sitting under the cave/ruins enjoying the sights and imagining the life these 800 yr old Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellers. They left the area in the 1200's.

We drove further and saw some petroglyphs on the varnish wall of the canyon.               37*13.662N        109*40.706W

Down 1.5 miles we came to a barbed wire fence, so we walked thru to view the Bartlet Wash Petroglyphs Panel. Many of these are centuries old, and some newer, still 200 yrs old. Some places you can see where Anthropologist have numbered the sights.  37*15.995 N  109*36.940W

We did view the river off and on all along the trail. We returned to the area of San Juan Hill and took another trail east where we found an alcove and a pool of fresh water 20x20. 37*13.574N 109*41.385W

It was a fascinating day of ancient sights.  We camped at Sand Island Rec area BLM park.

Bradshaw Grave, Wickenburg, Az

April 14, 2015, we drove out on the Constellation road (near McDonalds) to the Constellation City Park for staging and to start our ride .  We rode out 5 miles to the Y intersection of the Buckhorn Rd.  We followed Charles Wells books map. We highly recommend his books!

From the intersection we drove 4.3 miles turning to the left at the 2 huge rusty water tanks. We followed this trail, some places are tough, but manageable.

We stopped at the Iron Spring and had our lunch in the shade, as a few cattle watched us.  There are breathtaking sights up and down the valleys, but be careful to deep an eye on the road. We went around Swallow mountain  and down to the Bradshaw grave, which is surrounded by a white picket fence.  Isaac Bradshaw is buried here. 1819-1885 At the bottom of the page you can read about the past and what brought him to this rugged country. 

Then we went further up the trail 4.5 miles to the Copperopolis. Which has pretty much been erased.  You can see some evidence of mining like tailings and flat building sights, leave enough time to explore the trails in this area.  You can try to find Annie May White’s headstone dated June 8th, 1939.

At the Bradshaw  intersection turn we went south making a large circle back to the Buckhorn Rd. There are many great views off of this road also. We even saw palm trees growing in a private spring area, looking like a mirage! We rode a total of 42 miles from the staging area and back. We saw one marmot, no snakes.

In 1863, William Bradshaw was the first to lead a group of men into the Bradshaws in search of silver and gold. They traveled as a group for protection up Black Canyon Creek. They did find the fabled gold and left unseen by Indians. William, a heavy drinker, became sick and committed suicide after his return. He is buried in an unmarked grave near La Paz, AZ.

His brother, Isaac, ventured into the Bradshaws at age 66 in search of the gold locations his brother told him about. He and his party also found gold and silver. His mine was not especially profitable, but it produced enough to keep him in beans and bacon. He died Christmas Day, in 1885 and is buried in a remote area of the mountains near Bradshaw Springs.

Shiprock Mountain Congress, Az

   March 30th We drove out to Hwy 93 heading west on Mile Marker 163 1/2 we turned in to a staging area.  We drove out and shortly we could see the large mountain  called Shiprock, elevation 2288 which rises of the desert floor. Surrounding it are several mountains which dwarf it. We drove down the wash and up the hill to get close to hike to a plateau on Shiprock.

On the way we heard some noise, which turned out to be two large wild burrows standing in the shade of the palo verde tree. They were keeping an eye on us.

  After we left the wash and headed toward the Santa Marie River, where we crossed it with some water in it. We came to a Y not going to the right where you will find mines, but went to the left where we found forgotten mining equipment,  ground core samples and machinery. We drove into the river and had lunch on the shaded river bank as the temps were in the hight 80's. The trail continued but we could not see it.

  We returned to the river and went on the SW side of the river on a trail which winds thru the rocky mountains coming to a overlook of the river and rock outcroppings. We returned the same trail riding 17 miles, but it took 5 hours including lunch and scenic breaks.