Buckhorn Side Canyon

June 25-26, 2022

In an attempt to camp at least once a month in 2022, I set out on Saturday evening on the last possible weekend in June for a quick overnighter and short hike the next day. I arrived at my planned camp spot above a side canyon to Buckhorn Wash just as it started lightly raining. I took shelter under the hatchback of my Jeep and did some reading while drinking a six-pack. I set my book down frequently to photograph the changing clouds and light as the sun went down. Once it got dark I climbed inside the Jeep and read some more until bed time.

Sheltering from the rain
Sheltering from the rain

View into Buckhorn Wash
View into Buckhorn Wash

Hunter Power Plant
Hunter Power Plant

Huntington Power Plant
Huntington Power Plant

Sunset
Sunset

Uinta Barley Wine
Uinta Barley Wine


I was up early on Sunday morning and, after a short drive to the head of the canyon I’d camped above, I was hiking by 7:45 AM. At first the canyon is a broad, shallow valley. I found a small overhang with rock rubble in a rough semi-circle below it, which I imagine was once some sort of shelter. The canyon grew narrower and deeper as I descended.

Wide open wash
Wide open wash

Possible shelter
Possible shelter

Narrowing canyon
Narrowing canyon

Deeply cut alluvium
Deeply cut alluvium

Small dryfall
Small dryfall


I found another overhang that also may have been a shelter–some of the rocks in front appear to have been stacked. Directly across the canyon from the overhang was a boulder with a few petroglyphs on it. Most were faint, but the most prominent petroglyph was a sideways human figure that was pretty unusual.

Possible rock shelter
Possible rock shelter

Faint glyph
Faint glyph

Boulder with petroglyphs
Boulder with petroglyphs

Petroglyph
Petroglyph

More faint petroglyphs
More faint petroglyphs


I continued down the canyon and found myself above a dryfall. I was expecting it based on the satellite imagery and I was hoping to find a way around it, but I couldn’t see a way down. I returned back up the canyon to the Jeep, having hiked only about three miles total.

Lone cottonwood tree
Lone cottonwood tree

Above a big dryfall
Above a big dryfall

View below the dryfall
View below the dryfall


On my way home I stopped to visit Torrey’s grave. She died in December and we buried her near where we’d found a stray Brittany Spaniel nearly 15 years earlier, and finding that dog is what led us to get Torrey so it seemed a fitting place.

Torrey’s grave
Torrey's grave



Photo Gallery: Buckhorn Side Canyon

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