This was kind of a long drive for such a short hike. I went down the Tidwell Draw road in the Swell to the San Rafael River, then hiked into Thompson Hole to find a geocache and some petroglyphs. Thompson Hole is an abandoned river meander where the San Rafael cuts through the Reef, and there’s an old bulldozed road leading into the bottom. There’s a new (within the past few weeks) “No Vehicles” sign just before the road descends, however, so I parked there and walked the rest of the way. I hiked about two miles and spent two hours looking for rock art in the area. Afterward I intended to hike a couple of small drainages in the San Rafael Reef north of there, but in the nearly-100-degree heat I wasn’t feeling up to it.
Thompson Hole panorama
The Jeep parked on the San Rafael Reef above the river
WSA sign before the road descends into Thompson Hole
At first I thought I was seeing Indian ruins, but these are just rock walls to keep cattle from wandering
Sharpening grooves
Grinding marks
San Rafael River
Petroglyphs
Petroglyphs
Petroglyphs
Petroglyphs
Cowboy glyphs
Petroglyphs
Petroglyphs
Exploring a small side-canyon
Climbing out of Thompson Hole
It was only 91 degrees when I finished hiking, but I saw a high of 98 on the drive out
Dust on the back of the Jeep
