The Janke Family

Adventure

Sand Cove: The Vortex

Today we explored the slickrock East of Gunlock, Utah. The area is known as Sand Cove. We were particularly interested in finding The Vortex (AKA: Cowboy Potty, The Bowl). The hike starts on top of the lava plateau, takes you down across Sand Cove Wash, up the Slickrock Valley, then up on top of Camelback Mountain. The Vortex is an impressive giant pothole (AKA: Goblin Pot, Water Pocket). Water and ice filled the bottom on our visit, so we did not climb down into the pot. It was a great day to be in the desert with family and friends!

Parking GPS Coordinates:

Latitude:   37°16’47.6400″N
Longitude:   -113°44’18.0600″

The Vortex GPS Coordinates:

Latitude:   37°16’16.4928″N
Longitude:   -113°44’51.0828W

Red Man Pictograph

This is a two part adventure. Our first attempt at finding the Red Man pictograph we started at the Fort Pearce ruins and hiked down (West) the Fort Pearce Wash. We found many great petroglyphs, but Red Man was elusive. We made it approximately 1 mile down wash, but some of the troops are short legged so we didn’t make it far enough down the wash to where I suspected Red Man to be hiding. On our second attempt we navigated the Fort Pearce Ridge Trail in the Jeep. It was fun to give the Jeep a workout. Anything larger than a Jeep would have a very difficult time on that trail as it is primarily an ATV trail. When we were approximately 2 miles down the wash from the Fort Pearce ruins we started glassing the north rim line of the wash. Once we located his lofty perch above the wash we set our bearings and headed across the wash and up the mesa. It was a bit of a walk, especially the last couple hundred yards up the mesa. Overall it was approximately a 1 mile round trip from the Jeep to Red Man and back. According to the Dixie Archeology Society, Red Man “is thought to be a “sky watcher” waiting for the return of Pohana, a white god who was prominent in Meso American mythology. Pohana departed to the east with the promise that he would return. The Native Americans look to the eastern sky in hopes that he would return.” It was a great adventure, and definitely worth the effort to find him!

GPS Coordinates:

Latitude:    37°00’24.4″N
Longitude:    113°25’47.5″W