On the Old Spanish Trail and beyond

As part of our volunteer role, we have the good fortune to attend events about the local history and archaeology of the area.

We’ve seen museum artifacts from curators, heard history from locals whose stories go back generations, and learned more about this area we call home.

A recent Friday museum saw us at the Moab History Museum watching a talk by BLM archaeologist Rob Sweeten on the Old Spanish Trail.  This trading route went between Santa Fe and Los Angeles, and a crucial crossing of this route came through Moab Valley and its natural, relatively easy Colorado (Grand) River crossing.

In particular, the talk showcased the new free app from the BLM that lets a person follow the route of the Old Spanish Trail.

The following day, a few of us met at the iconic Looking Glass Rock, a popular climbing area and a long-time landmark both now, in the past, and even further past.

From there, we could spot Casa Grande, an essential spot on the route as it went by tinajas full of vital water.

We drove to the future site of the new BLM trailhead and started our walk.

The Macombe Expedition also came here later and used the same water supply.

A more recent visitor.

The app referenced above shows the route of this hike, and the BLM plans to make a more formal trailhead with continued interpretive signs—another enjoyable hike for taking in the local history.

We sat on the tailgate of our truck, took in the incredible view of the Abajos and the La Sals, and planned our next part of the weekend.

After this Old Spanish Trail travel, we went to points south and followed even older paths for a night of camping and some more hiking.

A large complex sitting on an obscure highpoint with apparent signs of use over the years.

We settled in for the evening and enjoyed the light show on the horizon.

We entered a canyon the following morning and walked along another ancient path.

We saw what looked potentially part of a turkey feather blanket as well.

We hiked out, had our customary root beer float, and returned home.

Root beer float season!

On the way back, we saw a double rainbow with the La Sals on one end and Casa Grande as the  “pot of gold”  at the end of the rainbows.

A fitting end to our weekend.

 

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[…] our return home I got a subscription email to my friend Paul’s blog about a trip to the Old Spanish Trail. How timely! So Paul and Joan were on the Old Spanish Trail at the same time as […]