Story:
Gary, Buzz, Dave, and I departed camp on our ATVs and Fat Cat to place a geocache and visit several more. Two of the geocaches referred to petroglyphs at their sites.
Gary, Buzz, Dave, and I departed camp on our ATVs and Fat Cat to place a geocache and visit several more. Two of the geocaches referred to petroglyphs at their sites.
The first stop was at the Cottonwood Historical Site. A good spring with old ruins and rock fence was there. Gary searched for a grave site marked on some maps of the area without finding it. Gary placed a geocache here.
Next stop was at the Wickahoney Stage Stop. From there we headed south to the petroglyph geocaches. Upon arrival at the sites, snow packs were four to ten feet deep. One geocache was found and the other was buried under about three feet of packed snow. Some of the petroglyphs were also covered by snow.
After leaving the geocaches, we tried to find an alternate route to avoid the rocky, muddy, and extremely rough road. We were unsuccessful and eventually wound up back tracking on the worst section of road.
When we arrived at the Big Jacks Creek Road, Gary and Buzz elected to return to camp after finding another geocache at the Survival Markers. Dave and I stopped at the Harvey Place, Holman Cabin, and Buncel Crossing. Dave had not been in this area before.
We saw five antelope and one mule deer during the ride. No photos.
It was late when we returned to camp.
If we had not been looking for geocaches, we probably would not have found the petroglyphs as they were on dead end roads and required some walking to get to.
The Wickahoney Stage Stop was once the home of the Dunning family who established a ranch there in 1887. It also served as a post office and refuge for travelers on the stage route between Mountain City, Nevada and Mountain Home, Idaho.
"In 1895 they actually began to build the structure that remains down there now. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places. Somewhere around the 1930s they developed a new route and the change in the road signaled the demise of what was the stage station."--Bill Eastlake, Desert Traveler
Tips:
Wait until the snow melts. A high clearance 4X4 is almost mandatory for this area.
Wait until the snow melts. A high clearance 4X4 is almost mandatory for this area.
Tags:
native American, rock art, Buncel Place, petroglyphs, cottonwood, Wickahoney Stage Stop, Big Jacks Creek, Harvey Place, Holman Cabin, Buncel Crossing, Geocaches, petroglyphs, Survival Markers
native American, rock art, Buncel Place, petroglyphs, cottonwood, Wickahoney Stage Stop, Big Jacks Creek, Harvey Place, Holman Cabin, Buncel Crossing, Geocaches, petroglyphs, Survival Markers
Comments (1)
Elindio..NICE! I like good, long trips on my ATV, where I can go camping and explore new terrain. Looks like you do, too! I have to add Idaho to my "must explore" list, now. Thanks for the write up!
by calwheeler on May 25, 2010
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