We had a nice hike but......

no pictographs.  Bummer!

I had talked with two different people about the location of the pictographs in Garden Canyon here on base.  Yesterday when I asked, the lady at the museum told me they were "up a ways on a dirt road and you need 4-wheel drive," but that we could get there. The lady in the RV office said, "Park at the picnic area at the end of the paved road and you will have to hike in about a mile on the dirt road."  OK.  We can do that. We could use a good hike. A mile is no problem for us especially with a rest break to look at the rock art before hiking the return mile.   

Wild turkeys just up the road
from RV park this morning

We packed a lunch, water, sunscreen, etc. and drove for many miles on a pot-holed paved road past many shooting ranges and exercise areas for the Army into a place called Garden Canyon. The road had these big dips in them (no smiley face on the signs to warn us, though) for rain water and that was fun - not.  At one, Rog didn't see a really deep one until the last minute and slammed on the brakes.  Maggie went sliding off the console and landed on the floor looking all confused and a bit shaken up.  She rode on my lap the rest of the way!  We found the picnic area and parked. There was a car there with several men who looked as if they had been hiking.  I asked them if they had been up to the rock art.  No, they hadn't but "it's not far up the road.  You'll see signs."

The stream didn't have much
water, but it was nice to see and
hear as we walked along
the road.

We got our hats, water, Maggie's water bowl, cameras, etc. and set out along the dirt road.  It was a good steep incline so we got a work out. There was a little creek running alongside the road and at one point we had to ford it where it crossed the road.  It was deep enough Rog got his shoes and socks soaked.  He wasn't smiling, either.

Maggie and I lagging behind so I could
take pictures. The trees were such a
brilliant green!

I, fortunately, had worn my hiking shoes and not my athletic shoes so my feet stayed dry.  We enjoyed the scenery - it was a really pretty canyon with the cottonwoods already leafed out and the sycamores just beginning to.  We did not spot any wildlife, which is good because we kept seeing signs that it was bear country!  There were some butterflies but no birds that we saw.  

You can barely see Roger up
the hill checking to make sure
our goal isn't around
 the next bend

We hiked up hill for 45 minutes. No sign of our goal.  We were getting a bit tired and decided we had gone at least a mile and a half and that was enough. Maggie and I sat down in the shade to rest and Rog was a nice guy and walked up one more hill and peeked around the bend because I was sure it was "just one more hill and bend in the road."  Nope. 

Giving Maggie's piggies
a rest!  

We rested and then headed back to the truck -  a little disappointed but too tired to walk further up-hill knowing we still had to get back.  

We reached the truck, found a picnic table, ate our lunch and rested our feet before heading home.  On the way down Maggie stopped several times and either just sat there or flattened herself out on her tummy and looked at us.  I think she was thinking things we didn't want to hear!  At one point she refused to move and Rog picked her up and carried her about 100 yards.  After that she was fine but pooped out when we got home.  

I'm glad to be home!

Oh, my feet are
killing me!

It really was a nice hike, good exercise, lots of fresh air and something to do today.  The sun was shining, there was no wind, and it was in the high 60s.  Perfect for an outing of this sort.

We talked (actually, I mentioned it and got no response) about next time we come through here we will try again and maybe drive up the road a little further until it gets too narrow.  We shall see.  Another one of my hair brain ideas that Roger patiently goes along with! 

On an unrelated note - 

We left our spiral bound road atlas at home.  So far we haven't needed it, but now that we are on the road it would be nice to have to double check against Hal, our GPS, because he sometimes takes us places we don't want to go.  We were at the PX yesterday looking for one.  We were told that they don't carry maps any more because the company producing them went out of business.  I thought that was pretty strange.  The lady told us that maybe they still had some at the gas station on base.  Roger checked this afternoon when he went to refill one of the propane bottles (we carry two.)  He said they looked at him as if he were crazy. Tomorrow we will go into town and see if we can find one at the Wal-Mart before we leave on Friday.   

This morning when I was reading the news on my phone I ran across a map story you might enjoy.  So, has Google run map makers out of business?  I sure hope not!!!  Enjoy the story.  It gave me a chuckle but at the same time it's a bit unnerving. Here's the link:  An Imaginary Town Becomes Real, Then Not. True Story