Little Wildhorse Canyon

 We returned to the San Rafael Reef to hike up Little Wildhorse Canyon and back this morning. We decided not to hike all the way up to the road, but stopped about 2.75 - 3 miles from the trailhead before returning the way we cam.

 View of the area we would hike through.













From the trailhead, it is 0.7 mile to the openings of Bell and Little WildHorse Canyons. It starts in a wash where we saw cottonwood trees and wildflowers

 Before reaching the canyons, the wash narrows

 into a short canyon

 There is a drywall at the end of this section (looking down at bottom of photo), but we were able to find an easy walk around.

 There were lots of cliffroses in bloom

 The wash narrows again before opening up to the two canyons

 We took the trail on the right, which leads into Little Wildhorse Canyon.

 This canyon starts out narrow,

 and gets narrower,

















 until it becomes a slot canyon

 The canyon would widen,

 reaching an open space,

 then narrow again into a slot.

 Along the way there are boulders wedged into the canyon, that we would climb over, squeeze between and stoop under.
A beautiful place to hike through

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The canyon then opens into a wide space. The 3 hikers we saw on the way up, told us this is where they decided to turn back for the day. We opted to continue on and were glad we did.

 The canyon again narrowed, giving us opportunities to enjoy the beauty of walls carved by water, wind and sand.

 

 

 

 again the canyon widens and narrow

 

 We continued until the canyon seemed to stay wide for some time. Took a short break, and enjoyed the journey back to the trailhead.











besides lizards, there were lots of these black caterpillars climbing up the canyon walls







some of the wildflowers we saw in bloom along the trail today: