Pony Express Trail Camp: April 25th - 26th '08

We had an excellent time at our last camp! We passed off a number of advancement requirements and learned a good deal from our experience. After a brief orienteering instruction at our camp, we took a 5 mile hike. The first mile we had to blaze a trail using a map and a compass to get to our first check point - an atv trail that led to a gravel road.

We found that this was a good challenge as we tried to orient ourselves with the terrain around us. While we traversed through the canyon our perspective on the small Onaqui mountain peaks began to change and we could see how easy it would be to get lost. We were able to use landmarks, such as, cliffs on the ridge of a mountain peak just south of our base camp, snow covered peak in the direction of our travel, and three smaller peaks to our east to ensure we were where we should be. Our compass held us true to the direction we needed to travel and the map with contour lines aided in identifying our approximate location with the landmarks.

This portion of the hike took us through a somewhat dense mountain juniper and cedar forest with slopes covered with big sage brush, grey and green rabbit brush, shade scale, cactus, and a varied assortment of wildflowers such as Indian paintbrush. We identified other plants such as liken which grew on and around rocks. This helped us pass off our native plant recognition requirement.

We also paid close attention to evidence of wildlife. In our camp, we had a resident wild tom-turkey and his hen. He promptly moved away from us, but occasionally we could hear them in the distance. They left very large and easily identifiable tracks along with plenty of scat which we had to avoid when pitching our tents. On the trail, we found a hide of a cotton tail rabbit which insinuated the presence of predators such as bobcat, cougar, coyote, or raptors such as the golden eagle which are all known to live in this mountain range. We saw jack rabbit, cotton tail, and even prong horn antelope. Bro. Lyman indicated that rabbits (cotton tails) are generally safe to eat in months that have 'R's due to parasites they are prone to have in warmer months.

As we trekked through the hill side, we saw holes which could have been coyote dens or perhaps a badger nest... We identified deer tracks, Bro. Duke helped us understand the size of the animal and the direction it was travelling. This part of our hike was slow going but we had the most fun.
Once we hit the atv trail and the road it was smooth sailing until we got back to camp... We learned that when hiking we should 1) make sure we don't loose our compasses (twice), 2) bring soft paper - not many leaves out there if you know what I mean, 3) a 5 mile hike in this terrain is not a walk in the park - you have to be prepared, and 4) a GPS unit is worth it's weight in gold.

We camped near Look Out Pass - Legend explains that an Indian once took a shot at one of the riders or a stagecoach driver near this place, so whenever a new rider or driver was put to work he was told to lookout here. Thus, the name: Lookout Pass. In pioneer days, this wasteland sectionof the trail was referred to as “Paiute Hell.”

Frank C. Robertson described this country "From Lookout Pass you look out over forbidding deserts of mountains and flats. . . . It is hot as the hinges of hell in summer, cold as the polar regions in winter. In winter, blizzards block the roads; in summer, cloudbursts wash them out." This site is situated in a small, beautiful mountain valley, covered with cedars.

Look Out Pass was a station on the Pony Express trail. The original station consisted of a small log cabin, a stable, and a small spring just a few feet away. The station manager was a Mr. Jackson. From 1866 to 1900 Horace Rockwell (Porter’s brother) and his wife Libby Rockwell ran an Overland Stage Station at this site. Since “Aunt” Libby had no children, she filled the void with pet dogs and cats. As her pets died over the years, she buried them in a cemetery. Also in the cemetery are three human graves, two adults and one child. The scouts dared not to visit the cementary the night we were there.

In 1885 James P. Sharp visited the Rockwell's when he was a boy and wrote: “They had no children but did have a whole colony of black-and-tan dogs; I believe they said they were of the Fiste breed. You know the kind, with short hair, and always trying to stand on three legs, shivering, to keep from freezing to death in July. But I'd better not get started on stories about those two strange characters, their dogs, and dog cemetery."

That evening we had a great campfire - full of stories, jokes, and star gazing. We didn't retire until close to midnight.

Saturday morning, just after the howling of the coyotes in close proximity to our camp, J.Duke and A.Wells took off for their early morning soccer and lacrosse games - they were sorely missed. The rest of us had fun making breakfast - pancakes, eggs, bacon, and hot dutch oven cinnamon rolls. Z.Lyman and I.Edwards took off after breaking camp and went in search of buried treasure - well, not really - just a few geo-caches. Little did they know that it would take them on another mile hike up a steep and rocky cliff. They found the caches, two ammo cases, and I.Edwards scored a nice little pocket knife from one of them.

After we packed up - we embarked on a 14 mile journey (in truck) to Simpson Springs where we had lunch. We hoped to have seen the wild heard of horses along the long dusty road; according to the BLM there are about 150-200 horses in the Onaqui Mountain herd management area. Wild horses have occupied the Onaqui Range since the late 1800’s and are probably ancestors of horses who escaped from Army herds from Camp Floyd, or horses that escaped from local ranches.

On our way out there, we passed over a dry desert creek bed called 'Government Creek'. This was the scene of a despicable massacre of 10 friendly Goshute Indians by U.S. Calvary in 1863. It is said that bloodthirty Captain Samuel P. Smith, hunting fame and glory, was responsible for this disgraceful act.

When we got to the springs, it was a photo opportunity and a chance to get the binoculars out to look over the vast desert floor. After lunch, we took off and headed home - all the while thinking of where we should go next...

Happy trails,

Erik
Asst. SM; Kodiak Patrol