OCR Text |
Show Sun Advocate DDTT Section B Tuesday, May 54, 19B8 e After a day on the trail, it's nice to relax by a cooking fire with a grilled "Slim" Jeffs, Castle Dale, prior to its sandwich. Here Tom Reid, outfitter, prepares the sandwich for Leeon going over the open flame. Canyon Rim Riders By ROSANN FILLMORE Staff writer The wonders of the San Rafael Swell have beckoned Lee Jeffs all his life. Hed like to show it to everybody in Utah, if he could show it to them the right way. He and Tom Reid formed Canyon Rim Riders, Inc. two years ago to show the harsh wildlands to adventurers willing to ride a horse into the wilderness study areas to experience the beauty of the Swell without destroying it. Lee, Castle Dale, and Tom, Orangeville, both became acquainted with the Swell because their fathers grazed cattle in the area. Spending so much time there on horses gave them a feel for the Swell that few people share. They know its beauty, its history, its dangers and its watering holes. Both are angered at the destruction wrought on the Buckhom draw area by motorcycles and other RVs. More damage is done on the San Rafael Swell during Easter weekend than the rest of the year, Lee said. The environment is fragile. The soil is soft and motorcycles tear the vegetation. There are more species of plantlife in the San up Rafael Swell than anywhere in the world except Hawaii. Some plants are found nowhere else in the world. When a motorcycle goes off the road down there, you can see tracks three years later. When horses or cattle go across, the trail is gone a week later. Lee points out that grazing livestock follow trails used by wildlife for thousands of years. Cattle are part of the environment. Theres beautiful country down there. To really enjoy it, you need to get out and look around, hear the birds sing and see the beauty there. You can do that on a horse or on foot, Lee said. But on a motorcycle all you see is the 10 feet in front of the handlebars and all you can hear is the roar. Tom is quick to point out that he has motorcycles and RVs, but the San Rafael Swell is not the place to enjoy them. Lee figures hes been riding in the San Rafael Swell about once a week for nearly 40 years. In the past six or eight years the human destruction has become apparent and appalling to him. Tom and Lees Canyon Rim Riders operation gives them an opportunity to take people into the Swell, give them the adventure of a lifetime and teach their philosophy of conservation at the same time. They and their familes work together to host four different kinds of tours offered in the spring and fall. covered wagon tour, taking a wagon to a They feature a four-da- y tent campsite, from which they tour McCarty Canyon, Sids Mountain, Saddle Horse Canyon, Coal Wash and other historical and scenic areas on horseback. They furnish meals, camps, horses, bedding, equipment and wranglers. They cook out on the trail and even provide some entertainment around the evening campfires. y On a horse ride, they take tourists through McCarty to the top of Saddle Horse Canyon, and again, they furnish Canyon everything, including meals. Just to give people a taste of what the San Rafael Swell is, we will take them on a driving tour, Tom said. Beginning at the Emery County Museum, tourists can drive through areas of the Swell accessible by roads. The Rim Riders still feature the old fashioned cookout and promise tourists beautiful scenery, outlaw trails, petroglyphs and dinosaur tracks. one-da- Riding on horseback through the San Rafael Swell is like passing through time. (Continued on Page 5B) |