I’m a little late getting this trip posted, as usual, but here it is…

I got back to Utah on March 21st, after spending close to 3 months in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Fun as Asia was, it still is nothing like home… So when Dave offered the invite for 4 days out in the Dirty Devil area hiking, canyoneering, and taking photos, it was a no-brainer.

I tried to forget the fact I was jetlagged like crazy, would fall into a coma around 4 pm, and would wake up ready to roll at 3:30 a.m. Turns out, there was a new moon, and the skies were clear, and the milky way was going off, and suddenly that jacked up circadian rhythm didn’t seem so bad.

Over the course of a few days, we checked out couple “new” slots, wandered around a lot of new territory, had a funny encounter with a lost dog and some ranchers, and nearly got blown off the plateau by a monster of a windstorm. In short, the perfect welcome home…

Little Egypt

The following is recounted by Wyoming Dave…

Bloodhound Canyon
“He’s just a pup, but he has some teeth…”

Dan and I were driving down a dirt road 4 or 5 miles from the pavement when I
glanced out my side window and saw a dog along the road. It looked to me like he
was laying on a blanket on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere.
I let off the accelerator and said “I just saw a dog on the side of the road.”
Incredulous, Dan said “What?”
While I threw the gear shift into reverse and peered into my side view mirror ,
I qualified my statement.
“I THINK I just saw a dog back there.”

Sure enough, as I backed up 50 yards, I saw the dog sit up wagging his tail.
He stood up and started approaching, so rather than squash him I threw the
shifter into neutral, set the emergency brake, and we both got out of the truck.

The bony little beagle was obviously happy to see us. He came right over to
greet us and when I reached to pet him, he flopped right down at my feet,
offering up his belly. Neither Dan nor I are veterinarians, but both of us could
plainly see that he was only a puppy; perhaps 12 or 16 weeks old.

The whole thing seemed strange to me. Here we are, miles from the paved highway
and many more miles to the nearest ranch, and we find a young skinny puppy on
the side of the road. He has a shirt and a pair of gloves for a bed. There are
tire tracks on the side of the road and some straw mixed with horse manure as if
from a horse trailer.
Did he fall off the back of someones flat-bed truck? Was he left there
intentionally? Is this a strange New-Age training thing where you leave your
dog, say “Stay”, and come back later?

I looked around me; scanning the vast empty horizon in all directions. I looked
down at the poor little dog; so ecstatic to see us. I couldn’t help thinking
nasty thoughts about my fellow man, but I kept silent. While Dan occupied the
scampering little pup, I went to my truck and brought back my water bottle and
a disposable bowl. He went right after the water as I began pouring it; trying
to drink it before it hit the bowl. He slurped down the entire contents of the
bottle in one go; frantically lapping at the water with an urgency I haven’t
seen before. I went back to the truck for a refill. Both Dan and I are wondering
“What’s going on here?” We are astonished at how fast he’s drinking the water.
He wants to get some more petting but he can’t pull himself away from the bowl
for more than a second or two. He’s torn between his joy at seeing us and his
need for water.

I go to the truck a third time and bring back a couple of hard-boiled eggs. I
offer one to him and he gobbles it up. I glance up at Dan and he looks as
bewildered as I feel. I give him the second egg and he’s snatching it out of my
hand as fast as I can break it up. I can’t take it any longer ; I must put words
to what I’m thinking.

“Is this how some people get rid of a puppy they don’t want?” I ask Dan
rhetorically.
He shakes his head; he doesn’t have an answer. It’s really strange that the dog
has this shirt and gloves to lay on. They look like they are carefully arranged
into a bed. I’m also not a forensic scientist, but the scene doesn’t obviously
reek of abandonment to me. Who lovingly sets up a bed and leaves their puppy on
the side of a remote dirt road? Isn’t that abandonment no matter how you look at
it?

We look around and ponder the desert as we pet the hungry little pup and it
seems more forlorn; more harsh and unforgiving than ever. Neither of us know
what to do. Do we leave him? Do we take him with us?

I’ve just about decided that I’ll leave him there for the day and I’ll pick him
up if he’s there when we come back, when I glance up the road to see a white
pick-up approaching. They pull slowly up and as they exit their truck with big
smiles on their faces, the dog dashes over to them with incredible excitement.
They greet their dog and come over to engage us.

They are genuine old-time western cattle ranchers. They have the Wrangler jeans,
cowboy boots, and cowboy hats. The old man is about 90 years old and he has a
pearl-buttoned fancy cowboy shirt, with what looks to be a pack of Marlboros in
the pocket. To my eyes, he is the quintessential Utah rancher . His son, and I’m
immediately certain that he is the son, has a clean white buttoned-down shirt
and looks as though he just walked out of a John Wayne movie. They both have a
very strong western drawl as they thank us for watering their dog.

The situation clearly begs for some kind of explanation, and we don’t have to
ask. They launch into their story without the slightest hesitation.
The old man gestures toward the slots that Dan and I are going to explore about
three miles away, and says “We were down in those canyons yesterday and he
disappeared. We looked all over for him”
The son explains to us “We came by about ten o’clock last night and he still
wasn’t around.”
Dan asks them if he’s a beagle and they correct us both. He’s a Bloodhound.
Dan says “Well he’s a good one.” and I can see the two men’s warmth and pride
that their little dog got out of the canyons and survived the night without
them.
I tell them we found him right there on the side of the road laying on the
shirt and gloves and the son fills us in with a long slow drawl.
“Well my father always told me, if you lose one, put down a shirt, or some
gloves, and maybe they’ll find their way back.”
We talk to the men a while longer, exchanging our amazement that such a young
pup could fend for himself.
The son says to all of us “Well, my boy is going to be real happy.”
Dan and I drove away with our opinion of our fellow man restored. This was not
an abandonment; this was heartfelt loss and those saddle-hardened cowboys were
delighted to be reunited with their sweet little puppy.
We discussed how that dog must have spent the night. We still found it
remarkable that he was able to make it out alive. Later in the day, we found
tracks of the cowboys and their dog at the mouth of the canyon where they were
trying to climb up the slot. We decided to call the canyon we were scouting
Bloodhound Canyon.
The canyon turned out to be not very technical. It is a long series of potholes
or half-potholes sculpted out of the Navajo Sandstone. It has a few drops to
negotiate but on the whole it’s a pleasant hike in a pretty, but tame, canyon.