Campfire Tales - May, 1997

LUCKY LEDGE ROAD

by
Larry E Heck

Another of the many adventures of PASS PATROL

Pass Patrol’s first trip to Eagle Canyon was many years ago.  At that time, we were searching for favoriter watering holes along the outlaw trail.  We were boldly going where we had never gone before.  After finding Swazy’s Cabin and the Head of Sinbad (the rock formation behind Swazy’s Cabin), we became curious as to where the road went in the canyon behind the cabin.  I unfolded a USGS 1/100,000 map and noticed it showed the road ending at an arch.  We decided to see what it looked like.

At that time, Eagle Canyon was much rougher than it is now.  Lack of traffic and a few good gully washers (rain-storms) had washed most of the road away.  We had a lot of fun getting to the arch, but the road didn’t end there.  Once again, we dug out the maps.

“Looks to me like the canyon goes to I-70,” I commented.

“That’ll work,” Caveman answered.  “I need to get started back to Denver.”

We followed the road, stopping several times to repair sections that were badly damaged.   Finally, we reached I-70.

“Where’s the entrance ramp for I-70”, Caveman giggled.

“Maybe we could winch up to the pavement.”

“Looks like I’m gonna be getting into Denver a little late.”

The road passed under the bridges, then split in two directions.  At that time, we took the left fork and eventually found our way out of the Canyon and onto an access road to I-70.  Caveman was a little late getting home.

On another trip, Sundance, Wild Coyote, and I took the right fork at the intersection and found another access to I-70, but we passed the access and took a faint trail going north.  It did appear on our map but was simply a dotted line with no name or description.  In a few minutes we came to a screeching halt at the bottom of  what we soon named, “Lucky Ledge.”

Wild Coyote went ahead to check it out and reported back on the C.B. radio that the road was too narrow to get through.  I left my truck behind and walked up to the point he was looking at.

“I think we can fit through there,” I grinned.

“You’re crazy,” Sunshine replied.  She looked at Sundance.  “He’s crazy you know.  Don’t follow him through there.”

They watched as I guided two small vehicles through the narrow ledge barely missing a huge boulder on their left.  Sundance was next but his full-size Bronco would have to literally drive on the  lip of the ledge.

“Give me the camcorder,” Sunshine said.

“Are you gonna take my picture,” Sundance grinned.

“No.  I just don’t want you to break it when you roll the truck down the mountain.”

The Bronco fit through but was so close to the edge, it was knocking rocks over the side.

Sunshine was still not a happy camper. “You guys are so lucky you got through that ledge.”

“I like it,” I giggled.  “We’ll call it Lucky Ledge.”

Our latest trip was not nearly as exciting.  Everyone knew I had been through it before so there was no doubt we could fit.  It still took some very careful guidance from a spotter outside the vehicle.

Our only real excitement came later in North Fork Coal Wash.  I popped up over a hill and came upon two female sunbathers.  I never saw two women move so fast but they did manage to find some clothes in their truck.  I suppose it never occurred to them that someone might actually come up Lucky Ledge so they weren’t watching for traffic in that direction.  We made a quick stop at the ZCMI mine site and another at Slipper Arch.  You can find all that in our Volume Two Adventures of Pass Patrol Guide book.  Early that afternoon, we crossed Fixit Pass and found South Paw camped on the other side with plenty of room for our group.  That night, we had a terrific view of the Hale-Bopp Comet.

The next day, we drove down Saddlehorse Canyon and hiked to the cabins on Sid's Mountain.  The next day, we drove to Sid's Leap.  (Saddlehorse Canyon has since been closed to motorized traffic.)

Sid Swazy was a wild cowboy in his time.  Some claim he was an outlaw who just never got caught doing anything illegal.  Other’s say he was just a rowdy fella who was liked by the outlaws because of his daring nature.

Sid and his family ranched on most all of the San Rafael Swell area and that’s why so many landmarks are named after them.  One of the most interesting is the one known as Sid’s Leap.  According to the legend, Sid and his brother, Charlie, stood on the edge of the narrow canyon looking straight down sixty-some feet to the San Rafael River Below.  At the spot where they stood, the canyon is only about 14 feet wide.  Charlie bet Sid some of his best heifers that he couldn’t jump his horse across.   Sid accepted the bet and won the heifers.

When we first began visiting Sid’s Leap years ago, the road was open all the  way to the canyon.  Our government has since decided that such an interesting landmark should be visited only by those who are healthy enough to hike six miles in the hot desert sun.  In other words, they closed a perfectly good road for no other reason than to return it to wilderness.  It is closed at the boundary for the wilderness study area.  So much for a wilderness being only roadless areas.