In Search of Blue Sun Cave

Part 2/3: Wandering the Desert to the Site

I crossed over the railroad tracks at the water tower, following some of the research trail I had done over the years. Within minutes, I felt like I was going in the wrong direction. The direction the desert road was going didn’t feel right, based on other info I had gathered during the research process. Nevertheless, I kept going, a massive grey area of uncertainty starting to build in my mind.

When I saw that sign above, I knew I was in the general vicinity of the Blue Sun Cave, but again, it didn’t feel right. I kept going, fairly confident that I’d cross paths with the entry into a preserve. I did.

At this point, I was clueless. My research led me to believe that this wasn’t where I should be. All I had at this point was my intuition, which I was not listening to, but also kind of was. Much doubt entered my mind, along with thoughts of: maybe there’s an unspoken rule of some kind that if you are going to share your Blue Sun Cave experience with others on the internetosphere, be sure to lead them in the right/wrong direction of confusion. My gut said this wasn’t correct, but some research and the sign below had me thinking, maybe this is where I should be.

The sign above has a photo of the Blue Sun Cave. I thought: well, maybe this is the area. I also thought, maybe the state park is purposely throwing me off a little.

I pedaled around and scanned the numerous hills and ridges of boulders with my binoculars. Nothing seemed to match the descriptions of what was available on the web. Nevertheless, I pedaled, stopped and glassed. I pedaled some more, stopped, and scanned some more with my binoculars. On a fairly strenuous uphill stretch of road/wash, I decided that no matter the outcome, I was going to enjoy desert riding for what it is.

At this point, I was thinking: there is no way I’m going to find it; the desert is vast; there are piles/jumbles of boulders everywhere; and this endeavor is more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack. The boulder piles are larger than a barn, for crying out loud, and there are boulder mounds/hills/ridges as far as the eye can see. Which barn is it? If I knew that, I could at least start to look for the haystack and then the needle.

I turned around and went back the way I came, thinking I’ll boulder/scramble around a little and maybe I’ll get lucky and see some bighorn sheep.

Then, on the road/wash at the kiosk/sign with the Blue Sun Cave photo on it, I happen upon two hikers, one who looks like Gandalf, complete with a long white beard and a wooden hiking staff. He didn’t have on a wizard’s hat, though. It was a wide-brimmed sun hat.

“Good morning. Beautiful out here,” I offered. Gandalf responded about how he loves the desert and then asked how far my bike can go on one charge.

“As far as my legs can take me,” I responded. He thought it was an e-bike. Pleasantries exchanged, I asked, “Have you ever been to that Blue Sun Cave that’s on the sign there?”

“Oh yeah, I’ve been there a few times. It’s over by Indian Hill. Go down the train tracks and you’ll see it. It’s a big hill off to your left. The cave is over there. Go around to the south side and you’ll see the cave up on a ledge.”

That was literally his description of where it is.

The other guy was silent the entire time.

Back in the direction of the water tower, I went. I passed the tower and made my way alongside the tracks and eventually I used the desert road on the side of the railroad. At some point, there seemed to be a clearly defined turn off the road to the left, creating another desert road that crossed over the tracks. I took it.

I pedaled in the direction of Indian Hill. I had read about Indian Hill in my research and knew where it was, generally speaking, based on my memory of Google Maps and what Gandalf said. More internet/research confusion, though, is in my mind. Several people online said that Blue Sun Cave is not at Indian Hill. That’s all they say/said in their postings.

Gandalf said it’s at Indian Hill.

At this point, I have no idea why I am even pedaling a bike across the desert in search of pictographs that I have no idea as to where they are, other than what Gandalf told me. I began to understand what drives people to go treasure hunting or dig for gold.

“Have I lost my mind?”

I asked myself that question more than once.

The photo above is from inside Blue Sun Cave.

Part 3/3 coming up.

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