The hike started off the Sand Flats Rd., then wiggled between fins & down slickrock bowls into the Mill Creek North Fork.
Rita leading the way up the first pitch into a forest of sandstone fins.
Sandy & Geoff following suit.
The surefooted Steinbergs clamber up.
Diana marches forcefully up & onward.
Jock the Jovial (aka the White Knight) tops out.
Our first rest/snack stop, with Tom pulling out his trusty GPS gizmo.
Alan, Diana, & Albey await Tom's signal to start again.
One of the larger fins we had to bypass.
Fins & foliage.
Taking our bearings before finding the stone ramps that would drop us into the canyon.
The White Knight 's famous foot massage.
Tom telling us what lies ahead.
Gingerly traversing the first steep slickrock pitch down toward the North Fork of Mill Creek.
Overlooking the green ribbon that marks the creek as it winds between sandstone walls below the La Sal Mts.
Heading toward the next slickrock bowl to traverse.
Tom leads us through the thicket as Geoff takes the high road.
Time to parade down the pour-off.
Easy does it.
On the last ledge above the creek bed.
A verdant batch of cottonwoods announces the creek's presence.
The creek spilling down a slickrock chute.
The Freetheys & Steinbergs mesmerized by another tall-tale from the White Knight. Penny's heard it all before.
Alan, Albey, Penny, Bonnie, Rita, Diana, & Tom are poised to resume hiking.
Ramblin' Bill Love at rest. Smile!
The North Fork of Mill Creek snaking through slickrock.
Cliffhandle Arch hugs the wall above the North Fork.
A wall of rock forces a bend in the creek.
A petroglyph panel of bighorn sheep about 200 yards above the first swimming hole that we came to.
Diana & Bonnie switchbacking down slickrock on the way to the swimming hole.
Scott Steinberg stroking his way back from the pour-off above the pool.
Moab Marc (look at those pectorals & iron stomach). Nuff said.
Not as cold as the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, but still quite refreshing.
Tom Messenger making quite the splash as he "backs in."
Rita Rumrill darting out after a quick dive in.
Saying farewell to a scenic swimming spot.
Well-etched rock art found on the back wall of a steep alcove between the North Fork's two major pools.
Well-weathered pictographs found on the same wall.
Rock art was also found on the big boulders sheltered in the alcove.
A rock art/metate grinding slab combo?
One last boulder with both rock art & metate-like dimples.
Scott wading back from the waterfall that pours into the second pool we came to.
Faded petroglyph anthropomorphs high on the wall above Mill Creek.
Tom fording Mill Creek yet again.
Mill Creek's version of Newspaper Rock, about 200 yards below the waterfall & pool.
Bonnie leads us down the creek without a paddle.
Aliens must have carefully constructed these stone rings, but what do they signify?
Penny the Wonder Dog cavorting in a shallow pool created by a beaver dam.
Our last petroglyph panel, including rake-head figures similar to those on the previous boulder.
Mill Creek about to break out of the canyon.
Waterfall created by the Powerhouse Dam at the terminus of this shuttle hike, 5.25 miles from its start.
