A colorful sunset over Mt. Crested Butte, Colorado – November.
Colorful Crested Butte
Cedar Mesa Antiquity
Dawn at an Ancestral Puebloan ruin perched high on the rim of a Cedar Mesa canyon in Utah. *Please note that I did not enter or disturb these well-preserved ruins; the internal lighting effect was from a flashlight that I carefully placed on the window sills.
Sunrise light illuminates an Ancestral Puebloan ruin with an expansive view on Cedar Mesa, Utah.
Earlier this month to wrap up our Utah road trip we spent several days camping up on Cedar Mesa and hiking into various canyons to look for Ancestral Puebloan ruins. I would guess that most or all of these ruins have been discovered (and pillaged) by now, but it is still great fun to hike through these canyons and try to spot them yourself.
The Cedar Mesa Plateau has one of the highest concentration of Ancestral Puebloan ruins in the Four Corners, with sites scattered up and down every canyon. The Ancestral Puebloans (also sometimes referred to by the outdated term “Anasazi”) lived in the Four Corners region roughly one thousand years ago, though evidence of their predecessors dates all the way back to 6500 B.C. By about 1300 A.D. the region was abandoned.
Most of these ruin sites are located under natural alcoves on high ledges, oftentimes with difficult access points that provided defensive protection. The Ancestral Puebloans farmed corn on the canyon floors or up on the rims, and even today you can still find little dried corn cobs in many of the ruins. Most of the pottery has been stolen by pothunters by now, but you can still find small potsherds and sharp rock blades around some of the more remote ruins.
More photos below! Continue reading “Cedar Mesa Antiquity”
Hiking the Honaker Trail
Horn Point, a precipitous outcropping along the Honaker Trail above the San Juan River gorge, Utah.
If you look at my recent photo of Goosenecks State Park, you can see that there’s absolutely no way to hike down to the San Juan River in that area — continuous cliff bands block any possible route down. However, back in the 1890s a precipitous trail was constructed nearby by Henry Honaker as a supply route for gold prospectors. Honaker’s unbelievable trail zig zags down a puzzle-like route from the rim to the river, oftentimes descending sheer cliffs via large ramps built from meticulously stacked rocks.
See more photos below! Continue reading “Hiking the Honaker Trail”
Stormy Goosenecks
Ominous storm clouds approach the Goosenecks of the San Juan River, as seen from Goosenecks State Park overlook on the southern end of Cedar Mesa in southeastern Utah. The San Juan River, which originates from the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado, slowly flows through the 1000 foot deep canyon walls, forming one of the world’s best examples of entrenched river meanders.
Natural Bridges
Sipapu Bridge spans the White Canyon. *Full disclosure: Utilizing my official artistic license, I have taken the liberty of photoshopping out some metal handrails that exist to help people walk down the steep slickrock here.
After all these years of exploring the deserts and canyons of Utah, I never bothered to go to Natural Bridges National Monument. It’s pretty much out of the way from anywhere and after all, it’s just another couple arches, right? Well, on our recent road trip after backpacking in nearby Dark Canyon, Natural Bridges was finally on our way, so I figured we might as well stop and check it out.
And we were blown away. First off, the natural bridges — particularly Sipapu — are absolutely mind-boggling. These aren’t some dainty little arches; these are ginormous masses of earth soaring through the sky over the canyon. And what a canyon too! Even if the bridges weren’t there, White Canyon would still be an awesome place for a hike. And if that’s not enough, there’s an abundance of Ancestral Puebloan ruins throughout the canyon — including some of the most fascinating sites I’ve yet seen.
Sipapu Bridge soars directly overhead, high above a cottonwood tree with autumn colors.
The thing about Natural Bridges Monument, though, is that there’s not a whole lot to see from the road. A roadside tourist might not see what’s so great about this place. You’ve got to at least hike down to Sipapu to see the glory. On our first day there we hiked the entire “three bridge” loop hike starting and ending at the Sipapu trailhead. We enjoyed the canyon so much we decided to spend a second day there hiking up-canyon to see more of it!
Sipapu Bridge soars over some autumn colored cottonwood trees in White Canyon. With a height of 220 feet and length of 225 feet (some say 268 feet), Sipapu Bridge is the second longest natural bridge in the world (after Rainbow Bridge) and the seventh longest arch if you consider it an arch. Natural bridges are formed by erosion from a creek or river that eventually runs underneath them, while arches are formed by erosion from seepage, freezing, sand, and/or wind.
A look inside an Ancestral Puebloan kiva with a still-intact roof after approximately 1000-700 years.
* Please note that I did NOT enter this kiva, which would be a foolish thing to do and could possibly damage the ancient structure. I carefully pointed my camera through a gap below the roof, and my ultra-wide lens makes it look like a view from inside.
Horse collar ruins are located between Sipapu and Kachina bridges, up on a hard-to-get-to ledge as usual. It’s so fascinating to image people living here almost a thousand years ago, and the fact that these ruins have been sitting here for that long gives them an aura of sacredness.
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Dark Canyon
About to hike down into Dark Canyon, from the Sundance trailhead.
At the end of October after our time around the Green River and Capitol Reef, we headed down past the north end of Lake Powell and over to Dark Canyon, where we spent two nights backpacking and hiking up and down the canyon. It’s been over 16 years since I’ve visited this canyon and it’s as spectacular as I remember, kind of like a mini Grand Canyon. Here’s a few of my favorite photos from the trip.
Dusk light reflected in a creekside pond in Dark Canyon.
Deep in Dark Canyon.
Slanted Landscape
The Waterpocket Fold as seen from Navajo Knobs, with the Henry Mountains in the background — Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.
Over the Green
Looking out over the canyonlands near the Green River from within a unique double arch formation on the canyon rim.
In late October we hit the road for two weeks of camping and hiking in the deserts of southern Utah. Our first destination was the remote and relatively seldom-visited region along the Green River between the towns of Green River and Hanksville.
See more photos below! Continue reading “Over the Green”
Blue Mesa
A rare calm reflection in Blue Mesa Reservoir on a cloudy November day, Colorado.
I hopped out of the truck during a road construction stop yesterday to snap this shot during our drive back to Crested Butte after two weeks in the deserts of southern Utah. It was a cold but wonderful road trip, and I will be posting lots of photos in the coming days!
Butte o’ Gold
A rainbow shines over the town of Crested Butte, Colorado – October.
