A Utah Adventure

[Moody]

Fall is the time for Southern Utah. The crowds have gone, and there are plenty of out of the way places to hide.


This is a trip report from last fall....enjoy.
adventure |adˈven ch ər; əd-|
noun
an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity : her recent adventures in Italy.

Hiking through the desert at night, sans my much needed spectacles, headlamp, and a scant 20 oz. of water remaining between my son and I, a humorous thought entered my mind, "This is an adventure alright."

After hiking here:

Although my 'fear meter' was never pegged, we became disoriented, and ran out of daylight on our return trip. After hiking for about 2 hours after the sun had set, we decided we -should- have made it back to the road. I was hiking blindly, as I only had my sunglasses with me, as I left my glasses back at the cars. I figured the trip would take us about 3 hours, and we left at 2:30 pm. We unfolded the map, used Dave's headlamp, and along with my Dad's old compass, realized we had turned completely around in the dark and we were heading in the opposite direction. After turning around, and heading on a solid southern route, we made it back to the road, only 2 or 3 miles away from our vehicles. We arrived at the vehicles at 11:30 pm. Exhausted, we camped right there on the edge of the mesa.

I will remember to bring the 10 essentials on every hiking trip in the future...


More to come.

 

[Moody]

Our casual group of adventurers consisted of Dave, Jamie, and their children, Davey and Cedar. Also along for the ride was Nate, and his longtime friend Brandon from S. Carolina who had flown in just for the trip. In my vehicle was my son Alexander and myself. Additionally, we had Nesta, Nate's German Shepherd to keep an eye out for those pesky skinwalkers.

The Posse, beginning with Nate:

Brandon:

Cedar and Nesta:

Dave and Davey:

Jamie (who kept her wits about her, pulling full-time mom duties)

Alexander and I:

 

[Moody]

Adventures rarely begin as scheduled, and as such, we arrived at our camp at near 1 am. After setting up a couple of backpacking tents, we celebrated our arrival with a 'Hoptober' (or two) from New Belgium Brewing, it being the first day of October and all.

We all woke up slowly to Zander running around and finding rocks that he just had to show us. After a quick breakfast and some coffee on the go, we ventured out into Goblin Valley State Park. (I'll be there again next week, if anyone is going to be in the area)

 

[Moody]

After getting our share of Goblins, and the valley bringing the heat, we decided to drive out on the Molly's Castle 4WD road. It is a nice and scenic route, and although it seems tame overall, there were a couple of deep sand spots that required low range and a little bit of tension in the buttocks along with an appropriate ratio of the skinny pedal to make it through.

"I think it died yesterday..." Zander said. Dead things are pretty neat to both kids and adults. Dave, a science teacher, gave Zander (and the rest of us) brief lesson on decomposition.

 

[Moody]

After some thorough inspection of the deceased, we thought we ought to get back to the camp and get ourselves, well...'hydrated' for the evening.

One quick stop to view a pictograph panel before we went back:

Can you see them above the truck?

They have deteriorated quite a bit, but are still the remarkable 'Barrier Reef' style that is unique to the area.

Closer shots:

 

[Moody]

Continued:

Once we had gone back to camp for a little while, we decided we needed a drive to see some more of the canyon we were camped in. We drove up a ways to find the route around Temple Mountain, but we ended up just viewing the old mines, cabin and it's remnants, and an abandoned car. Knowing we must be in the right place in Southern Utah, we saw a couple of trucks up near the mines, one with a trailer and what appeared to be an older Maggiolina on top and another truck with a variation of the FWC on back. We didn't get the chance to meet. Once we had gone back to camp, we were dragging as some of us had gone to bed at 4 am. The night didn't last, and most of us were asleep by 10:30 or so.

The next morning, we sent Nate, Brandon, and Nesta on their way, as they were planning to hike Ding and Dang (awesome slot canyon, by the way) before heading home to spend a night on the town since Brandon was scheduled to fly out Sunday.

We packed up (no lollygagging Nate) and went on our way. With a quick stop at the Hollow Mountain Store in Hanksville for munchies, we drove south towards Hite and Lake Powell.

The viewpoint above Hite:

 

[Moody]

There isn't too much distance between "I'm not quite sure where I am" to "Do we make a fire and sleep here tonight?" when you are lost in the desert.

Cedar Mesa is appropriately called Cedar Mesa for a legitimate reason-it has lots of cedar trees on top. Sounds great and all, but makes navigating at night for 6 people and one headlamp a challenge (especially a guy without his glasses). It is easy to head to the right around that tree, to the left around that wash, and right around the other tree to find yourself completely turned in the opposite direction.

It has been said that coming through a stressful experience with people solidifies or destroys relationships. I am happy to say I wouldn't hesitate to adventure anywhere again with Dave and Jami. Top-shelf, salt-of-the-earth, honest to goodness people. It is pleasure to call them my friends.

Dave, Jami, Davey, and Cedar (hiding out in Mom's pack):

 

[Moody]

From where our cars were parked, we decided to head up a wash to see what we might stumble across on our way to the ruins. Dave saw this nice piece nestled amongst some rocks in the wash:

After oogling over it for a few minutes, we placed it back where it was found, and continued on. Before too long, we topped out on the mesa. From there, we followed some random washes to the cliff edge where we caught our first glimpse of our destination:

(Do you see the structures behind us?)

If you look closely in the photo of Zander and I, you can see we are standing on the edge of a significant cliff. As such, we had to work our way back towards the west in order to get out onto the fin that the Citadel was built on.

We found a rough game trail along the rim's edge, and followed it until we could cross over to the opposite side. On our way, we spotted this set of structures hiding out:

 

[Moody]

My excitement was building as we scrambled down the face and onto the fin that the ruins were located on. I hurried on ahead as I wanted to have a few moments alone with the ruins before everyone else arrived. I took exactly one picture of Alexander at the base of the fin, and didn't take another one until we were right at the ruin-I was too enthralled with what I was seeing. First was the remnant of a defensive wall built across the fin, presumably as a last ditch effort against potential enemies. Then, all along the fin were natural potholes that has obviously held water in them for people long since gone. A few random rocks strewn at spillover points suggest to me that they were once placed neatly to maintain the rainwater for as long as possible.

Zander on the fin just before the final climb to the ruins which are built around the base of the large rock on top of the fin.

 

[Moody]

The final ascent to the ruins requires a few moves to access. As I was scoping the easiest way up, Zander had sat down on a rock in the shade. As I looked at him, I saw he was sitting next to a metate' very easily in the same spot a Native had 800+ years ago to grind thier Maize.

After getting all warm and fuzzy for a few moments, I looked up:

The Citadel:

 

[Moody]

I had better finish this up.

After our little adventure, I attempted to sleep in a bit on Sunday and rest. I was pleased when Zander asked, "Are we going to go on another hike?" Obviously his spirits weren't dampened by the previous night. We packed at a leisurely pace, and decided to drive down the Moki Dugway and then up the backside of Comb Ridge (Butler Wash). The road was much more washed out than when I was there before, and one spot had washed out so much that it would have required a much more capable vehicle than mine to get through. Thankfully there was a nice little bypass that had been created around the washout.

Once we were off of the dirt, we went to see the well-traveled and not-so-off-the-beaten-path Butler Wash ruins.

The short 1/2 mile hike was a nice way to stretch our legs out after the previous day's jaunt. Although they are somewhat 'commercialized' they are still pretty amazing.

An arch just above the ruins:

Overall, a fantastic trip. Thanks for coming along with me. I re-learned some lessons, enjoyed the company of good friends, and got my fill of Southern Utah, if at least for a week or so.

I love the desert.

-Roger

 

[chnlisle]

Great stuff. Thank you.

 

[SunMan]

Outstanding. We love Utah, so much to see.

 

[ski3pin]

Very, very nice, thanks for the trip report and photos. This is one we followed along with a map at hand. It is so good to see young families getting their kids out on real adventures and learning/teaching that we have treasures all around us. We can't make a fall trip...........but this is certainly country the Lady and I could happily disappear into, and we will.

 

[Moody]

Thanks, Gentlemen. I appreciate it. I will add some more soon, if you all don't mind.

I like this little community...relaxed and fun. Nothing too serious.

Ski3pin, I wanted to say ''thanks" for posting up the campers for sale...I am looking at both new and used.

 

[highz]

Really enjoyed reading this trip report. As soon as I get home from work, I'm pulling out the Utah maps.

 

[biugueits]

WOW! Incredible Place! Very... very... nice!

 

[Steve Scearce]

Nice report and great pics. I especially liked the "Dusk @ the Citadel" series. It's an awesome place. We'll be headed out that way next weekend.

 

[locrwln]

Great pics and report.

I thought you had sold the LX? I sold the 80 I had when we met in Death Valley. Great rigs, just not what we wanted anymore.

If you get a FWC, you will like it.

Jack

 

[Lighthawk]

Great photos and TR of an area I would like to spend more time visiting. I've always enjoyed rock art and the wonder of abandoned Anasazi ruins. The story of one headlamp and missing the right glasses sounds a bit like something I would do.