Cedar Mesa

Thursday and Friday were Fall break in my district so I was able to take a longer weekend trip.  Plus I took Wednesday off.  Yay both principals approved.  Wednesday I left home about 8:00.  I knew it would be a long drive down to Bluff, but this seemed like a really long drive.  I got there about 4:00 in the afternoon.

There are two or three RV places in Bluff.  I couldn’t decide whether to stay in Bluff or Blanding.  They are both close to Cedar Mesa, but the roads are not really convenient.  That is the roads from either place go to different places at Cedar Mesa.  I decided on Bluff.  One I have never stayed here before.  It was closer to Monument Valley if I decided to go there one night (45 miles)  so just under an hour.  And I liked the looks of the RV parks there.

I really don’t need anything fancy when I stay at an RV park.  Just a place to take a shower and I do like electricity to run my heater if it is cold.  And I do kind of like WI-FI, but it is not as important.

I stayed in Cadillac Ranch RV Park. It was right across the street from Fort Bluff museum.  It was Ok by RV park standards if you travel a lot.  But by Bluff standards it was great.  I ate several times at the San Juan River Kitchen.  The food was good.  And I like the atmosphere as well.  I noticed a fair amount of locals there and the waitress and chef were very friendly.  By small town standards, Bluff has 5 or 6 restaurants.  I just went to this one because there were several things on the menu I wanted to try.  The fish tacos were awesome and so was the Salmon Burger.

After checking into the RV park the first night I drove to the River House or Snake House Ruin.  This was  an awesome ruin next to the river and the jeep trail also crossed over an pioneer trail which was an added bonus.  There was also not much hiking which was good because I am still having problems with my foot.  I got there about 5:30 so the lighting was superb.  There were corn cobs there as well and that always gives me a thrill.  There were several square type rock boxed that I am guessing were for maize storage and some metates there, which was also cool to see.  The metates were built right into the structure.   This ruin was facing south, not west.  I think this may be one of those ruins people don’t go to often.  The road was sandy and there was one little part where you would probably need a high clearance 4x4 vehicle to navigate.  I almost didn’t continue when I got to it, but the jeep did fine.

The next day I woke up before the sun and was head  to the ranger station at Kane Gulch to see if I could get a permit to Moon house ruin.  They only allow 20 permits per day.  I think twelve of them are on line and the other 8 permits are first come first get. 

I wasn’t sure the best way to get from Kane Gulch RS from Bluff.  There are several ways.  I asked the waitress at San Juan River Kitchen and she told me to take Moki  Dugway.  I had heard that it was a dangerous road and she laughed and said “No that is just the reputation. It was built for Uranium trucks to traverse so it is very wide and good gravel.”

So that is where I was headed at 5:30 in the morning.  And she was right.  This road is nothing.  It could get a bit slippery in the winter, but as far as scary roads or roads from Hell –this is a piece of cake.

The sun is just starting to light up the sky and I am trying to get as far up the hill as I can so I can photograph Valley of gods as the sun is coming up. I pull of the road get my camera on the tripod and I hear Coyotes down below yipping and howling as the sun peaked up over the mountain. Very surreal.  The photographs didn’t turn out all that great but here is a selfie.

I made it to the ranger station about 10 minutes after 8 and was the first person to get a permit to Moon House Ruin.  There are only 8 handed out in person and 12 over the internet—so 20 altogether.

I headed down to the trailhead about 9:00 after planning my next two days with the help of the rangers.  They are very helpful, but be aware that some of them haven’t been to the places they are describing.   I always like to ask “What is your favorite place?”   “When did you go there?”  And that gives me an idea if they are a frequent hiker.

The road wasn’t as graded has the ranger said it would be.  I got to a place that was pretty rough and a man waved me down.  He was in a van and was afraid he wouldn’t be able to make it to the trailhead.  I don’t give people rides, but I saw this guy at the ranger’s station getting a permit. I was pretty sure he was safe. 

The road was rough so I was glad I picked up “Pat” I don’t think he could have made it in his van.  I think it would have bottomed out.  The hike was longer than I thought it would be and straight down and straight back up. I was having a hard time and I was glad I had Pat with me.  He was nice to wait for me. 

Pat spent several years saving money and then he quit his job and is using his savings to hike and travel.  He has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail and the Pacific Coast trail.  He has a blog patskros.blogspot.com   if you are interested.

Moon House Ruin was fascinating.

It's the unusual construction and pictographs that bring the visitors.Tree ring cores of the juniper and pinyon logs used to construct the site indicate a 42-year construction span, between 1226 and 1268 AD, with three peak building periods. 

If you look at the main section of ruins you will
see two different construction techniques. Some of the structures (on the right) are constructed of horizontal and vertical wood poles, lashed together with willow or yucca strips. The wood lattice is then covered with mud. This so called jacal technique was used to build the earliest structures in the ruins. Many of these ruins have horse-collar shaped doorways.

The main part of the cliff dwelling (on the left) is composed of shaped sandstone blocks. Small stones are placed in the mortar between the blocks. This decorative style is employed on the later structures at Moon House.  Archaeologists have suggested that the site was merely a storehouse for maize, but why would it be so exquisite?  Perhaps as a shrine for the life blood of the community.

Pat had wandered off so I started to hike back and of course he caught up with me.  On the hike out I was again glad I had given him a ride.  I dropped him off at his van and we parted ways.

The other ruin I wanted to see was citadel ruin.  This was suppose to be a moderate hike.  The weather was beautiful.  There were a few people on the trail, but just a few.  This was a pretty straightforward hike with a clearly marked trail, but at some point you have to veer to the right and and do some scrambling.  Then there is the walk on the slickrock gangplank as the isthmus before you seemingly floats in the sky.

The Citadel, contains no rock art and I found no pottery shards. But the four big rooms, exquisitely masoned, with their front walls as flush as any plumb line could design them. The builders didn’t bother with roofs—instead they masoned the walls all the way up to the ceiling that guards the site, seven feet off the floor. And did I mention the view?  A 360* view of the canyon below. A defensive position?  Perhaps.  Although the nearest water would be 500 feet below and that water would probably dry up during the summer.

When I got to the ruin there was a small family there.  The kids couldn’t have been older than 5 and 7.    I love it when families take their families outside and show them the wonders of the world around them. I was in awe of the building of citadel.  It is indeed an amazing ruin.

I made it back to the jeep about a half hour before it got dark.  I was very tired and sore and was glad I had a nice little trailer to collapse in.

The next day I was still really sore so I looked for places that I wouldn’t have to hike very far.  16 room ruin or 16 room house is an easy drive along the San Juan River on the opposite side of the river from River House Ruin that I visited when I first got here.  This ruin did not face south or west but almost straight north.  I wonder if it was a summer home.  Corn could clearly be grown on the river bottoms and water would be readily available from the river.  In fact, those fields are corn fields even today.

There was another family searching these ruins.  As the father took the kids off to explore the mother and I reflected on how these ingenious people were able not only to live, but flourish at least until the mid 1300’s

Why did they leave? It is impossible to find a single cause that can explain it, but there appear to be several that contributed. First, the climate during the Pueblo III period was somewhat unstable with erratic rainfall patterns and periods of drought. This weather problem climaxed with a thirty-year drought starting about 1270 that coincided with a cooling trend that significantly shortened the growing season. Perhaps the expanding population had pressed the limits of the land's capacity to support the people so that they were unable to survive the climatic upheavals of the thirteenth century.

Could they have been driven out by nomadic tribes, such as Utes or Navajos? There is no direct evidence that either group, or any other like them, was in the area that early. There is mounting evidence, however, that the Numic-speaking peoples, of whom the Utes and Paiutes are part, had spread northwestward out of southwestern Nevada and were in contact with the Pueblo-like peoples of western Utah by A.D. 1200. It is certainly possible that they were in San Juan County shortly after that. Ute and Paiute sites are very difficult to distinguish from Anasazi campsites, and we may not be recognizing them. Navajos were in northwestern New Mexico by 1500, but we do not know where they were before that. Perhaps the answer to the Anasazis' departure from Utah lies in a combination of the bad-climate and the arriving-nomads theories.

See: J. Richard Ambler and Marc Gaede, The Anasazi (1977); and Linda S. Cordell, Prehistory of the Southwest (1984).

I then did a quick hike to Ballroom cave and a cave/ruin next to it.  This ruin which is unnamed is inaccessible unless you had a ladder.  There was a rope, but with only one person I wasn't able to climb up. That rounded out my second day.

I devoted the third day to driving the Montezuma creek road.  There were some ruins I wanted to see there that were away from the Cedar Mesa group along with a Kiva that the BLM had restored.  There is an excellent blog that details this area  http://www.southwestbrowneyes.com/ the writer also works at the Monticello Welcome Center.  I was looking specifically for the 3 Kiva area and Honeycomb Ruin and found both of them, along with a winery/orchard.

One more night and then I am headed home tomorrow.  One the way home a took a photo of this lovely appendage.  I don't know what this is called, but I love it.

In closing I must quote Thoreau--

“This curious world we inhabit is more wonderful than convenient; more beautiful than it is useful; it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used.”

― Henry David Thoreau

Mesa Falls and Tetons

I have always wanted to go back to Mesa Falls near St Anthony Idaho.  I spent a day here when I attended Ricks College and it was beautiful.  I think it is one of the most under photographed falls, except for maybe by Idahoans.

ready to go

I passed Ricks College or BYU Idaho as they call it now and as I drove by my old dorm I found they were tearing it down! To make a parking lot! I had a lot of great memories in that dorm.  Two different apartments and 5 different roommates.  Oh the winters were cold here.  I didn't have a car and sometimes walking to the grocery store my nose would freeze shut.  It was a great place to shop because they delivered your groceries to your door.  How great is that.

Rexburg Temple

Stopped by the Rexburg Temple to take a photo.




I was on on my way to Mesa Falls.  There is a campground near here but it is not very big.  I am hopeful I can find a place to camp there.

Mesa Falls has really changed.


Like most good things, it now costs to get in and they have made the old lodge there a visitor center and a gift shop.  Still it is a pretty falls and when you go in the early evening and morning to take pictures there are few people there.

 

I stopped here first to see what it looked like.  I paid the 5 dollar fee and strolled around a bit then I decided to find a place to stay.  Oops all the campgrounds are full but there are lots of places to camp.  I just don't like to camp outside of a campground usually.  Just for safety mostly.  I went back to the Falls to wait for the sunset.  Guess what? It was just me.  I love it when there is no chatter but just the sounds of nature.

 A lot of the good places to take photos had been closed off.  I understand that they need to protect people, but really! I did climb over a safety fence to get a better picture.




This is the lodge that has been turned into a gift store.

Beautiful Falls!!  And a quiet peaceful night.  Now to find a place to camp.  The sun was fading.  I saw many places along the road, but they just didn't feel right so I turned down a forest service road that followed the Warm River.  The scenery was beautiful.

I ended up following forest road 15 for about 45 minutes when I came to a dead end at an old ranger station/ fish hatchery right next to Warm River Springs.  This is where the Warm River originates.

As I was taking this photo I heard a woof.  It was a deep woof.  Not a bark.  I think it was a bear or maybe Bigfoot alias Sasquatch!  I got out of there pretty fast.  Now I was a bit unnerved.  I still couldn't find a place to pull  the trailer into.  I finally decided to just go back to the parking lot of Mesa Falls.  I was going to go there early in the morning to take photos anyway. And at least I would have an outhouse.  I figured I would be gone before anyone showed up, even though I saw several no camping signs.  I wasn't camping.  I was just sleeping!

I woke up by 5:00 to catch the first rays of sunlight.



I think I liked the Sunset photos better than the Sunrise Photos.  Anyway here is the result.

Now I was off to Find Cave Falls and Bechler Ranger Station which technically is a part of Yellowstone National Park at the very bottom tip.  

This is a pretty rough road.  I don't know why I do this to myself.  I seem to pick the dustiest bumpiest roads in the country.  While traveling on the Cave Falls Road I saw a black object in the road in front of me.  It was a black bear running lickity spit down the road in front of me.  He was in the brush before I could stop and take a picture of him and I wasn't about to track him down.  I did tell the ranger when I reached Bechler.  

And this is Cave Falls.  I would like to go back and explore this area a little bit more.  I have heard that there is some great back country that starts from Bechler Ranger Station.

For Some Reason, maybe it is my propensity to travel bumpy dusty gravel roads.  I decided to take the Ashton-Flagg Road to Grand Tetons National Park.  Oh it is a rough long road.  And I happened to get behind some guy pulling a bunch of canoes to the boy scout camp (Camp Loa).  

But the Scenery was nice.










I found a fee camping spot right outside of The National Park along highway 89/26.  If  you like to camp "off the grid"  this is the website to use.  Be forewarned that these sites are free  or charge a small fee but they do not have amenities like established campsites.  This particular site had some incredible views of the Tetons, but also a few sites tucked into the trees.  The top was pretty full with bigger rigs (Which is just about any rig) so I went down into the trees.  This site is not far from a bathroom (about 3 miles).

This is a photo of my "rig" on the top.  You can see the awesome views.  Here is the link to the free campsites website. https://freecampsites.net/


I don't really "camp" when I go on these trips.  I don't build a fire or do a lot of cooking.  That is for times when I am with my family.  I think that is why I like this set up so much when I am by myself.  I take photos early in the morning when the light is good  and if the light becomes harsh I usually go back to the trailer and read  or sleep or edit photos. Then I start back out again in the late afternoon.

I keep my food and my cooler in the jeep along with my water.  I do this for two reasons.  One I am usually in bear country and two I don't want to get stranded in my jeep somewhere without resources.

I have a goal zero "Sherpa" battery that I charge before I go.  This will usually charge my ipad completely one time and my phone many  times.

If I go on a trip longer than 3 days, I like to stay in a campground that has an amp service and a nice bathroom.  If I can't find one I have a shower set up that I use.  The pump for this shower is charged by my goal zero.  I put the pump in my collapsible bucket filled with water and it pumps the water out the shower head.  I have this nifty shower tent that stores flat.

 Here's a photo of the shower setup.

I can set up my camp in less than 10 minutes, if I don't set the shower up.

So after I set up the camp I left to search for Moulton's Barn --a bucket list item for most photographers and it really isn't even in the park.  In fact most  good views of the Tetons are outside of the park.  It wasn't far from my campsite and it did not disappoint. 

And I was back again early in the morning.  I just have a small rant.  I was not the first one there in the morning. I went and stood by the group of people that had already gathered.  It probably wasn't my preferred location but they got there first.  Then another photographer came about 10 minutes

later and set up directly in front of everyone.  Nobody said 

anything so I yelled "Hey, your'e in my shot."  He said, "I was here first." and then  he said, "Besides you guys are in the wrong place."  About that time the sun started to reflect on the mountain.  So what do you do?

Here's the end result after I cloned the rude man out of the photo, which was very time consuming.

Another Ionic place for photographers  is Schwabacher's Landing.  I was here early one morning and it was cold and misty.  A bear walked in my photo just across the river, but he was moving pretty fast and I had my wide angle lens on rather than my telephoto lens.

I also saw some moose and their babies and I had a delightful time watching beaver.  They are my spirit animal and  I am always searching for a good close-up. 

 I noticed a young couple eating dinner next to the beaver dam near Schwabacher's Landing and a beaver was literally just 2 feet from where the young lady was eating mac and cheese. Yes they cooked their meal on a butane stove right there.  I love that. The beaver would put a stick on the dam and then he would dip back into the water to find another one. I whispered to her how cool that was and I had never gotten that close to a beaver.  She said she had never seen a beaver.  I just couldn't put my camera lens in her face to take a photo.  It seemed wrong.  So we just shared the moment.  I hope I am a part of her memory like she is a part of mine.

I had a great time at Teton National Park.  I intend to go back now that I have an idea where some of the locations are.  Here is my parting shot.

And a quote from Thoreau-- I have, as it were, my own sun and moon and stars, and a little world all to myself.”

 

Sawtooth Mountains

This was the biggest trip I took this  summer.  I went into the Sawtooth Mountain Range in Idaho  to Redfish Lake, Stanley, Salmon and then back home.    This trip had some special meaning to me for two reasons.  One it is the longest trip by far, I have been on since I got my little "Flying R" mini trailer and two--I will explain that later.






I love this little trailer.  It is well built with  1/2  inch plywood. Nice tires and axle. While there is no kitchen there is storage in the back for my camp stove, pots and pans, etc., but I really don't cook very much when I travel.  I usually keep my food in the jeep for convenience. It is just the right size for one person.  I have a DVD player, although I rarely use it, a heater and  fan for when I can hook up to electricity.

So anyway, I left Tuesday morning with the idea I would make it into Redfish Lake for the first night.  The first leg of the trip is about 300 miles, which is a pretty hard drive. That is about the longest drive I did in Iceland. Part of it was on Freeway, which I hate and the other half on state highways.

The trip there was pretty much uneventful.  I did pump gas out of this little baby somewhere between Sun Valley and Redfish Lake.  It really made me smile and it was pump first pay later.  I think it was in the small town of Galena.

Which was lucky, because I had about a quarter of a tank left.  I meant to get gas in Sun Valley but forgot. (I bought a cute bird house there instead.)

Redfish Lake really is as pretty as everyone says.  A good portion of it they keep roadless.  I found one campsite in the least desirable campsite of the bunch and I was glad I found a place.  This is Tuesday people, why are the campgrounds so full!   This was my camping spot the first night in the Mount Heyburn campground. Nice campground, quiet, shade and a clean  outhouse.

               
It was about four so I ate some flat bread, some cheese and a little chicken salad.  I really don't eat much when I travel.  The sunset was Ok but there were no clouds so really not all that spectacular.  I got up to take the sunrise and still no clouds, but this one was a little bit better, because the mountains faced South and there was a bit of Moon.

Redfish Lake Sunrise

I was going to spend another night at Redfish Lake, but decided to try Stanley Lake for the next night.  Stanley Lake is not far from Redfish Lake and is more secluded and less busy.  For one thing, there is not a lodge at Stanley like there is at Redfish, so there are only campers there.  I am hopeful I can find a great place to camp.

I love Stanley.  What a small unpretentious little town.  And by little I mean little, less than 100 people who live there full time.  Of course, there are more people in the summer months.  Stanley is right on the intersection of three  great scenic byways in Idaho--Ponderosa Pine, Sawtooth. and Salmon River.  I will be traveling on the Sawtooth and the Salmon River.  The Ponderosa heads to the Boise area, and I will not be going that way.  There is rafting, horseback riding, climbing etc.  Lots of outdoor stuff.

Stanley Lake is heavenly and I found a great spot.  Right next to the lake and looking right at McGown Peak.  I had to turn pretty tight to get into the campground, But I am getting really good at backing this baby up, thanks to my son who gave me a lesson before I left.  Now I am not afraid of finding a campsite because I don't need a pull through.    

So on the agenda today is finding natural hot posts to sit in.  I bought a book at the Redfish Lake Lodge  called  "Hiking Hot Springs in the Pacific Northwest."  Are there are a lot in the Stanley area.

  So here I go.  

   

First hot spring on the list that I visited is called Boat Box or Elkhorn Hot Spring.  If you didn't have directions or know this was there you would not even have an idea that it is just off the road.  The directions in this book were extremely accurate.  

      

Boat Box Hot Springs  is pretty hot. The book said 136 degrees.  First you have to put the end of the hose in the tub, then use the green bucket to put in water from the Salmon River.  You have to put in quite a few buckets of water to get the temperature right.  It was just a bit too hot, but I sat in anyway.  I am guessing it was at least 110 degrees. One of the the things I don't like about camping is not having a shower so let me tell you, this felt pretty nice.  The Salmon River Road is just to the left of the first picture, but the bank is so steep that you can not see the tub from the road.  This one reminded me of a community hot tub I sat in in Iceland.

The next spring I found was called Basin Creek.  It wasn't far of the road, just a 5 minute walk but it did not look nice enough to go through the effort of getting in and fixing the rocks.  If I had been with someone else to help share the load, maybe.

Basin Creek

Me at Sunbeam Hot Springs
Swimsuit required!

The next springs was a really nice one. Sunbeam Hot Springs.   This was also just off the road, and in the past had been a bathhouse.  Part of the old  bath house is still standing and has been restored somewhat.  There is also a restroom here, so I didn't have to change in the jeep or keep my wet swimsuit on.  This one is very hot, but it is easy to adjust the temperature by moving the rocks to let more river water in.  There were several people sitting in this one.  The gravel where I was sitting would get pretty hot and I would have to adjust my weight.  This one is probably my favorite of the trip.

Sunbeam Hot Springs.  I took this the next morning when there were
no people there.  It looks unassuming, but it is very nice.

After sitting in these hot springs I was on an adventure to find the Land of Yankee Fork.  I remember reading about this when I was in 4th grade studying Idaho history.  I was looking for the ghost towns of Custer and Bonanza.  First stop Bonanza.
The cemetery at Bonanza was one of the prettiest and well kept broken down cemeteries I have been to, if that makes sense.

Headstones in Bonanza

And perhaps hauntingly beautiful are the many headstones with a simple carving "Unknown."  I reflected on the many people who died while taming the Great West.  Those who perhaps made their fortunes and then lost them or maybe never even won them at all.  The men certainly, but also the women and children who followed their Husbands and Fathers into the "Unknown."