IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Day 5: Sheiks Canyon & The Green Mask

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

We were up before sunrise on Wednesday for a quick breakfast so that we could get a quick hike down into Sheiks Canyon before Dave would have to head back home. First up in Sheiks Canyon was the Yellow House Ruin. The roof beams over part of this ruin still have the yucca lashings with knots tied to the roof beams. It’s a pretty amazing site.

Yellow House

Yellow House Alcove

Yellow House Roof

A good look at the very cool roof structure still intact.

Jared and the Yellow House

Jared takes a photo into the Yellow House.

A little further down the canyon we came across another small ruin.

Welcome Mat

This small structure has a unique step right in front of the doorway.

Ruin & Faint Pictographs

It also has some faint white pictographs located just above, than you can see in this photo.

As we continued down-canyon were a couple of steep talus slopes we needed to descend to get around some big pour-overs.

Sheiks Canyon

A view into Sheiks Canyon as we near Grand Gulch.

Dave and the Gulch

Dave looking down into Grand Gulch from a viewpoint along our hike.

Tucked-Away Granary

A small granary we passed by on our way to The Green Mask alcove.

Once we got near the confluence with Grand Gulch we spotted the Green Mask alcove with it’s ceiling filled with pictographs.

Ceiling Panels

There were a lot of pictographs located near the ceiling of this alcove and out of reach. There are more in the photo below.

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Day 4: From the Maze to the Mesa

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

On our forth day Under the Ledge, we awoke to an awesome sunrise. The colors in the sky were just amazing! I quickly hopped out of my tent and grabed my camera for a photo. When I got my shot composed, I realized that I had taken the battery out the previous night to charge in the Jeep…and hadn’t replaced it! I ran back to the Jeep and grabbed the fully charged battery, but missed the best colors of the sunrise in the process. Here’s the shot I managed to get before all of the colors disappeared.

Color Over the La Sals

After the colors over the La Sal Mountains were gone, I turned around and took a few more early morning shots.

Standing Rock on Fire

Standing Rock bathed in golden early morning sunlight on our last day in the Land of Standing Rocks.

Lizard and The Plug

Lizard Rock and The Plug glowing in the early morning sunlight.

First Light

The first light of the day strikes Ekker Butte and the rims of the canyons that make up The Maze.

After sunrise we had some breakfast and packed up camp so that we could move on. We would have a long and full day ahead of us, since we would be leaving The Maze and heading to Cedar Mesa…but there would be plenty of stops along the way.

Before leaving The Maze we parked near Mother and Child Rock so that we could hike a little way into into Ernie’s country. We dropped down into Range Canyon so that we could visit Cedar Bark Ruin and Lou’s Spring.

Cedar Bark Ruin

There has been some disagreement as to how old this ruin actually is, however, after seeing it in person, in my opinion, the ruin itself looks pretty old and not recently made, but the roof certainly looks newer, like someone may have added it. I’m no expert and these are just my impressions from my visit to the site.

Lous Spring Pictographs

These very faint pictographs found on the ceiling of the alcove that contains Lou’s Spring kind of remind me of the one’s located across the Colorado River in Cave Spring in the Needles District.

After reaching the Jeeps again, we finally started to head out around Teapot Canyon. Along the rough road we met some of Canyonland’s rangers in 4×4 training. We had to wait for a few minutes to let them pass. They were driving the roughest stretch of road in the park’s 4-door Jeep Rubicon Wrangler.

Leaving the Maze

Just a photo of my Jeep as we head out of The Maze.

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Day 3: The Doll House & Tibbett Arch

Monday, April 11, 2011

During our second night camping at Chimney Rock there was much less wind, so I slept a lot better. When we woke up in the morning it was also a bit warmer and the wind had completely disappeared. I, of course, grabbed my camera and took a few photos as the sun was coming up.

Ekker Butte at Sunrise

The sun rising in the east over the La Sal Mountains lights up Ekker Butte.

Layers in Blue

Early morning light looking towards the La Sal Mountains casts a blue hue over all the different layers of the landscape.

Chocolate Bars

Known to most as The Chocolate Drops because they are misnamed on current maps. They really look more like Chocolate Bars to me, anyway. The Maze Overlook is located right behind them from this angle.

Chimney Rock Camp

Our campsite near Chimney Rock before packing up and leaving.

Since our permit for the Chimney Rock camp was only for two nights, we packed up camp after some breakfast so that we could move on, and then headed to The Doll House.

Our first hike in The Doll House area was the Granary Loop, which gave us a nice view of Surprise Valley on our way to visit a few hidden ruins.

The Doll House

View of The Doll House while hiking The Granary Trail.

Photos in the Slot

On our way to the granaries, we passed through this small slot. Jared takes my photo as I take his.

Checking Out Suprise Valley

Dave and Jared check out Surprise Valley from above. Look closely and you can see the Colorado River.

Three Granaries

Three of the four small granaries lined up on one side of the alcove.

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Day 2: Pictograph Fork & The Harvest Scene

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Our second day started out cold with plenty of wind. None of us slept very well since the wind was noisy all night. After some breakfast we bundled up and started our hike down Pictograph Fork to check out the Harvest Scene pictographs.

Hiking Pictograph Fork

If you look closely you can see Dave and Jared in the canyon ahead of me as we hike towards Pictograph Fork.

Along the way we stopped at a petroglyph panel.

Pictograph Fork Petroglyphs

Pictograph Fork Anthropomorphs

Then we continued on until we reached the Harvest Scene, which was one of my main reasons for going to The Maze this trip.

Near the Harvest Scene

The canyon near The Harvest Scene Panel.

The sun was shining on the panel and washing it out pretty good, but luckily there were a few puffy clouds in the sky that blocked the sun for a few minutes at a time so that I could try and take some decent photos of the panel.

Harvest Scene Panel

An overview of the Harvest Scene Pictograph Panel.

The Harvest Scene

A closer look at the part of the panel that gives it the name ‘Harvest Scene’.

Tall, Skinny, & Elaborate

These figures found on the left side of the panel are very elaborately decorated.

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Day 0: Change of Plans?

Friday, April 8, 2011

As you might have seen in this post before I left for this trip, there was some real concern about the government shutting down and closing Canyonlands National Park. The night before I was set to leave, I stayed up to see what was going to happen in Washington. Luckily, at the last minute they figured out the budget and averted a shutdown. Of course, my time would have been better spent sleeping, but at least we did not have to make any last minute changes to our plans and we would still be able to explore The Maze District of Canyonlands for a few days.

Day 1: Into the Maze

Saturday, April 9, 2011

After staying up later than I would have liked on Friday night, I was up again at 3am on Saturday morning so that I could finish getting ready and head straight to Hanksville to meet up with Jared. I had hoped to grab a quick breakfast on the way, but apparently the McDonalds on my way out of Grand Junction isn’t open 24 hours like I thought….and neither is the one in Fruita. I also found out that the Burger King in Green River doesn’t open at 5am like I had hoped….

I met up with Jared at the Hollow Mountain in Hanksville and we transferred his camping gear into my Jeep. Then I followed him south to the Poison Springs Road so he could find a spot to park his car for the next few days. Since it didn’t take us as long as we planned, I still had time to get some breakfast at Blondie’s before meeting up with Dave.

We met Dave at 8am at the turnoff to the Hans Flat Road and took off towards the ranger station to go get our camping permits. We ended up picking up our permits less than an hour after leaving the highway and then started our descent into The Maze. It snowed on and off on our drive down the Flint Trail and on our way around Teapot Rock. The snow wasn’t sticking to the ground and wasn’t falling enough to make the road slippery.

This photo was taken by Dave of Jared and I checking to make sure no one was coming up the Flint Trail in the snow.

Four hours after leaving the ranger station we arrived at Chimney Rock; our camp for the next two nights. It was pretty windy as we setup camp, and both Jared and Dave had brand new tents they had not used before…Jared had a few issues but managed to get it setup.

Chimney Rock & Tree

Chimney Rock from near our campsite.

Setting Up Camp

Jared trying to setup his brand new tent.

Chimney Rock Camp

Part of our campsite.

Once camp was setup we hiked over to take in the views over nearby Water Canyon and Jasper Canyon. We hiked along the rims for a ways and watched the sun go down.

Overlooking

Jared and Dave overlooking Water Canyon.

Small Arch

A small arch we spotted on the rim of Water Canyon.

Rim Hiking

Jared and Dave hiking towards Jasper Canyon.

Jasper Canyon

A view over Jasper Canyon.

Jared and the Maze

Jared overlooking the Maze.

Cloudy Maze Sunset

A view over The Maze at sunset.

Clouds, Sky, Tree & Sandstone

A small tree growing out of the sandstone at sunset.

My Shadow

My long shadow close to sunset.

Island Over the Maze

Island in the Sky lit up in the distance.

Chimney & Ekker

Chimney Rock and Ekker Butte at sunset.

There was plenty of wind, snow and even more wind that evening! The weather certainly could have been better, but it still turned out to be a nice first day to start our trip.

Day 2 to be continued…