I was on my own to find something to do on Saturday, so I hopped in my Jeep and headed north a little ways to Canyon Pintado to visit a few sites I didn’t make it to the last time I was there.
My first stop was at East Four Mile Draw where I would find the Sun Dagger pictograph.
Then I hiked to some petroglyphs nearby.
On Memorial Day we packed up camp and headed a short ways down Comb Wash to check out some ruins in Lower Mule Canyon.
There were a few petroglyphs here as well.
On Saturday morning we headed out on our annual Memorial Day weekend trip to the Comb Ridge and Cedar Mesa area in Southeastern Utah. As usual, we would be meeting up with our friend Jared for the weekend and heading out to find some ruins.
After the drive down to Comb Wash and setting up camp, we headed out to check out some ruins that Jared had spotted along Highway 95 not too far from camp. We parked off the highway and made our way to the rim of the small canyon where we quickly spotted the ruins. We had to hike down the rim of the canyon to reach the bottom so we could hike back up a little bit in order to reach them.
We then hiked up canyon a little further and found a few petroglyphs.
Since our original plans for the weekend were to go rafting near Glenwood Springs on Sunday, I ended up heading to Davis Canyon on Saturday to do some hiking and exploring. Unfortunately, because of the wind, our rafting trip on Sunday never happened 🙁
After driving up Davis Canyon to the Canyonlands National Park boundary, I parked my Jeep and hiked in. My first destination would be the Five Faces Pictographs. These pictographs are in amazing condition.
All five faces.
Below the pictographs on two sandstone slabs were ten large depressions.
After leaving the Five Faces, I backtracked a little ways down the canyon to check out this small, but well-preserved granary.
This last weekend Amanda and I headed south to Hovenweep National Monument and the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. This is an area we have been close to many times before, but had not been to yet. I’m not sure why it took so long, but it was definitely well worth the visit, and I’m looking forward to heading back to explore more in the future!
After setting up camp at the Hovenweep campground, we started out by making our way over to the Holly Group of ruins a few miles away. Hovenweep is a bit different from other National Parks and Monuments as it is not one large area. Hovenweep is actually comprised of six separate villages spread over a twenty-mile expanse of mesa tops and canyons along the Utah-Colorado border.
Holly Tower and Holly House
Holly House
After visiting Holly, we backtracked to the hiking trail for both the Horseshoe and Hackberry ruins. After a nice half mile hike, we reached Horseshoe.
Round Tower perched on the canyon rim (Shiprock on the horizon).
Horseshoe House
