The next day our first outing is to Mule Canyon Towers and its five-odd towers on the rim.
There was excellent ruin spotting and even a nice way to climb down to a few of them below the rim - which we are saving for another trip when the kids are bigger.
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| riotously vivid yellow/green |
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| bigger below |
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| more |
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| more |
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| more |
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| they're everywhere! |
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| ruin spotters - that's us! |
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| N hydrating like a pro. yes, that's a Helinox umbrella he's carrying over his shoulder |
That was fun.
A few days before, as we drove from Comb Ridge over to the Cedar Mesa area, we got a fleeting glimpse of a ruin right next to the road. The road was almost on top of it but because of the terrain, you could only see it if you were looking in just the right direction at just the right second. So for our day's second outing we decided to go there. Such is the life of a ruin and petroglyph hunter in the Bear's Ears National Monument.
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| it's hot. have I mentioned that we love our Helinox umbrellas? |
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| we're on the right track |
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| lightly carved creekbed |
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| hell-o little ruin |
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| hello! hello! didn't see this one |
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| Anasazi corn cob |
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| and right around the corner we find this beautiful little petroglyph panel |
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| sheep! it's been so long since we last saw ya... |
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| nice spiral! |
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| had to check out the area upstream |
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| lovely little spring - we dub thee "Fern Ruin and Petroglyph Site" |
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| up up up to a meadow just below the East Bear's Ear |
We were actually kind of shocked how lush it was. Down at Comb ridge, 4500 - 5000 feet elevation, it's baking hot. Just above, 5000 - 7000 feet elevation, it's a parched and oddly uniform Juniper forest, but up at 8500 feet there are pine, aspen (and whatever that scruffy tree is in the photos below) and everything seems almost tropical by comparison. It's alpine (and most welcome relief from the heat and bugs).
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| relaxing, cool, no bugs! |
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| magical walk |
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