Montezuma Mine

Today's hike was back in the Kanab area . . . no big surprise, right?  Tom, who is not a big fan of caves, decided to travel to Nevada and hike Black Cliff.  He invited us along, but we decided to use this day to explore Montezuma Mines which is in the Johnson Canyon area.

History has it that Freddy Crystal, a 1922 prospector, believed he had found Montezuma's gold buried by the Aztecs in the white sandstone of southern Utah.  Freddy sold the townspeople of Kanab on his idea and for the next several years they worked to excavate the tunnels.  No gold was ever found.

This sounded like some fascinating history that we needed to check out.  And so, we were off on another adventure.

These deer were fun to watch . . . some jumped over the fence while the rest crawled under

We are thankful to the landowners who let us pass through their property . . . 
Please be courteous and close their gates 

We parked in a clearing and walked about 1/4 mile up the sandy road to the cliff base

Montezuma Mine is located on the southeast side of Second Point

This pottery shard looked out of place

A trail begins where the road ends . . . just follow it to the cliff base and you will find the Mine

We checked out the lower cave first . . . no gold here!

The lower cave had an interesting escape route 

Kent is trying to escape using a set of moki steps  

The upper cave made Kent nervous . . . he never did make it across the board!
(You can't see the bottom of the pit)

Instead he watched his wife "me" disappear into the darkness      

This pit was very deep!  We have read reports of it being over 30 feet

There were several passage ways . . .
Allison never made it to the end as it just kept going and going

Looking east towards Spring Point

If you are interested in checking out this area, you might want to click here to get excellent directions from Road Trip Ryan's webpage.  He provides his information for free, but you will need to create a password and username to access his site.  We feel it is well worth the time to set up an account with him.

The third weekend in February is Kanab's Balloons & Tunes Festival.  We were lucky enough to see lots of beautiful balloons in the air as we passed through Kanab on our way to Montezuma Mines.  We thought we'd share a few pictures with you as they provided us with an added bonus to our day!

Kanab's Balloons and Tunes Festival

We hoped she flossed her teeth!

This balloon came very close to landing on the K-Town gas station

We could hear the pilots talking with each other

Kent counted 35 balloons in the air at one time

Ruins near Kanab

Sometimes planning a hike and figuring out a route can be as rewarding as reaching the destination itself . . . so was the case for this adventure.  After nearly a year of researching directions to the ruins, finding their exact location, and waiting for a nice winter day, the hike finally happened.

We invited John, a friend from work and an avid hiker, to accompany us on this 13-mile (r/t) trek.  John wanted to try for a Wave permit, so he "spotted" us an hour (2-mile) head start with a goal of seeing if he could catch us.  Surprisingly, he caught us at the six-mile mark just as we were about to head to the ruin alcove . . . perfect timing that capped off a perfect day and a perfect plan!

We were pleasantly surprised to find a nice trail leading to the top of the mesa . . .
From Google Earth it looked like an abandoned road, but in reality, was a well maintained trail 

Kent is nearing a most prominent white teepee formation just below the mesa summit 

View from the top of the teepee looking south . . . such a gorgeous day!

 

Need I say more . . . this hike involves a lot of sand!

Now it's time to begin our four-mile trek across the sandy mesa . . .
The trail "petered" out after a mile or so and then we were on our own

Great views as we walk a narrow slit between two canyon drainages

We have arrived at the canyon were the ruins are hidden . . .
This is where John "caught us" and we made the final scramble down to the alcove

Here we go . . . this should be fun!

We worked our way up through this brushy drainage

Wow, there they are!
About a half dozen fully intact ruins with six foot walls and even a kiva . . . pretty cool!

Pottery shards and an ancient corn cob

The walls are very well constructed and have stood the test of time
We were very impressed with the windows and the flat stones they used for the sills

A small opening looks back towards from where we have come

An assortment of pottery shards

Perfectly curved walls . . . all were missing their roofs

They incorporated wood, rock and mortar for the door frames

Doesn't this looks like a sewing needle?
Whether it was or not, please remember to leave all artifacts as you found them

It was interesting to find a small seep flowing out the base of the sandstone alcove . . .
We're assuming this is a perennial flow . . .
So, they might have had water without having to descend to the canyon floor

What a unique place for the Ancestral Pueblo people to build their dwellings . . . 
An alcove that provided protection for them and their homes, along with a water source . . .
Very nice!   

What a great place for lunch!

Allison & Kent . . . we made it!  Now we just have to get back!

Beautiful sandstone wall of the alcove

Kent is showing John some other Kanab area landmarks
(or maybe he's pointing out the jet in the sky!)

That's an interesting canyon, too!  It had some nice alcoves . . . makes you wonder??

When we reached the white teepee on our way back to the trailhead . . .
We knew we only had two-miles to go!

Big or small we couldn't pass up another alcove . . . 
All we found in this one was a rusted old can!

This hike pushed Kent & Allison to their limits . . . John not so much . . . in fact, he had to get back to work, so he trail jogged the last two miles!  If you decide to do this hike, please go prepared:  make sure you're in shape, have plenty of water, and know how to use a GPS.  We'd also recommend doing this hike in the cooler months (it's 13-miles r/t and took us about seven hours).  While we tried to keep the ruin route purposefully vague, there is plenty of information on the internet that will allow you to piece our route together so you can enjoy them, as well. It just requires a little planning and some legwork!  Hope you enjoy the challenge as much as we did!

Cutler Point

Last week, as we were hiking Spring Point, we could see Cutler Point protruding from the White Cliffs off to the west.  We have always been interested in seeing the Great Chamber that lies at its base and when we found that it also had a benchmark on the summit we figured that would be enough to get Tom's interest piqued - we were right!  We try to make our hiking decisions on finding features that are important to each of our interests - for us that is often unique geological formations and for Tom it is usually tied to a numbered peak.  This hike fit the bill for all of us and turned in to a really fun adventure!

We're almost there!  Red Butte and Cutler Point loom in the distance

Cutler Point towers above us as we trod through the soft, but deep sand

The Great Chamber . . . with its pristine and finely grained sand dune!

Allison & Kent . . . along with Lola and Ezy

A view from a different angle . . . so cool, it's hard to describe!

We passed through this little slot as we exited the alcove

We came across this fallen section of a sandstone fin on the east side

We ascended the first portion of the cliff by going up this sandstone fin . . . 
It's easier to walk up than you'd think . . . as long as your shoes can grip the sandstone 

This Ponderosa Pine tree continued to grow in a horizontal position after it was blown over . . . amazing! 

Yes, it is as steep as it looks!

Tom thinks he has found a route up
The final 100 ft were the toughest to find a weakness that all of us could ascend . . . 
Kent ended up staying with dogs while Tom & Allison completed the hike

Up on top of Cutler Point we came across this arch

Tom is walking south on the backbone heading toward the benchmark

This is the first time we have seen a battery left by the surveyors . . . it was used for their lights

Tom uncovered the benchmark which was buried under a few inches of soil

The Cliffe Benchmark was placed here in 1954 by surveyors who arrived by helicopter . . . whimps!

A week ago we were on top of Spring Point looking at Cutler Point . . . and here we are!     

Looking westwards towards Diana's Throne (it's the farthest left Point on the horizon) . . .
We tried to climb this in 2020
Still lots of exploring to do in this area!

An interesting design 

Blowing wind creates sand circles . . . no wind for us today!

We have come full circle . . . Cutler Point was definitely worth the trip!

The parking area is just up ahead . . . we can't wait to get out of this sand!

 Red Butte was a bonus Tom had planned for us

We had fun exploring the formations . . . the dogs, not so much

Just a little bit of snow on the north side of the bowl

The geology of Utah never ceases to amaze us

They say, "All good things come in threes" we have to agree! 
Over the last three weeks this was our third 'Point' hike:  Flag, Spring & Cutler
Each had their own uniqueness that provided us with much enjoyment and reminded us why we like to hike

We highly recommend a trip to this area northeast of Kanab . . . you won't regret spending some time in this wonderful area.  For more information on Cutler Point, please click here for Tom's Peakbagger.com posting . . . it will provide you with a topo map and GPS tracks.