Bears Ears East

We couldn't travel this far across the state of Utah and not hike to the top of the namesake of Bears Ears National Monument!  When Kent learned there was a benchmark on top of Bears Ears East we knew that we were going to work this hike into our "to-do-list" while visiting Cedar Mesa.  After hiking to Moon House Ruins, earlier in the day, we made a short trip north towards Natural Bridges National Monument and took a well graded road six-miles to the saddle of Bears Ears where we began our hike.

Call us crazy, we just completed the Moon House Ruin hike and decided to squeeze in Bears Ears East

The famous twin buttes known as, Bears Ears . . . 
We'll be hiking the higher of the two . . . the one on the right

We have arrived at the saddle that separates the "Two Ears"

Before we started up Bears Ear East we wanted to try and find the azimuth mark . . .
After searching for it, per the surveyors instructions, we were unable to locate it . . .
Amazingly, on our way back to Bears Ear East, Allison wanted to take a picture of these deer . . .
As soon as she got out of the truck she spotted the azimuth marker just inside the fence line!

Here's the azimuth!  A big "shoutout" goes to the deer that made this possible!
(Bears Ear East is now on the left, as we are on the backside of the Buttes)

The azimuth points back to the Bears Ears Bench Mark, which we hope to locate

We parked at a wide spot in the road and started walking 

Hmm . . . someone lost a good chain!

We followed an old road up doing our best to avoid the snow and mud

After a little bushwhack we made it to the top

The Benchmark was easy to locate on the east rim of the Butte . . .
We had nice views of the snow covered Abajo or Blue Mountains that are west of Monticello 

Bears Ears Benchmark was placed here in 1934 . . . it was reached by helicopter

Standing on top of Bears Ears East we could see the bend in the road where the azimuth (and deer) were located
(Click on this picture, for an enlarged view, with the white arrow denoting the spot) 

                                                

Bears Ears West is off in the distance . . . maybe, a hike for another day

Do we look hungry?  We are!  (Stop thinking, "No, you just look old!")
It's time to get off the mountain and head back to camp! 

At the saddle between the Bears Ears we noticed this post

Glad we stopped,  it's a benchmark or elevation marker of some sort from 1934 . . .
Interestingly enough, it's not listed on the National Geodetic Survey website

Boy, we're glad we made this short afternoon excursion to Bears Ears East.  What a beautiful area of mesas and ponderosa pines that starkly contrast with the canyonland areas of Cedar Mesa and Natural Bridges National Monument.  It really perked our interest to come back and do some more camping and exploring in this area.  Maybe when Tom heads for the Abajo's we'll be able to go with him and revisit this gorgeous area and hike Bears Ears West with him.  Stay tuned!

Moon House Ruins

When planning our trip to Cedar Mesa, the two ruins we most wanted to visit were The Citadel and Moon House.  In order to see Moon House we had to be fortunate enough to get four permits of the twenty that were allotted for Friday's hike.  When we checked Recreation.gov to make our reservations we found only four left.  We quickly made our request and were excited when our permits were confirmed.  Today is the day we are going to explore one of the most unique and well preserved ruins on Cedar Mesa . . . we can't wait to see what McCloyd Canyon has to offer!

Within a few minutes of leaving the trailhead, we were on the rim of McCloyd Canyon . . .
McCloyd Canyon was lush with beautiful greenery and water from our very wet winter 

Following rock cairns, we made our way down into the canyon by traversing several sandstone ledges

This section was the crux of the hike . . .
A five-foot high slickrock pour off that was coated with a thin crust of sand that ended on an unstable pile of rocks . . .Yeah, we could make it down, but the real question was could we make it back up??
(Fortunately, we found a slightly easier route that bypassed this area when we returned)

Almost immediately, after circumnavigating the pour off, we could see Moon House across the canyon . . . 
It, along with several other ruins, blended right in with the sandstone

After descending into the canyon bottom, we crossed to the other side and began climbing
up to the ruins . . . for the most part this was fairly straightforward and easy

A couple of fun little windows looking back across the canyon from where we have come

Mormon tea in bloom . . .  apparently the male plants produce these yellow cones

We have arrived at Moon House!
 We signed the register and studied the literature . . . Now we are excited about going inside!

We carefully made our way up the rock steps and through the little door that acts as a portal to the inner rooms

This is an example of jacal construction . . . 
Walls made of mud and poles going both vertically and horizontally

Some of the moon pictographs painted on jacal walls

There are three cliff dwellings spread out along ¼ mile of the canyon with a total of 49 rooms!

Here's one of the things that makes Moon House so unique . . . A wall that provides a sheltered courtyard . . .
Kent, Allison and John inside the courtyard

Moon House ruin gets its name from this room with the moon painted on the wall

These ruins were constructed  between 1242 and 1265 AD . . . 
It was interesting to note the different methods of constructions . . .
In the picture above, one side is brick and mortar and the other seems to be stucco

Pictographs on the sandstone walls

We were the only ones at Moon House Ruin!
Twenty people are allowed each day with a permit  

The openings in the wall on the right must have provided light and ventilation

This opening is looking back, across the canyon, at the rim we came down 

Easy in, easy out!

This structure was rounded with an interesting pedestal at the door

This wall consists of mud and poles tied together with willow branches 

Looking back you can see how expansive Moon House really is!

This is one of the other cliff dwellings to the southeast of the main Moon House

It was interesting to see the little white stones used in the chinking

A close-up of more decorative stones

Talking with a group of Utah Department of Natural Resources officers, on the canyon floor

We had talked with these men the day before, as we were leaving The Citadel, and they had told us they had permits for Moon House for today, as well.  We were actually glad to see them.  Why you might ask?  Because the last mile of the road to Moon House had no places to pull aside and let another vehicle pass and they had four trucks.  At least now we were fairly certain we could get out without having to back up!

The Moon House ruins were everything we had hoped (and more) they would be!  There's quite a process that needs to be completed in order to hike into Moon House that includes reserving permits and meeting with a Kane Gulch ranger to have them validated.  Make sure to plan ahead if you're going to do this hike . . . and we hope you do!  For more information you can start by clicking here to get a link for Road Trip Ryan's website on Moon House Ruins.  His information is a little out of date, but it will give you a good starting point for making plans to visit this special place!

The Citadel Ruins

Back in February, we had a couple from Ohio (Ron & Debbie) contact us about some hikes in the St. George area.  After several email correspondences, we decided to meet them at Paula's (a local Mexican food restaurant) when they arrived for their vacation.  It was at this dinner that Ron mentioned an amazing hike that they had done in the Cedar Mesa area called the Citadel.  The Citadel??  Never heard of it.  When we got home that evening we began researching these ruins and were intrigued with what we discovered.  Today is the day we are going to see them for ourselves!

We began our hike at the Road Canyon Rim Trail

The trail was well marked with cairns and follows the contour of this visually appealing canyon  

Indian Paintbrush and prickly pear cactus

After 1½ miles we had to drop off the canyon rim to reach this ledge or shelf of sandstone . . .
The Citadel is on the end of the peninsula that lies ahead of us!  Boy, this is going to be good!

This picture makes the slickrock look worse than it really was . . . 
The truth of the matter is we all made it down without doing any "butt scooting" . . . 
Just make sure to have shoes with "sticky" tread!

We are getting closer!  Now all we have to do is walk the corridor over to the Citadel

There was a huge clump of Rose Heath growing up between some large boulders

We are nearing the Citadel . . .
The final push had a couple of spots where we needed to use all fours to scramble up to the ruins

The Citadel . . . We're just a short climb away!

The Ruins are well preserved largely due to being built under this outcropping . . .
Be sure to look with your eyes . . . don't touch or enter any of the rooms 

The craftsmanship shows that the Ancestral Puebloans were very skilled in their masonry trades

Colorful lichen living on sandstone

A group picture to help us remember this special place . . . 
Allison, Kent, John and Mary

The Citadel lives up to its name . . .  a fortress that commands a city

Allison peering into one of the rooms 

We walked around the entire bench taking in the views from different angles

Time to head back down . . . the first drop-off is a bit of a scoot & scramble
Do you see the interesting balancing rock that looks like a monkey head above John?

This arrow points back to where we dropped off the rim and into the canyon 
(Click on the picture for a better view)

Mary and John are working their way off the bench of the Citadel and back onto the corridor

Do they look happy or what?!
Just one more push back up to the rim and then hike back to the trailhead

There were two things we didn't expect to encounter on this hike . . . 
The amazing wildflowers along the trail and having the Citadel all to ourselves!
(We did meet several people heading in as we were leaving)

Wow, Ron & Debbie, you were right . . . this was one amazing hike!  It's interesting that the Bears Ears Monument (along with many travel guides) do not even mention The Citadel in their publications.  We're sure this is to keep the traffic down and, hopefully, not to have to place a quota (permit system) like they've had to do with the Moon House Ruins.  Having said that, this place is not a secret and there is plenty of information on how to get to the Citadel on the Internet.  If you would like to explore this place for yourself, we would recommend clicking this link to "Road Trip Ryan's" website for an excellent guide for this fantastic hike!