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.
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| Call us crazy, we just completed the Moon House Ruin hike and decided to squeeze in Bears Ears East |
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The famous twin buttes known as, Bears Ears . . .
We'll be hiking the higher of the two . . . the one on the right |
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| We have arrived at the saddle that separates the "Two Ears" |
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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! |
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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) |
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| The azimuth points back to the Bears Ears Bench Mark, which we hope to locate |
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| We parked at a wide spot in the road and started walking |
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| Hmm . . . someone lost a good chain! |
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| We followed an old road up doing our best to avoid the snow and mud |
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| After a little bushwhack we made it to the top |
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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 |
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| Bears Ears Benchmark was placed here in 1934 . . . it was reached by helicopter |
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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) |
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| Bears Ears West is off in the distance . . . maybe, a hike for another day |
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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! |
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| At the saddle between the Bears Ears we noticed this post |
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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!
