pixie1339
Desperately Seeking Sandstone
- Joined
- Jan 21, 2012
- Messages
- 1,692
January 16th - 18th, 2015
Up, Up And Away
Last January several of my friends headed to Bluff, UT for the annual balloon festival. I had no time off available and since Bluff is a 6 hour drive for me, I decided against heading down for the weekend. Pictures from the festival soon starting hitting the internet, and I instantly felt the pangs of regret. I didn't realize that on the last morning of the festival they launch the balloons from Valley of The Gods. How cool! For those of you who are unfamiliar, Valley of The Gods is located about 30 miles by road from Monument Valley. While the rock formations in Valley of The Gods may not be as spectacular as those found in Monument Valley, they are considered by many to be a miniature version. I decided that the next year I would save a vacation day and make the trip.
Fast forward a year. I left home shortly after 6:00 a.m. on Friday morning. @Miss Buffalo and I planned to meet that evening at a campsite along the Valley of The Gods loop road. I decided that I would visit Hovenweep National Monument on my way to meet her since I'd never been before. Hovenweep straddles the Utah-Colorado border, and has six separate units that contain Ancestral Puebloan ruins in varying states of decay. Square Tower Unit is the most recognizable and accessible part of the monument, and the only unit that has a visitor center. It seemed a fitting place to begin.
After a brief visit with the ranger on duty I began to hike the Little Ruin Loop Trail that visits all of the ruins of the Square Tower Unit. I was bummed that the fog bank I drove into around Monticello hadn't lifted, but on the bright side I wouldn't be dealing with high contrast in my photos either. There was a little mud on the trail, which the ranger had warned me about, but nothing too bad, especially considering the time of year. One of the best things about hiking in January is the solitude. There were a couple of other cars in the parking lot, but no one else on the trail. When I hike by myself I feel more in touch with my surroundings than when I'm with others.
In moments like these I find I'm more likely to encounter wildlife. While I was looking at a ruin on the rim, I saw something below it move out of the corner of my eye. Upon closer inspection I realized it was a fox. I watched the fox, and the fox watched me. I took a couple pictures then switched lenses, hoping that the fox would remain for long enough to get a couple closer shots. The fox went into an opening in the rock, but I waited for a moment to see if it would come back out, and was briefly rewarded for my patience.
Common Gray Fox In Hovenweep N.M.
Most of the ruins along the loop were perched on the canyon rim, but a couple, including Square Tower itself, lie in the canyon bottom. For some reason I expected Square Tower to be up on the rim. Nonetheless it was an impressive tower. I was tempted to climb down to it for a closer look, though I suspect the ranger would frown on that. Each ruin in this village had a unique name and design. A refreshing change of pace from the cookie cutter "village" I call home. In addition to Square Tower, I was particularly enamored with Hovenweep Castle, Eroded Boulder House, and the Twin Towers.
Square Tower, Hovenweep N.M.
When I plan trips I always try to squeeze in more than I actually have time for, and trim my itinerary as needed. This trip was no exception. I had hoped to visit the Cajon Unit after Square Tower, but when I returned to my car and noticed the time I realized it would have to wait for another day. I wanted to make sure I arrived at the campsite before dark. As I drove into Valley of The Gods there were patches of light filtering through the fog onto the rock formations. In retrospect, I should have stopped to take a picture. Right as I pulled into camp the light show stopped and the patches filled in with fog. Disappointed, I started setting up camp right away. Shortly after @Miss Buffalo arrived. Sunset came and went with no discernible change in the color of the sky. We spent a few hours trying to warm ourselves by the fire, talking about our weekend plans and upcoming trips before calling it a night.
Saturday morning we woke a half hour before sunrise to an unwelcome sight. Not only was the fog present and accounted for, it was now hanging low in the valley, obscuring the cliff tops. Hmm. The ruins we planned to visit that day were up on the Cedar Mesa plateau, about 1,500 feet higher than where we camped. We could only hope that we would rise above the fog. We ate breakfast, filled up our thermoses with coffee and hit the road.
Driving up the Moki Dugway was a surreal experience. I'd driven this road before. It's famous for it's steep switchbacks and hairpin curves. Under normal conditions you can see a vast expanse of the desert below, including Valley of The Gods and Monument Valley. On this day we couldn't see anything but the road in front of us. I had just been saying that the reputation the Moki Dugway has of scaring the daylights out of people with a fear of heights was greatly exaggerated. After all, I have a fear of heights, and I had done just fine. I suddenly felt that I had spoken too soon. It's eerie to know that there's a substantial drop beside you, but you can't see it. Even worse, I worried about what would happen if we met someone head on coming down the road. Luckily, we didn't have to find out. We both mentioned when we got to the top that it would be a cool photo op to take a picture of the railing in the fog at the viewpoint, but I think we were a little too petrified to take advantage.
Not long after we made it to the top we saw that the fog was clearing ahead. Sweet! We were thrilled to see the sun again. What a contrast! We went from thick fog down below to clear skies and snow. Neither of us were expecting the amount of snow that we found on the plateau. This would be interesting! We had planned to visit Fallen Roof Ruin and Moon House Ruin that day. They're both accessible by dirt roads of varying length and quality, but they are both pretty short hikes, so we thought it wouldn't be a problem to do both.
Once we turned off the main road toward the trailhead for Fallen Roof Ruin, I instantly started having second thoughts about Moon House. There was a lot of snow to drive through and the road to Moon House was much longer and rougher. @Miss Buffalo echoed that sentiment as we drove, so we decided we would go ahead with our plans for Fallen Roof Ruin, but we would save Moon House for another time. We made it to the trailhead without incident, and located the beginning of the trail. No one had hiked it since the snowfall, so following the trail was slightly challenging. You could tell where to go only because the snow dipped in a bit where the trail was. Fortunately the snow was still frozen enough to have a crunchy consistency, which made it easy enough to walk on. Descending into the canyon wasn't too bad. The canyon bottom was completely in shade at that time of day, and the trail became much harder to pick up. The nice thing about hiking in a canyon bottom is that you don't need a trail. We simply picked the path of least resistance...and ice.
We both geeked out with our cameras for a while in the canyon bottom. Everything was covered in snow, frost, or ice, making a simple canyon hike feel completely new. It kept me preoccupied from the worry that there would be ice on the slope leading up to the ruins. The ancient ones were smarter than that, and I should have known it. I felt a wave of relief as soon as I saw the south facing cliff face basking in the morning sun. The ice on the other side of the canyon looked treacherous. It didn't take long before we found what we were looking for.
Frost Clings To Last Autumn Leaves
Fallen Roof Ruin is one of the more photogenic ruins in the area. The ruins themselves are in great condition, but the ceiling is what really makes this one stand out. Large chunks of rock have fallen from the roof leaving interesting layers of rock in its wake. There are white minerals on the exposed layers, forming a unique design. Additionally, to the left side of the ruin there are several negative handprints on the black portion of the roof. We photographed to our hearts content since we arrived while the light was good, and then took a nice break in the sun. After we ate we hiked a little further down the same ledge Fallen Roof Ruin was on to locate some more ruins I'd read about. They were also nice, though not as nice as Fallen Roof Ruin, and we had missed the good light on these ones. Overall, we were feeling quite satisfied with our hike.
Fallen Roof Ruin
As we began the hike back we noticed right away that the snow was getting soft and slushy. We knew that both the hike and the drive out would be more difficult. The softer snow didn't prove to be as much of a hazard as we'd feared. We weren't slipping all over the place, it mostly just made for a more strenuous hike. It felt very similar to hiking in soft sand. Gotta love that uphill sand! I mean snow. Get it @Laura.
When we made it back to the car we noticed how much of the snow had melted. The drive out could be tricky. There were a couple of hills we had to make it back over. @Miss Buffalo put it in 4WD low and we slipped and skidded our way back to the pavement. Whew!
We drove to Mexican Hat to get gas, and were pleased to find that the fog in the valley below had finally cleared. We stopped briefly at Hat Rock, and at the bank of the San Juan River before driving back to Valley of The Gods. We were really hoping for a nice sunset. It was a mixed bag. There were some clouds in the sky, but they covered the sun as it dipped below the horizon, robbing us of the richest light. There was some nice post sunset color in the distance, though, looking toward Monument Valley. Since the skies were mostly clear, we decided we would take some night shots later on.
On The Banks Of The San Juan
Sunset Over Distant Monument Valley Buttes
We got back to camp, and began to bundle up for the evening. Some of @Miss Buffalo's friends that she camped with in that spot for last years balloon festival arrived, hoping to camp with us for the night. Why not? They were all very nice, and we really enjoyed their company. As it happens, I found out that one of them works for Coke, in the same facility I do. It truly is a small world!
@Miss Buffalo and I set up our cameras and let them run for about an hour so we could make star trails. When we walked out to pick them up later on we noticed that our lenses had completely fogged over. Aw, man! There was a lot of moisture in the air, but now it was clear and cold, so everything was developing frost. I guess it should have come as no surprise. More than half of the shots were ruined, so star trails were out of the question. I did get a couple nice shots of the Milky Way, even though it isn't fully visible this time of year.
Milky Way Over Valley Of The Gods
On Sunday morning we woke up about 30 minutes before sunrise, and this time there were a lot of clouds in the sky, but also some nice color for a little while before the actual sunrise. At sunrise all of the vehicles started flooding into the valley for the balloon launch. We drove down the road a little ways to a spot where there was a good combination of balloons preparing to launch and interesting rock formations. It was so exciting! It wasn't the first time I've seen a hot air balloon, but it was my first balloon festival, and to have so many of them going up all around you is pretty neat. Especially when they're surrounded by top notch scenery! We hung out and watched the balloons for about an hour and a half before heading back to camp.
Valley Of The Gods Sunrise
Backlit Balloons
Grounded
When we returned to camp it was time to lay everything out to dry that had frosted over the night before. We broke camp while our gear dried, and headed out for our last couple stops before beginning the drive home. I was really hoping we'd have time to visit River House Ruin that morning, but alas, with the short days you can only fit in so much. In addition to all the ruins, there are a ton of great rock art sites in the area. @Miss Buffalo really wanted to see the Wolfman Panel, which I'd visited before, and I really wanted to see the Big Crane Panel, which neither of us had been to before. Since they're within a short distance of each other it made sense to hit those two panels before heading home.
The Wolfman Panel is one of the more interesting rock art panels I've seen. Unfortunately someone shot up the panel years ago, but it's still in excellent condition in spite of a few bullet holes. We also located a ruin across the canyon, but it looked like it would take more of an effort to get to than we were willing to expend, so we settled for a couple zoom shots of it. After that we drove down the road and began the cross country hike to the Big Crane Panel. I've wanted to see this one for a few years, so it was great to finally find it. It sure is a beauty! I felt very grateful to be in the presence of such a unique treasure on a beautiful January day with a good friend. These are the moments that make life worth living!
Wolfman Panel
Big Crane Panel
Featured image for home page:
Up, Up And Away
Last January several of my friends headed to Bluff, UT for the annual balloon festival. I had no time off available and since Bluff is a 6 hour drive for me, I decided against heading down for the weekend. Pictures from the festival soon starting hitting the internet, and I instantly felt the pangs of regret. I didn't realize that on the last morning of the festival they launch the balloons from Valley of The Gods. How cool! For those of you who are unfamiliar, Valley of The Gods is located about 30 miles by road from Monument Valley. While the rock formations in Valley of The Gods may not be as spectacular as those found in Monument Valley, they are considered by many to be a miniature version. I decided that the next year I would save a vacation day and make the trip.
Fast forward a year. I left home shortly after 6:00 a.m. on Friday morning. @Miss Buffalo and I planned to meet that evening at a campsite along the Valley of The Gods loop road. I decided that I would visit Hovenweep National Monument on my way to meet her since I'd never been before. Hovenweep straddles the Utah-Colorado border, and has six separate units that contain Ancestral Puebloan ruins in varying states of decay. Square Tower Unit is the most recognizable and accessible part of the monument, and the only unit that has a visitor center. It seemed a fitting place to begin.
After a brief visit with the ranger on duty I began to hike the Little Ruin Loop Trail that visits all of the ruins of the Square Tower Unit. I was bummed that the fog bank I drove into around Monticello hadn't lifted, but on the bright side I wouldn't be dealing with high contrast in my photos either. There was a little mud on the trail, which the ranger had warned me about, but nothing too bad, especially considering the time of year. One of the best things about hiking in January is the solitude. There were a couple of other cars in the parking lot, but no one else on the trail. When I hike by myself I feel more in touch with my surroundings than when I'm with others.
In moments like these I find I'm more likely to encounter wildlife. While I was looking at a ruin on the rim, I saw something below it move out of the corner of my eye. Upon closer inspection I realized it was a fox. I watched the fox, and the fox watched me. I took a couple pictures then switched lenses, hoping that the fox would remain for long enough to get a couple closer shots. The fox went into an opening in the rock, but I waited for a moment to see if it would come back out, and was briefly rewarded for my patience.
Common Gray Fox In Hovenweep N.M.
Most of the ruins along the loop were perched on the canyon rim, but a couple, including Square Tower itself, lie in the canyon bottom. For some reason I expected Square Tower to be up on the rim. Nonetheless it was an impressive tower. I was tempted to climb down to it for a closer look, though I suspect the ranger would frown on that. Each ruin in this village had a unique name and design. A refreshing change of pace from the cookie cutter "village" I call home. In addition to Square Tower, I was particularly enamored with Hovenweep Castle, Eroded Boulder House, and the Twin Towers.
Square Tower, Hovenweep N.M.
When I plan trips I always try to squeeze in more than I actually have time for, and trim my itinerary as needed. This trip was no exception. I had hoped to visit the Cajon Unit after Square Tower, but when I returned to my car and noticed the time I realized it would have to wait for another day. I wanted to make sure I arrived at the campsite before dark. As I drove into Valley of The Gods there were patches of light filtering through the fog onto the rock formations. In retrospect, I should have stopped to take a picture. Right as I pulled into camp the light show stopped and the patches filled in with fog. Disappointed, I started setting up camp right away. Shortly after @Miss Buffalo arrived. Sunset came and went with no discernible change in the color of the sky. We spent a few hours trying to warm ourselves by the fire, talking about our weekend plans and upcoming trips before calling it a night.
Saturday morning we woke a half hour before sunrise to an unwelcome sight. Not only was the fog present and accounted for, it was now hanging low in the valley, obscuring the cliff tops. Hmm. The ruins we planned to visit that day were up on the Cedar Mesa plateau, about 1,500 feet higher than where we camped. We could only hope that we would rise above the fog. We ate breakfast, filled up our thermoses with coffee and hit the road.
Driving up the Moki Dugway was a surreal experience. I'd driven this road before. It's famous for it's steep switchbacks and hairpin curves. Under normal conditions you can see a vast expanse of the desert below, including Valley of The Gods and Monument Valley. On this day we couldn't see anything but the road in front of us. I had just been saying that the reputation the Moki Dugway has of scaring the daylights out of people with a fear of heights was greatly exaggerated. After all, I have a fear of heights, and I had done just fine. I suddenly felt that I had spoken too soon. It's eerie to know that there's a substantial drop beside you, but you can't see it. Even worse, I worried about what would happen if we met someone head on coming down the road. Luckily, we didn't have to find out. We both mentioned when we got to the top that it would be a cool photo op to take a picture of the railing in the fog at the viewpoint, but I think we were a little too petrified to take advantage.
Not long after we made it to the top we saw that the fog was clearing ahead. Sweet! We were thrilled to see the sun again. What a contrast! We went from thick fog down below to clear skies and snow. Neither of us were expecting the amount of snow that we found on the plateau. This would be interesting! We had planned to visit Fallen Roof Ruin and Moon House Ruin that day. They're both accessible by dirt roads of varying length and quality, but they are both pretty short hikes, so we thought it wouldn't be a problem to do both.
Once we turned off the main road toward the trailhead for Fallen Roof Ruin, I instantly started having second thoughts about Moon House. There was a lot of snow to drive through and the road to Moon House was much longer and rougher. @Miss Buffalo echoed that sentiment as we drove, so we decided we would go ahead with our plans for Fallen Roof Ruin, but we would save Moon House for another time. We made it to the trailhead without incident, and located the beginning of the trail. No one had hiked it since the snowfall, so following the trail was slightly challenging. You could tell where to go only because the snow dipped in a bit where the trail was. Fortunately the snow was still frozen enough to have a crunchy consistency, which made it easy enough to walk on. Descending into the canyon wasn't too bad. The canyon bottom was completely in shade at that time of day, and the trail became much harder to pick up. The nice thing about hiking in a canyon bottom is that you don't need a trail. We simply picked the path of least resistance...and ice.
We both geeked out with our cameras for a while in the canyon bottom. Everything was covered in snow, frost, or ice, making a simple canyon hike feel completely new. It kept me preoccupied from the worry that there would be ice on the slope leading up to the ruins. The ancient ones were smarter than that, and I should have known it. I felt a wave of relief as soon as I saw the south facing cliff face basking in the morning sun. The ice on the other side of the canyon looked treacherous. It didn't take long before we found what we were looking for.
Frost Clings To Last Autumn Leaves
Fallen Roof Ruin is one of the more photogenic ruins in the area. The ruins themselves are in great condition, but the ceiling is what really makes this one stand out. Large chunks of rock have fallen from the roof leaving interesting layers of rock in its wake. There are white minerals on the exposed layers, forming a unique design. Additionally, to the left side of the ruin there are several negative handprints on the black portion of the roof. We photographed to our hearts content since we arrived while the light was good, and then took a nice break in the sun. After we ate we hiked a little further down the same ledge Fallen Roof Ruin was on to locate some more ruins I'd read about. They were also nice, though not as nice as Fallen Roof Ruin, and we had missed the good light on these ones. Overall, we were feeling quite satisfied with our hike.
Fallen Roof Ruin
As we began the hike back we noticed right away that the snow was getting soft and slushy. We knew that both the hike and the drive out would be more difficult. The softer snow didn't prove to be as much of a hazard as we'd feared. We weren't slipping all over the place, it mostly just made for a more strenuous hike. It felt very similar to hiking in soft sand. Gotta love that uphill sand! I mean snow. Get it @Laura.
When we made it back to the car we noticed how much of the snow had melted. The drive out could be tricky. There were a couple of hills we had to make it back over. @Miss Buffalo put it in 4WD low and we slipped and skidded our way back to the pavement. Whew!We drove to Mexican Hat to get gas, and were pleased to find that the fog in the valley below had finally cleared. We stopped briefly at Hat Rock, and at the bank of the San Juan River before driving back to Valley of The Gods. We were really hoping for a nice sunset. It was a mixed bag. There were some clouds in the sky, but they covered the sun as it dipped below the horizon, robbing us of the richest light. There was some nice post sunset color in the distance, though, looking toward Monument Valley. Since the skies were mostly clear, we decided we would take some night shots later on.
On The Banks Of The San Juan
Sunset Over Distant Monument Valley Buttes
We got back to camp, and began to bundle up for the evening. Some of @Miss Buffalo's friends that she camped with in that spot for last years balloon festival arrived, hoping to camp with us for the night. Why not? They were all very nice, and we really enjoyed their company. As it happens, I found out that one of them works for Coke, in the same facility I do. It truly is a small world!
@Miss Buffalo and I set up our cameras and let them run for about an hour so we could make star trails. When we walked out to pick them up later on we noticed that our lenses had completely fogged over. Aw, man! There was a lot of moisture in the air, but now it was clear and cold, so everything was developing frost. I guess it should have come as no surprise. More than half of the shots were ruined, so star trails were out of the question. I did get a couple nice shots of the Milky Way, even though it isn't fully visible this time of year.
Milky Way Over Valley Of The Gods
On Sunday morning we woke up about 30 minutes before sunrise, and this time there were a lot of clouds in the sky, but also some nice color for a little while before the actual sunrise. At sunrise all of the vehicles started flooding into the valley for the balloon launch. We drove down the road a little ways to a spot where there was a good combination of balloons preparing to launch and interesting rock formations. It was so exciting! It wasn't the first time I've seen a hot air balloon, but it was my first balloon festival, and to have so many of them going up all around you is pretty neat. Especially when they're surrounded by top notch scenery! We hung out and watched the balloons for about an hour and a half before heading back to camp.
Valley Of The Gods Sunrise
Backlit Balloons
Grounded
When we returned to camp it was time to lay everything out to dry that had frosted over the night before. We broke camp while our gear dried, and headed out for our last couple stops before beginning the drive home. I was really hoping we'd have time to visit River House Ruin that morning, but alas, with the short days you can only fit in so much. In addition to all the ruins, there are a ton of great rock art sites in the area. @Miss Buffalo really wanted to see the Wolfman Panel, which I'd visited before, and I really wanted to see the Big Crane Panel, which neither of us had been to before. Since they're within a short distance of each other it made sense to hit those two panels before heading home.
The Wolfman Panel is one of the more interesting rock art panels I've seen. Unfortunately someone shot up the panel years ago, but it's still in excellent condition in spite of a few bullet holes. We also located a ruin across the canyon, but it looked like it would take more of an effort to get to than we were willing to expend, so we settled for a couple zoom shots of it. After that we drove down the road and began the cross country hike to the Big Crane Panel. I've wanted to see this one for a few years, so it was great to finally find it. It sure is a beauty! I felt very grateful to be in the presence of such a unique treasure on a beautiful January day with a good friend. These are the moments that make life worth living!
Wolfman Panel
Big Crane Panel
Featured image for home page:
