Bullet Canyon

[alene]

I'm trying to plan a trip to hike Bullet canyon. I'd like to be able to just be away for 2 nights, so it'd be pretty intense, but I'm confident in my abilities. I have the weekend of October 20th free or October 27th, both to leave on Saturday afternoon, hike Sunday or Sunday / Monday, and be home Monday night.

Anyone interested?

 

[alene]

There's a link to the trail information, 22 miles and 8 mile shuttle back to car. Lots of great ruins to see along the way.

http://www.utahtrails.com/Backcountry pages/Grand.html

 

[Nick]

I'd be all over this but I'm pretty much booked 'til November.


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[Rick Thompson]

Its not just about the 23 miles, as your guide suggests, two nights, and three days in canyon is pretty much a minimum, there is an unbelievable amount of great ruins and sites to see, anything less is just a drive-by; too far to go for only seeing part of whats there.
Three story ruins, and a intact kiva, demand inspection and photographs- you really need to drive down one afternoon, camp at the trailhead, spend 3 days and two nights in canyon, driving home on the third evening, realizing it will be a late nighter if you're working the next day. As spectacular a collection of ruins as you can see in Utah in one area.

 

[alene]

Um, the last time I had a four-night vacation without children was 5 years ago, it sounds awesome, but not do-able. unless of course, you want to babysit Rick Thompson

 

[alene]

seriously though, my baby is just about to turn 1, I get about 1 trip a year without my little ones and I want to do something intense. I'm in pretty great shape as far as hiking goes, but I want to see something I've never seen really. Have you done Mule Canyon? that one shows about 10 miles total with a good amount of ruins to see, are they impressive?

 

[gnwatts]

You could try parking at Sheiks Canyon trail head, cross country over to above Perfect Kiva ruin, there are several ways down. It puts you closer to the confluence with Grand Gulch in 2 hours. You miss the upper part of Bullet though. I think even with a shortcut you will be walking continuously to do it in 2 days.
South Mule Canyon is one of my favorite hikes. Much better for the time you have. One of the most unique ruins around (past the big pool in a side canyon on the right), it faces west for some reason. You can hike up to the upper reach in a few hours, past pools, ponderosa pines and ruins, great camp spots in a beautiful higher elevation canyon.
Have fun.

 

[alene]

Thanks, I might just do that

 

[Seldom Seen Anderson]

I might be interested I have that weekend off for UEA break (we call it fall break down here in the south) but I had some tentative plans a bit closer (canyons of escalante) let me see what i can work out!

 

[FourisTheNewOne]

Are you set on backpacking? If not - car camping and day hiking South Mule, and perhaps the Citadel and/or Lewis Ledge Ruins would be a good way to spend some time...

 

[AustinCronnelly]

I spent one night in South Mule Canyon a few years ago and loved it. We had the entire canyon to ourselves after House on Fire. Even though we only did one night, I would've liked more time to explore all the ruins further up canyon. The only thing I would be concerned about at this time of year is the water status, I'm guessing you could get the current info when you call about permits.

 

[alene]

Not set on backpacking, trying to get as much as I can into 1 full day, I can hike quite a bit, but will backpack in if the distance will most likely require finishing up on Monday morning before heading home.

 

[alene]

Have you done Lewis lodge? I'm not afraid of heights, but it does look a bit scary.

 

[FourisTheNewOne]

I have - see my TR here - http://backcountrypost.com/forum/index.php?threads/comb-ridge-cedar-mesa-may-2008.225/#post-2114

It really was not that scary - and you had a lot of control in regards to how scared you wanted to be- the farther you go along the ruins, the narrower the ledge, and the scarier it gets. It's pretty much my favorite ruin I visited out of my trip there.

 

[alene]

okay, thanks for the input everyone, I decided that even though I really want to get down to that area that I'll be doing something else for this trip. I'm starting a new thread on my new plan.

 

[Gesenwein]

You could try parking at Sheiks Canyon trail head, cross country over to above Perfect Kiva ruin, there are several ways down. It puts you closer to the confluence with Grand Gulch in 2 hours. You miss the upper part of Bullet though. I think even with a shortcut you will be walking continuously to do it in 2 days.
South Mule Canyon is one of my favorite hikes. Much better for the time you have. One of the most unique ruins around (past the big pool in a side canyon on the right), it faces west for some reason. You can hike up to the upper reach in a few hours, past pools, ponderosa pines and ruins, great camp spots in a beautiful higher elevation canyon.
Have fun.

Hey, to drop in bullet at perfect Kiva, do you just follow that sw tending road from the sheiks th? Is the path down into bullet canyon obvious? Is there a lot of scrambling? Thinking about doing a day hike loop down the lower part of bullet then up and out of sheiks. That would hopefully cut down on the 13 miles you have to hike when you do the full loop. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[gnwatts]

This may be helpful:

http://backcountrypost.com/forum/threads/perfect-kiva-loop.2858/

I have done this as a long day hike a couple of times.