Cedar Mesa March 2012

[Deadeye008]

Took a trip down to Cedar Mesa with my 5 yr old boy and a buddy. We hit up The Citadel, Perfect Kiva in Slickhorn Canyon, The Seven Towers, and a site that my buddy and I had stumbled upon about 2 yrs ago when we were hiking accross the mesa top to the head of a canyon. I think that the site we stumbled upon is the midden to what used to be a pithouse. There are tons of pottery sherds of all kinds, pieces of flint, and 4 manos. We were also able to find charcoal remains and what I believe is the end piece of a wooden beam of the pithouse. Without digging(which is illegal) we will probably never know but it was still really cool to stumble accross the site like we did. The site was in the exact same condition as we left it 2 yrs ago. We also ended up stopping at Sego Canyon on the way home since my friend had never been there. I was really impressed by how well my son did hiking to The Citadel and Perfect Kiva. The Citadel is just under 6 miles round trip and a fairly easy mesa top hike with a little bit of scrambling to get down to The Citadel. Perfect Kiva is just under 9 miles but much more difficult. There is a very large dryfall that you have to negotiate and in the process you climb up to the top ledge of the canyon, follow it down canyon a ways, scramble back down into the canyon bottom and then scramble up the other side of the canyon to get to the alcove. Then you have to do it all over again on the way back. Another cool site we stumbled upon was as we were looking for a site in Slickhorn Canyon before we got to Perfect Kiva we found a passage way between two slabs of rock that was about 5 feet wide and about 20-30 yds long and led from the mesa top down to the first ledge in the canyon were the ruin we were looking for was located. I'm sure it was used by them to access the mesa top and may have even influinced their choice of site location. Here are some pics. I have a couple of short timelapse videos that I will add to the report later.

Huge alcove across the canyon as we hiked to The Citadel.

IMG_3833.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

We could see lots of ruins across the canyon as we hiked to The Citadel.

Ruins hidden in the shadows by Deadeye008, on Flickr

My boy and my buddy overlooking the canyon on the way.

IMG_3835.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

Lots of water in the potholes down there still. Even saw some snow patches still lingering down there.

IMG_3846.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

The Citadel

IMG_3852.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

On the land bridge

IMG_3857.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

Notice the rock on the left side of the picture. Looks like a monkey head to me...

IMG_3863.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_3866.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_3867.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

There were remains of two different defensive walls along the land bridge.

IMG_3887.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_3888.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_3879.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

Our campsite at Road Canyon had such a great view. We were literally right on the edge of the canyon.

IMG_4037.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4059.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

Long passage way that led to the mesa top

IMG_4078.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4081.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4072.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

Up on the ledge

IMG_4098.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4101.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4123.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4106.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

Lots more water

IMG_4131.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

The following are shots from the mesa top site we stumbled upon 2 yrs ago.

IMG_4135.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4137.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4138.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4139.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4148.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4156.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4161.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4180.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4343.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4353.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4344.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr

Notice the faint BCS rock art on this panel. It looks very, very similiar to the Buckhorn Wash panel.

IMG_4362.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


IMG_4364.jpg by Deadeye008, on Flickr


Featured image for slideshow:

 

[Deadeye008]

Here are the two short timelapse videos. The first I shot with my Gopro on a kitchen timer(thanks to wes242). One shot every second for an hour and then combined at 90fps. The second is a short night sky timelapse from the same campsite.

 

[Nick]

Awesome trip report! Really makes me want to get my arse down there. That big red pottery shard is very cool and that huge alcove looks totally out of place in the wall of that canyon. Good stuff.

 

[pixie1339]

Nice report! Looks like you guys had some great weather while you were down there.

 

[Tyler]

Awesome TR. Did you do that second video with your gopro? Or with your regular camera?

 

[uintahiker]

Awesome!
x2 on the red pottery with the black design

 

[Bill]

great TR
I would love to get out there and see the citadel some day.

 

[Deadeye008]

Awesome TR. Did you do that second video with your gopro? Or with your regular camera?

Second was with my DLSR. I haven't tried the Gopro for a night timelapse but I know that video is super noisey in low light. I'll have to give it a shot.

 

[Deadeye008]

Awesome TR. Did you do that second video with your gopro? Or with your regular camera?

The second timelapse wwas shot with my DSLR. I haven't tried a night timelapse with the Gopro but I know video on it is really noisey in low light. I'll have to give it a shot and see how it turns out. You could probably get decent results if you had it pointed at a campfire.

 

[wes242]

Looks pretty sweet! Makes me want to take a trip down there and find some of this awesomeness! That timer is work all $6 isn't it! :twothumbs:

 

[Yvonne]

great TR
I would love to get out there and see the citadel some day.

X2

that place is on my list for a future trip. One day....


Anyway, wonderful TR and just looking at the pictures want me to get there and explore.
When is the best time to see Cedar Mesa and eventually do a backpacking trip?

 

[Deadeye008]

X2

that place is on my list for a future trip. One day....


Anyway, wonderful TR and just looking at the pictures want me to get there and explore.
When is the best time to see Cedar Mesa and eventually do a backpacking trip?

Spring and Fall are the best times in my opinion. Spring being the best because of availabilty of water if you are backpacking. I have also been down there in January and it was nice because nobody was there but it was pretty chilly(single digits) at night because of the elevation. High's were right around 50 though which I think is perfect for hiking. It doesn't get super hot down there because of the elevation but it does get pretty warm in the summer months. Average elevation on Cedar Mesa is 6500ft.

 

[PureLightImages]

Love that area and the spots you visited. I need to get back down there again. The egg timer time lapse is such a great idea. Did you do something like this?

 

[Deadeye008]

Love that area and the spots you visited. I need to get back down there again. The egg timer time lapse is such a great idea. Did you do something like this?

My setup is much simpler. I got the idea from wes242. Here is the timer I bought. Then I just put one of the Gopro sticky mounts on top.

 

[wes242]

The first one I made was kind of like what that guy did, but the new one I did it was so much easier.... and it looks better.

 

[PureLightImages]

....and just like that I've ordered one. Although I ordered from eBay since I work there and it seemed right Thanks for the tip. I'll look forward to sharing results eventually.

 

[baltocharlie]

Nice trip report. Did your son walk 9 miles to the Perfect Kiva!!! Amazing. Kids hardcore. Do you mind if I pm on some of the particulars of your trip? I think I have a good feel for the Citadel and the 7 Kivas, still working on Falling roof. I'm just trying to loop them all together. thanks

 

[Deadeye008]

Nice trip report. Did your son walk 9 miles to the Perfect Kiva!!! Amazing. Kids hardcore. Do you mind if I pm on some of the particulars of your trip? I think I have a good feel for the Citadel and the 7 Kivas, still working on Falling roof. I'm just trying to loop them all together. thanks

Yep, he hiked the entire time. I've found if I put a hydration pack on him then he does really well, even though he has to pee every ten minutes, haha. Go ahead and pm me. I'll give you any info I can.

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