March 2014 Rock Art Trip With Billy Ward

Over the years, my friendship with Billy Ward has resulted in many trips together.  Prior to 2014, most of our trips involved boxing matches and/or golf courses.  But as my interest in hiking and archaeology blossomed, I was delighted that Billy soon expressed a desire to accompany me on a trip focused on ruins and rock art of the Southwest.  I was delighted for several reasons.  First and foremost, Billy is a funny, entertaining companion — you never know with Billy around.  Second, at our age, safety is always a consideration, especially when hiking back-country sites, some of which can be quite remote.  And, it is so nice to be able to share thoughts, ideas and of course photos with a travel companion.  Prior to the trip in March of 2014 which is the subject of this post, we did a little hiking together — sort of test hikes, or warm up hikes.  In November we hiked Lost Maples State Natural Area together and had a great time.  In January, 2014, we spent several days hiking in Big Bend National Park.

These experiences convinced us we could take an even longer, more ambitious trip together without killing each other, so we set about planning a trip to Utah and Colorado for March of 2014.  Billy and I had been very involved with the Texas State women’s golf team for a number of years —  so much so that we had become good friends with Mike Akers, the head Coach.  I knew that Mike and the team were going to be in Utah in March playing in the Brigham Young Invitational, so Billy and I designed the trip to be able to support the girls and watch them play.  The way it worked out, we surprised them by hosting a dinner for them at the Red Mountain Resort outside St. George, Utah, then watching them play a practice round and round one of the tournament.  Besides getting together with Mike Akers and the Texas State girls, Billy and I had a number of other goals for the trip:  we wanted to see some snow, we wanted to spend a day hiking with Vaughn Hadenfeldt, we wanted to visit Mesa Verde National Park, we wanted to hike to House on Fire and Moonhouse, and we wanted to see some of the National Parks in Southern Utah.  The outlines of an ambitious trip took shape and by March, we were ready to go.

I arrived at Billy’s Monday (March 10, 2014) morning, only to find that Billy had gotten his days mixed up and was not expecting me until later in the week — in fact, he was still in bed.  So we spent the rest of the day and evening getting his gear packed up and ready for the trip.  We got up and got a fairly early start the next morning.

We took our time that first day of driving, excited about our trip and happy to be on the road.  We spent our first night at the Frontier Motel in the quaint little town of Cuba, New Mexico. The next morning we set out, and our first stop was right before we crossed into Colorado, at the Aztec Ruins National Monument, about 12 miles north of Farmington.  It is a small national monument, with a short half mile trail to intact ancestral Pueblo rooms (some with T-shaped doorways), and a reconstructed Great Kiva.  It was a perfect spot to stretch our legs and to introduce Billy to the world of all things Anasazi.

After our short visit at Aztec, we headed north into Colorado — we wanted to see some snow!  We drove up to  the beautiful little town of Telluride, which sits high in the mountains.  High enough that there was still lots of snow on the ground.  The road was clear however, although we did see a considerable amount of ice right next to the road.  We spent the rest of the morning in Telluride, where we walked around and had lunch.  On the way back down, we romped a little in the snow and enjoyed the outstanding mountain views.

By mid afternoon, we  had plenty of time to stop in and visit Mesa Verde.  While Aztec is small and intimate, Mesa Verde is large, and grand.  We stopped at the visitor’s center and picked up a map.  This national park covers just over 81 square miles and is home to over 5,000 known archaeological sites and approximately 600 cliff dwellings.  We spent the afternoon driving the mesa top loop and stopping to admire the cliff dwellings that can be seen below.  Mesa Verde was “discovered” by Richard Wetherill in 1888.  Wetherill was a rancher in nearby Mancos, Colorado and he spied the Cliff Palace (which he named) from the mesa top.  He spent a number of years at Mesa Verde exploring and excavating ruins.  Some see him in a favorable light, while many view him as no more than a pot hunter.  Wetherill eventually wound up in Chaco Canyon where he was eventually shot and killed by a Navajo Indian.  Billy and I visited his grave on a subesequent trip that included a visit to Chaco.   We didn’t do any hiking on this trip, but on our second trip to Mesa Verde we enjoyed a nice hike out to Petroglyph Point.  Here is a small gallery of photos from Mesa Verde….

We left Mesa Verde and drove over to Cortez, Colorado, where we spent the night.  We got up Thursday morning and began to head our way over to St. George to meet Mike Akers and the Texas State girls on Saturday night.  We took a leisurely drive over to Bluff, Utah where we ended up spending the day.  Bluff is not large, so it did not take us long to see the sights there.

But I was anxious to do a little hiking and to take Billy to see some rock art, up close and personal.  So, after seeing the sights in Bluff, we headed outside of town to Butler Wash Road which is just east of Comb Ridge.  We drove to the trail head and hiked down to the iconic Wolfman Panel.  This panel was the first one I visited on my first trip to Bluff, and I thought it would be an appropriate “first panel” for Billy.  I hoped Wolfman would whet his appetite for more rock art, as it had done mine.  It is not a tough hike to the panel — you cross slick rock to the edge of Butler Wash, where you take an old cowboy cattle trail down to a ledge in the wash.  Once you have descended to the ledge, you walk a short distance to an alcove, then on to the rock art panel.  Across the way, on the west side of Butler Wash, you can see some old ruins.  It was a great day to enjoy these gorgeous views.  We enjoyed and photographed the Wolfman panel.  It is actually not easy to photograph, because the ledge is narrow in front of it and slopes steeply away down into the wash.  After we had our fill, we hiked back to the truck and continued on west to Mexican Hat, where we spent the night.  The next morning we got up and drove to Kanab, where we spent Friday night.  On the way to Kanab, we stopped and visited the majestic Monument Valley Tribal Park.  Before stopping at Goulding’s Lodge, we drove the loop around the Mittens and Merrick Butte.  At Goulding’s we poked around and had a bite of lunch on the patio.  We then headed over to the Monument Valley visitor center before heading out to John Ford’s Point.  This point is named after the movie producer John Ford who made many western’s at Monument Valley.  From the Point you can see the 3 Sisters to the west, and Elephant, Cly, and Camel Buttes to the northwest, as well as the North Window.  It is a magnificent place with views that are out of this world.  Billy, I think, was a little put off by the vendors up at the point — this trip was his first experience with the reservations of the southwest, and to this day, I don’t think he is comfortable with or enjoys the reservations.  After we left monument valley, we drove to Kanab, enjoying more great views and interesting landscapes.  Here is a gallery of a few pictures from Wolfman, and Monument valley….

We got up very early on Saturday morning (March 15, 2014) eager to hit the trail and explore Snake Gulch.  The Snake Gulch Trail  is a 18.75 mile one way hike with a 2100 ft drop in elevation and is located 47 miles north-northwest of Grand Canyon Arizona.  It was a pretty good drive to the trailhead, which is located at the end of a forest road.  Since we got an early start, we hit the trail shortly after sunrise.  We knew that we would not be able to make it all the way to Table Rock, which is the epicenter of the rock art in the gulch– Table Rock is about twelve miles one way from the trailhead.  We decided that we would hike as far as we could, keeping in mind that we had to hike back to the trailhead, drive to St. George, Utah, and get ready for our surprise dinner for the Texas State Girls at Red Mountain Resort.  We began to see rock art after hiking a few miles, and we pushed on for as long and as far as we could.  We turned around about noon, and hoofed it back to the trailhead as fast as we could, worried that we would be late for our dinner.  We saw some interesting art that day, but realize we didn’t even scratch the surface– we both agreed we need to go back some day!  Here are a few pictures of the rock art and our little adventure in Snake Gulch….

We made it to Red Mountain Resort outside of St. George, Utah, just in time to get ready for our surprise dinner for Mike Akers and his team.  And surprised they were!  Mike kept our secret and the girls had no idea that we were going to buy them dinner then watch them play in the Brigham Young Invitational, which was being played at the nearby Entrada at Snow Canyon Country Club.  We had a great dinner and then a nice couple of days watching them on the golf course.  This was a special group of young ladies, and they were a joy to be around.  The golf course was very scenic, carved out from a lava field and ringed by red sandstone cliffs.  Here are a few pictures of our time with the team…

After a few days with Mike Akers and the Texas State girls, off we went on a whirlwind tour of some of the iconic national parks of southern Utah.  This was Billy’s first trip to Utah, and I wanted him to experience as much of the beautiful landscape as we could fit into our limited time.  Our first stop was Zion National Park, which is not that far from St. George.  We drove the canyon, and hiked up to Observation Point.  It was a great hike and we enjoyed the trail up to the high point of the canyon rim.  We then headed for Bryce Canyon National Park.  On the way we stopped off and hiked to the old hand dug Morman Canal and the beautiful sandstone formations that surround it.  We had hoped to hike at Bryce, but there was still quite a bit of snow on the trails down into the canyon, so we had to be content to enjoy the views from up top.  We then headed down to Escalante, Utah, and, after some detective work, were finally able to find the iconic “Circle of Friends” rock art panel.  Here are a few pictures from Zion, Bryce and Escalante….

After visiting Escalante and the Circle of Friends, we headed to Capitol Reef National Park.  We stopped off at the petroglyph panel located by the main road, then did some driving around the park.  This is a rarely visited park, and there is not a lot of infrastructure.  We stopped and hiked the Grand Wash, spending several hours doing what we love to to….searching for rock art!  We found a little in the wash, and had a great time exploring, hiking and climbing around.  Here are a few pics from our visit to Capitol Reef National Park.

We next headed to the Moab, Utah area to visit Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park.  I wanted Billy to see Delicate Arch, and the site (near Balanced Rock) where Edward Abbey wrote Desert Solitaire back in the 1950s before Arches was even a National Park.  We also drove out to Canyonlands National Park and visited Newspaper Rock and the Intestine Man.  We also drove Potash Road and enjoyed the petroglyph panels along the river.  It was a brief but rewarding time– once you get a little taste of Moab you are hooked forever!  Here are a few photos of our visit to Moab….

Friday, March 21, 2014 found us in Bluff, Utah, where we met up with Vaughn Hadenfeldt for a day of hiking and exploring rock art.  I first heard of Vaughn when I read David Robert’s Sandstone Spine:  Seeking the Anasazi on the First Traverse of the Comb Ridge. In this 2006 book, Roberts sang the praises of Vaughn and flat out called him the finest guide he had ever had the pleasure of meeting and hiking with.  As I read Robert’s account of Vaughn’s ability to locate ruins and places of special interest without the use of GPS and his subdued humor, I liked the guy long before I ever met him.  In October of 2013, I did a week long backpack with Vaughn into Slickhorn Canyon on Cedar Mesa, and had a wonderful experience.  I wanted Billy to met Vaughn, and hike with him.  We didn’t have time for a backpack, but we spent most of the day exploring Cedar Point.  When we finished up there, we stopped by to enjoy the view of the San Juan River from Muley Point.  We finished our day somewhere near Butler Wash–  Vaughn wanted to show us a petroglyph he called “Gonad Man”.  We had a great time that day, and I am so glad Billy got to experience Vaughn’s expertise, his love of Cedar Mesa, and his understated and ironic sense of humor. At the end of our time together, Vaughn asked where we were headed next.  I told him I was taking Billy out to Moonhouse in McLoyd Canyon.  I asked him point blank if he could tell us where there were other treasures we might enjoy in that canyon.  In typical Vaughn fashion, he said “If you walk up-canyon, you might find something interesting”.  When I pressed him for specifics, he smiled, and said “Looking is the real fun…enjoy yourself!”.   Here are some photos from our day with Vaughn.  Enjoy!

Friday evening after our hike, we took Vaughn and his wife Marcia, along with their daughter Dessa to dinner at the Navajo Twins Cafe.  We enjoyed the dinner and the conversation and retired to our room at the Recapture Lodge.  We got up Saturday morning and headed back up to Cedar Mesa and out to McCloyd Canyon to hike to Moonhouse Ruins.  The Moonhouse Ruins complex is by far my favorite ruin that I have ever visited.  I had been there the previous fall, and was anxious for Billy to explore this special place.  It was while I was sitting at Moonhouse in October 0f 2013 that I decided to go back to college to study archaeology– this place has had a huge impact on my life!

To get to the Moonhouse complex, you hike from the parking area to the edge of the canyon, then hike down to the bottom and back up to the top ledge on the other side.  There is a dicey part of the climb down where you have to use a rope.  From the canyon edge you can see the majestic ruin complex across the way.  We spent the whole morning exploring the main ruins and the other satellite ruins located on the same ledge of the canyon.  The ruin gets its name from pictographs in the interior rooms that depict the phases of the moon.  It is a stunning and sacred place– I will let our photos do most of the talking.  After thoroughly exploring Moonhouse, we hiked up canyon.  We found a stunning balanced rock and climbed up to it for a photo.  As we got further up canyon, it became narrower and darker, and soon we encountered ice on the shaded canyon floor.  We found some pictographs and some bedrock grinding features before turning back and hiking out to the canyon.  By the time we climbed out of the canyon, it was getting uncomfortably close to dark.  We got turned around and could not find out way back to the trailhead and our truck.  Just about the time I was resigned to the fact that we were going to have to spend the night out there, we found our truck.  This experience led me to purchase a GPS and to always establish a waypoint at the trailhead so I can always find my way back.   Hope you enjoy our photos of Moonhouse and McCloyd Canyon!

On the way back home, we made one final stop:  Bandelier National Monument in Northern New Mexico.   We didn’t spend a whole lot of time there, but hiked the trails near the visitor center.  The highlight was climbing the ladders up to Kiva Cave– what a spectacular and special place!  Here are some photos at Bandelier…..

This was a great trip.  I am grateful for Billy joining me on this adventure, and for his steadfast friendship.  I am fortunate to have a friend who is physically able to enjoy the outdoors with me, and who has a thirst to visit the wonderful prehistoric sites of the Southwest.  This trip laid the groundwork for many more, as you will see on the pages of this website.  In retrospect, this little adventure in the desert included so many of the people and places I love-  it could not have been a better trip!