Change of Plans

Original plan for today was to load the bikes in the truck and head for the east side of the old pioneer trail "Hole In The Rock". From there we would ride the bikes to the Glen Canyon park boundary and come back. I've traveled the west trail many times from Escalante, Utah. For some reason I've had the east side on my list for years. Probably because it's much more remote, less traveled and pretty much requires a Moab style 4x4 or equivalent. The west side out of Escalante is family van friendly but long and full of washboards.



After holding a brief round-table, we decided that the skies looked a bit unsettled and decided to lock the bikes up and go to plan "B". Here's the view of my back patio from base camp. Notice Navajo mountain far in the distance.



We locked the bikes to a tree and climbed in the truck and headed for Butler Wash road which is essentially the east side of Comb Ridge. I've never spent any quality time on this side of Comb so I was feeling good about plan "B". First hike for the day, Fishmouth Cave.



After being eaten alive by the bugs, we arrived at the first of two decent sites. Very large and quite trashed. You really have to let your mind wander and imagine as restored and pristine as Mesa Verde.



What do you think your home will look like in 800 years?



After checking out the ruins, we climbed up to the cave. Any guesses why they might call this "Fishmouth Cave?" I'm still wondering.....



The back wall of the huge cave was covered with faded pictographs overtaken by the graffiti of modern man. It's always fun to find "negative handprint" images. Luckily no one had destroyed these.



Should we PARTY before or after we destroy the ancient history of our beautiful state?



A once beautiful Anasazi clan symbol riddled with bullet holes. Sure makes me proud of our fellow modern day people. Sheesh.



Next stop further down Comb ridge. I've been wanting to see this one for quite sometime. The hike was less than 30 minutes from the car. I'm sure I've stood in line longer for a ride at Disneyland.





It's quite rare to find multi-colored hand prints. Both negative and positive.



The rub marks in the rock are where the ancients ground corn. Because their pots had round bottoms, the would chip concave holes in the rock to hold them steady.



Anyone for a wild guess as to how they started a fire?



On our way back up the comb, we had just a few hours of daylight left. I decided to go back to a little canyon right off the main highway and look for a ruin that skunked me last year with the kids. After searching high and low, I found it and was quite amazed. Many people have come looking for it and never found it. It's really quite easy to miss.



After scouting all aspects of this ruin, it was pretty obvious we wouldn't be climbing inside this one without the canyoneering equipment. Because of the location of the door, it's obvious they had a big tall ladder to climb in and out.





As we drove the highway back to base camp, I spotted a pretty good site i've never seen from the highway. We parked the truck and scurried to the bottom of the wash. The site was pretty badly destroyed. As I was climbing out of the wash, I noticed a nice site panel full of petroglyphs. Definitely a bonus for a stones throw from the highway.





There is really something about this place that captivates me. Must be the magic of the ancient ones.