Added 21 February 2010

Friday, 20 March 2009, Grand Gulch, Utah

In the morning, we all woke up at around the same time, though I was the last one out of bed.  My morning routine is short though, and all three of us were miraculously ready to go within a minute of each other.  I don’t think I’ve ever had a group sync up so well before.  When I pulled my tent down I found a rather large Jerusalem cricket under my tent. I think they're pretty harmless but it made me glad I put up my tent! It was still pretty early when we hit the trail and continued down Bullet Canyon.  Michael started out as we did, and passed us when we had to search for a dropped map.  We ended up crossing paths with him numerous times during the day.  Perhaps a mile down from Jailhouse Ruin we visited an unnamed ruin that was very cool.  It was interesting to see the different construction techniques used to create a cliff dwelling.

It was still early when we reached the confluence of Bullet Canyon with Grand Gulch, so I convinced Steve and Mindy to take a short side trip down Grand Gulch before heading up canyon.  We shed our packs and hiked 30 minutes downstream before turning around.  We didn’t see any cultural sites, but it was beautiful nonetheless.  Back at our packs, we had a quick snack before setting out for Sheiks Canyon and Green Mask Spring, our next water source.

Just after we got to Sheiks Canyon two guys hiking down Grand Gulch arrived.  They informed us that there was good water available in Coyote Canyon up ahead, meaning we didn't need to go to Green Mask Spring for water.  Something told me, though, that we shouldn't miss taking the opportunity to see it.  Steve almost stayed behind to eat lunch, but Mindy and I convinced him to bring his lunch along.

Green Mask Spring, or rather its namesake archaeological site, turned out to be another one of my favorite places.  The site has an amazing array of pictographs, highlighted at the far end by the Green Mask pictograph.  I found a rock to lie on in the cool shade from which I could look up at the Green Mask.  The Green Mask consumed all the attention I could direct towards it, and somehow gave it all back as well.  It held power to the one who painted it.  It held power to me. It is certainly unique, but there’s more to it than that.  The distance between me and its creator was zero, and the time but a trifle. 

One of the other hikers read from the information booklet at the site that archaeologists had found an actual mask at a burial site in northeastern Arizona that was almost identical to the pictograph above us, which made the Green Mask all that much more interesting.

We all marveled at the other pictographs as well.  One was especially amazing, not in design, but in location.  It consisted of just a handful of roughly parallel lines, but it was at the outer edge of an overhang that was 50 feet wide, at a spot that was well over 50 feet from the ground.  None of us could figure out any possible way for the artist to actually get up there to paint anything. The best we could come up with is a guy standing on a large log tripod with a paintbrush on the end of a long stick. 

Eventually, all the other hikers drifted off, leaving just the three of us.  We lingered for a while, not wanting to leave but knowing we should make our way to a camp somewhere up Grand Gulch.  Too soon, we actually got up and started walking back to the backpacks we left at the Grand Gulch confluence .  When we got to Coyote Canyon, we hiked up to Coyote Spring and got some good water.  We bathed a little with the Jailhouse water I had left, as it wasn’t great tasting.  With our containers topped off with enough water to get us to Toadie Canyon the next day, we set out for Split Level Ruin. 

Along the way we encountered a neat little ruin tucked under what looked like a massive rock that had fallen off the cliff above, though I suspect it just eroded to look that way. If cliff dwellings were meant to be defensive, the people who lived here must have been outcasts, as it offered no protection to speak of.

Continuing on up Grand Gulch, we found more unnamed ruins, one of which still had an ancient ladder, though it wouldn't be recognizable as such to most moderns. In addition to the ruins, we also simply enjoyed the beauty of the landscape.

We found a camp near Split Level Ruin, set up camp, then hiked over to it to check it out in the waning light of the evening.  It was a cool place, though much of the site was cordoned off. It was the first site we’d come to with any physical barriers.  After enjoying the ruin, we headed back to camp for dinner and a little conversation before heading to bed.