Recent warm weather in the Southwest opened up the mid-elevation hiking season early so I headed to Cedar Mesa, Utah with the non-tech Kelsey guide.
Dirt roads on the Mesa were too sticky to drive w/o 4wd so I used my Krampus as a shuttle to access the trails for 2 overnight camps. I ended up biking 30 miles, hiking maybe 15, overnight pack base-weight was a hair over 5lbs.
A dry section headed east.
6 miles of pedaling brought me to a trailhead. I hid the bike and walked the rim of a deep canyon.
An hour of walking brought me to an airy peninsula.
The ruin was perched high at the tip of the peninsula
I backtracked a ways to set camp on the rim near some water holes.
Next morning I walked back to the bIke and headed to the far eastern rim of cedar meda to check the quality of a spring. Tasty. I loaded the bIke with 5 liters and then headed to the far western rim and another canyon.
More sandy track and Navajo Mountain looms on the horizon.
After hiding the bike again and repacking the Zack zero xs with the overnight essentials I walked into another canyon.
At the edge of a forewarned dry fall, I couldn't resist a pool of clear clear water, before attempting the bypass.
The bypass was as described following a bench 350' above the canyon floor, until the part Kelsey described as "zig zag down a trail to the bottom." Cairns marked the route but I couldn't get though the crux at the top. Dejected I headed back up the canyon to find 'less perfect' ruins and a camp.
Ruins found.
Camp found around the corner, 100' above the frosty and windy canyon floor. The ancient ones knew a thing or two about site selection.
Sheltered from the wind I still used proper rock staking technique.
A final climb out before the pedal/drive home.
Road-side pork, green chile, and fry bread brought the energy levels up on the drive home. Twas longer than my shoe!
Edit to add pic of my modified jeb-toil. Maybe if I call the stove the wrong name this thread will get some forum love/hate;)
Pot, PCS stove, and reflextic cozy weigh 10.6 oz
