Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 8
Saturday, October 13, 2012
It rained again on Friday night. Not near as much as the previous night, but enough to make everything wet when we took down camp in the morning. Once we got our camp packed up into the Jeep and had a little breakfast, we drove over to the Bullet Canyon trailhead so we could start our hike for the day. Our main destinations for today would be Perfect Kiva and Jailhouse Ruin, but we would explore the canyon along the way, too.
About seven miles to Grand Gulch from here, but we weren’t planning on going that far this time. I’m definitely going to have to check out the full canyon on a future backpacking trip.
To Grand Gulch by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
Shortly after descending into Bullet Canyon from the rim, Jared spotted these pictographs.
White Pictographs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
We also passed the remains of a tower up on the rim of the canyon.
Rim Tower by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
Jared was spotting the rock art left and right on this hike. He spotted these faint red pictographs on a small ledge above us.
Red Anthropomorph by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
Eventually the canyon opened up a bit, the hiking got easier, and there were plenty of nice campsites to be found.
Bullet Canyon by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
The trail down Bullet Canyon.
Bullet Trail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
Soon we found ourselves climbing up to the large alcove that houses the Perfect Kiva. This rectangular room was found along the back wall of the alcove.
T-Door by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
The second Perfect Kiva we had visited in the same number of days.
Perfect Kiva Entry by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
I climbed down the ladder into the kiva and was happy to find a nice beam of light shining through the opening to the floor. I took a few photos…
Kiva Ladder by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
Beam of Light by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
Light Beam by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
There were a few pictographs found on the back wall of the large alcove, too.
Small White Man by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
Red Hands by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
Red Paint by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
After leaving the kiva, we hiked just a little bit further down the canyon to visit the Jailhouse Ruins. You might be able to guess where the name comes from? I’ve never seen a window like this before which makes me wonder if this section of the wall has just fallen apart revealing the interior structure?
Jailhouse Window by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
An interior room at the Jailhouse site with a smoke-stained ceiling.
Inside Room by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
Some painted designs and handprints on the ceiling above.
Jailhouse Design by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
When we were done visiting the Jailhouse Ruins we hiked back up the canyon to my Jeep and started the drive back home. We had completed yet another excellent October trip!
I took that hike with my wife in 2002, and i’s definitely one of the best hikes I’ve ever taken. I really enjoyed experiencing it vicariously again through your post and especially your consistently wonderful photographs!