Wednesday – Sunday, March 18-22, 2026
This year Dave, Jared and I decided to take it easier during our annual Spring Trip and eschewed our typical longer backpacking trip for car-camping and day-hiking on Cedar Mesa since we were worried about finding water in the canyons after the very dry winter the Colorado Plateau and Rocky Mountains have experienced. This turned out to be a good decision for us since much of the Southwest was experiencing an unprecedented heat wave during the same time, and to be honest, I would not have been up for carrying a heavy pack in this heat. Because of the very warm temperatures we didn’t hike as much as we normally would and ended up spending more time relaxing and resting in the shade at camp in the afternoons. I did get a lot of reading in! These are some photos of what we saw over our four days in Bears Ears National Monument.
Blue Doorway
White Pictographs
Overhang Room
Petroglyph Panel
Snake & Anthropomorph
The remains of a structure built with large stone slabs and mortar.
A look from the other side.
Fortification Ridge
Canyon In Shadow
Two Granaries
Double Doors
Mud Room
Alcove Room
Here’s a view from one of the points we explored. If you look closely you can see the remains of a wall or structure built at the narrowest point.
Alcove Ruins
Spalling Pictographs
Blue Doorway Alcove
Two Doors
A short but long wall built on top of a large boulder.
A peek behind the boulder and wall.
Roof Remnants
Rim Walking
Overhang Room II
Ravens Loft
A closer look at the right side.
There was a touch of color in the sky on Sunday morning as we got ready to pack up camp and head home.
I was down there last weekend, biking Comb Ridge and hiking. It was definitely “extra” with the heat so much that we broke up our adventure into two days, in order to do our exploring in the mornings only. Great photos!