Grand Gulch, Utah

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NVSteve
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Joined: Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:27 am
Location: Salt Lake City

Grand Gulch, Utah

Postby NVSteve » Mon May 11, 2009 12:09 pm

My girlfriend, myself & another friend drove down to the corner of southeastern Utah last week to meet up with 8 others for a backpacking trip to a place called Grand Gulch. We stopped at Natural Bridges National Monument first & did numerous hikes there. This is the 2nd largest natural bridge in the world:

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People always rave about Canyonlands, but truth be told, the entire eastern portion of Utah is chock full of canyons, of which Canyonlands is just a small part. Grand Gulch is one of many large canyons in the 4 corners area that is full of Anasazi dwellings, pottery, tools, etc. We met up with our group the following morning at the trailhead and in the rain:

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We had to go about 1 mile overland before descending into the canyons:

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On the way down to the main canyon:

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Many of the ruins were out of the question, at least in terms of visiting. No climbing equipment is permitted in the area, so many of these will remain untouched.

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Some with easier access:

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It decided to really dump on us at one point. Fortunately, we were dry in the recesses of a cliff exploring a ruin.

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It rained so hard that waterfalls were streaming off the cliffs above.

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Some more ruins:

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And some of the scenery along the way:

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The last ruin on the way out of the canyon:

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AZ_Path
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Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Grand Gulch, Utah

Postby AZ_Path » Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:02 pm

You must have a nice pretty nice camera because my pictures always look like trash after I see yours. :lol:

What's with the corn cobs and artifacts in the pic below? Are the ruins "maintained" in order to have a more authentic look? Thanks for sharing.
NVSteve wrote:
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NVSteve
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Location: Salt Lake City

Re: Grand Gulch, Utah

Postby NVSteve » Thu Jun 04, 2009 8:14 am

AZ_Path wrote: What's with the corn cobs and artifacts in the pic below? Are the ruins "maintained" in order to have a more authentic look? Thanks for sharing.
There are artifacts scattered all over the place at each ruin. The corn cobs are at least 700 years old. It's a "primitive area," which pretty much follows the National Park Service policy of hands-off. There were a couple of structures that have been reinforced with what looked like a concrete mixture, along with one kiva that has been fully reinforced so that visitors can have a better experience. The only ones that have been reinforced are the ones within a day hike of the trailheads, and I only saw 2 structures out of maybe 70 or so that had been dabbed with concrete.

More info: http://www.utah.com/playgrounds/grand_gulch.htm

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AZ_Path
Posts: 420
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2008 12:03 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Postby AZ_Path » Fri Jun 05, 2009 9:18 am

A corn cob can last that long before it decomposes? I figured it would have been carried away by animals or weather at some point. Interesting.


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