I went to Bears Ears National Monument Yesterday. Vicariously Join Me? *VERY photo heavy

Bears Ears is our newest National Monument, as on December 28, 2016, President Obama proclaimed the 1,351,849 acres Bears Ears National Monument, a vast, eye-poppingly beautiful swath of America in southeastern Utah. The area was best described--geographically—by David Lavender in his book One Man's West (1943) as "a million and a quarter acres of staggering desolation between the San Juan and Colorado rivers, a vast triangle of land that even today is not completely mapped." Well, thanks to satellites, it is now well mapped but good luck traversing the Monument even with mechanical aides. Mapping only showed the improbable & impassible mesa’s, buttes, bluffs, washes, scrub, desert floor, monoclines, and other types of formations I have no idea of their names. This diary describes my adventure in pictures, & hopefully provides you some knowledge of Bears Ears National Monument, but doesn’t address the despicable Utah Leg or it’s land-raping opportunist Senator, Jason Chaffetz. That’s a different, spittle-flecked diary.

Bluff, Utah is in the southeastern corner, along the San Juan River, which is where I entered the Nat. Mon.. Bears Ears is between the Colorado River & the San Juan River—that’s many, many miles!

The ‘actual’ Bears Ears Buttes—the namesake of the National Monument. Located on Elk Ridge, near/west of Cedar Mesa

The Monument borders on other National Parks & Monuments-Monmument Valley, Canyons of the Ancients, Hovenweep, Arches N.P., Canyonlands N.P., and several other Park Service/Forest Service/BLM entities.

There are many places to enter a place as large as Bears Ears. Closest to me would be the southeast corner, closest to Bluff, Utah. A beautiful 2.5 hour drive, to be sure!

In a nod to the Diné /Navajo Nation, Bluff proudly proclaims it’s founding...in 650 A.D.!

Bluff, Utah sits just outside the borders of the also vast Navajo Nation, the northern border of the NN.

I went to Lower Butler Wash, west & north of Bluff by a few miles. It is in the area of some truly spectacular places, but alas it is no Fire Tree House, which is one ridge west from Butler Wash—across Cedar Mesa. Butler Wash abuts Cedar Mesa to the east.

Fire-Tree-House, Bears Ears N.M., via SLC Tribune. Spectacular! I didn’t go there...sorry.

In fact, the Salt Lake Tribune has a fine article—with pics—about Bears Ears here: www.sltrib.com/…

Even before leaving the State of Colorado where my hut is, the rock formations begin:

West of Cortez, CO, near Towaoc, CO. Towaoc is the home of The Ute Mountion Ute Tribe.

West of Mesa Verde N.P., near-ish the Four Corners Monument

Still in CO

Yep—still Colorado

Finally! Utah.

Ballistically Elevated Life?

The UT-CO border, ~25 miles north of The Four Corners Monument.

Quintessential Utah & its beautifully colored rocks

I had driven past Bluff, and was looking for County Road 262, to the north. Easily found, right?

Maybe not easily found—I shoulda taken a pic w/ the gate closed for more realistic “Find This”...

Welcome to Bears Ears! Let’s go in!

Here follows many random pics, just looking around a small portion of the Lower Butler Wash area:

Nice...

View from CR 262/Lower Butler Wash Road

Eastern edge of Cedar Mesa—the light colored rocks in the distance

The actual Lower Butler Wash. Not much water yesterday—but it is a wash. That means it often gets completely dry but the greenery shows it also gets water going down the wash...sometimes.

That’s just to the right of the previous pic, Lower Butler Wash, Cedar Mesa at top of pic.

From the same spot, looking in opposite direction

“Free Camping”. No fee, no host, no neighbors. Probably quiet & starry at night...

Wheeee!

This is why I own a truck

A rock bigger than your house

Last years dried micro-wildflowers

Up on the butte to the east. Nice pic with CR 262 in background, truck is ~1.5 miles to the left in pic (can’t be seen)

Hey—let’s hike over there!

No—over there, to the left

That is ~1.5 miles away at least—it is HUGE.

Zooming out a bit:

!!

Watch out for paddle cacti!—it’s ubiquitous & well hidden

That’s...big

Zoomed out:

Look at that tree on top—it got much smaller

Same spot, zoomed out, looking left

Same spot, looking behind me. Cedar Mesa in background

Yow

In the dead center of this pic is a tree, just above the darker colored rock

closer view. Notice the partial arch to the right of the tree

Zoomed way in. How tall is that tree? I’ll guess 60’-75’

Now check out that partial arch again!

Perspective, Grass Hopper, perspective

‘Painted rocks’, painted by Mother Earth herself

Time of day/angle of sun makes all the difference in pictures...and the red rocks change color through-out the day.

BIG rock up there

‘Getting your rocks off’, geologically speaking…or shedding a rock face for the more formal/mature. That is A LOT of rock that fell off the butte

Desert floor with Cedar Mesa in background

Ubiquitous Yucca, with bonus shed rock in background

Critters live in the desert, plenty of them. Here’s the dwelling of one of them:

Snake hole? Not putting my hand in to check...

I only found that snake (?) hole because I saw a flat, smooth track(snake print?) between two holes…

Secondary snake escape hole? It’s what was at the other end of the smooth soil.

Much bigger critter hole—fox-sized. No idea what lives there:

Doesn’t look actively being used—no tracks. 

SPRING! in the desert. Just getting started at 4600’. Also, yes, they’re sharp.

More Spring. You didn’t think greenery & flowers grew in the desert, huh?

Last year’s yucca flower—seed pods eaten after pod opens.

I have no idea what this is besides a rock. An accidental pic I think. I think it’s quite cool though

Edge of butte

Not poop! Thanks cyanobacteria, which is proto-soil. This piece/bit has lichens & moss, and little dots of more cyanobacteria around it. This ‘creature’(?) is no doubt 100’s, maybe a 1000 years old. Maybe even older. Cyanobacteria grows S-L-O-W-L-Y—never touch or step on it.

In the year 3925, this will be fertile soil.

Arches everywhere! This is actually tiny—notice the stick in lower L corner…

Just outside Bears Ears, in Bluff. Named Two Rocks. Go figure.

Heh—also home to The Two Rocks Cafe… (Two Rocks Lodge? Two Rocks Resorts? Whatev. Nice lunch.)

I know you’re wondering if my dogs came along…

OF COURSE! Fletch in back, lil Chris up front. My hiking buddies!

Hey don’t get too far ahead! Come back to Dad!

So County Road 262 should have been easy to find. It wasn’t—even though it was directly across from the turn to the Bluff ‘airport’. Heh—the Bluff airport:

Oh it’s an ‘airstrip’ now—the truth comes out

Off we go, into the wild blue yonder! What kind of fool would drive onto the runaway? You’re reading that fool’s diary!

Just two more things before I end this diary. First:

Let’s close our flight plan

And secondly: NEVER FORGET—WE OWN THIS PLACE! We—me & you & all Americans. Please don’t let anyone take it from us! #Protect Bears Ears! #StandwithBearsEars!

x

#BearsEars National Monument, sacred to native tribes, faces a challenge https://t.co/6P1ZE5rPTH#StandWithBearsEars! @SecretaryZinkepic.twitter.com/10VyZTnWHr

— Protect Bears Ears (@savebearsears) March 10, 2017

Never, ever let anyone take this from all of us!

I hope you enjoyed the MANY pics, and I also hope you’ll let your Congressional Rep know: “Save & Protect Bears Ears”!

Peace out.