[rubywrangler]

Julia hiked in Grand Gulch six years ago and hasn't shut up about it since. I hoped to visit last spring but ended up getting a last-minute Canyonlands permit right before our Grand Canyon trip and couldn't squeeze it in. There is also very limited cell service in the southeast corner of Utah which makes it hard for me to stay long since I'm usually working via hotspot between adventures. This year I put it on the calendar for a long weekend so I wouldn’t have to worry about that, but then my dad's (former) gall bladder threw a wrench into my plan. We delayed our trip so I could stay within cell range in for a few extra days for medical updates, etc. That also gave me a couple extra days to do some short hikes/walks: Lower Fish Creek Canyon Some stuff at the south end of Butler Wash South Fork Mule Canyon (not really short but I found cell service near a cliff dwelling halfway through so I was able to keep going) By Sunday, my dad was doing better so we went ahead with the trip. Day 1 Bullet canyon TH to confluence (8 mi) Julia and I met at the Kane Gulch ranger station to get a permit, and I immediately slammed the thumb of my right (good) hand in my car door. Perfect, now I would have no fully functional hands for this hike! We dropped her Prius at the Sheiks canyon TH and drove to Bullet TH via a 3 mile connector road. All roads are fine for a Prius now; I guess that may not always be the case especially for the connector. The trail quickly hits the rim and drops into bullet canyon, which I thought was so beautiful. The descent is quick at first, then becomes more gradual. We leapfrogged with another hiker who helpfully pointed out a pictograph that I had been looking for but missed. En route to the confluence with Grand Gulch we explored several famous sites including 1000+ year old/partially restored Perfect Kiva and the mysterious Jailhouse ruin, and a few less well-known ones too. Surprisingly, no one else was camping at the confluence, so we got the primo site next to the stream.

Descending bullet canyon

Descending some more

Three moons

Perfect kiva

grinding holes

view from perfect kiva alcove

jailhouse

green dots in a white dot?

outside wall

inside wall

heading for the confluence

foreshadowing?

ow

Day 2 Grand Gulch, Green House Canyon, Step Canyon (15 mi) I only knew the rough location of a couple landmarks in some side canyons, and Julia didn't remember the location of anything she saw on her previous trip. So we headed south from camp, scouring the walls and alcoves along the way with our binocs. We found many amazing things, and the scenery wasn't too shabby either. The first site seemed rarely visited; there were tons of undisturbed potsherds. The second site was hastily vacated by a fluffy fox as we approached. At the entrance to Green House Canyon we began to notice an abundance of caterpillars on the ground and wondered if them falling from tree-nests was the source of the plop plop plopping we had heard all night. We visited the spectacular Green House which is perched in a high alcove and decorated with green patterned markings.

potsherds

heading down grand gulch

pretty pattern

larger figures with necklaces and belts

green house

green paint detail

view from green house

As we continued down Grand Gulch the caterpillar situation became ridiculous. It was impossible to take a step without squishing one. They were on every rock and branch too. We picked them off our shirts, heads, packs…blech. I was so happy when we climbed out of the streambed and up to visit a two story dwelling, and another building nearby with nice potsherds. Then back to caterpillar land and into Step Canyon, where we located a colorful pictograph panel with a large bird and an interesting face. Further along we climbed to look at another faint pictograph and happened on another dwelling and granaries in a really scenic spot, and some petroglyphs nearby. Then we turned around and headed back to camp. We zoomed through the caterpillar zone but stopped to visit a neat red pictograph we had missed. Made it back to camp just before headlamp time, almost 9pm.

oh hello

ewww

looking through the doorway

two story dwelling

beams

metate

more step canyon pictographs

searching

last site of the day, in a very cool spot

looking down step canyon

Day 3 confluence to Sheiks canyon TH (7 mi) We had neighbors on night 2 and they woke me up at sunrise. I laid in my sleeping bag for awhile and used the Merlin app to identify birds - it heard 7 different species in a 4-minute period at one point! (spotted towhee, yellow warbler, canyon wren, hairy woodpecker, american redstart, song sparrow, orange-crowned warbler) We packed up and headed north in Grand Gulch. Due to the vague description I had, we accidentally found a few extra things on our way to the first landmark of the day, which was a multi-level compound on the surface of the canyon wall. Getting to the middle level required climbing into a crack between the wall and a giant slab, but the previous residents had carved helpful hand and footholds. We traversed on slickrock to a really cool amphitheater and found a collection of circular buildings in an alcove. In Sheiks canyon we stayed for awhile at the very well-known and very mind-blowing Green Mask site. It is huge and there are many details to look at. Julia was reading through the ammo can full of educational materials and mentioned that someone from Roslyn had signed the site register the previous day. Of course it was John Morrow! Missed by one day, dang. The climb out of Sheiks is steep hiking at first, then a short bit of pretty fun scrambling. Eventually it becomes a wide wash/trail and passes by Yellow House and a couple other sites near the trailhead.

cool pouroff with an arch

multi-level wall ruin in grand gulch

julia climbing the crack to reach the middle level

neat window

tiny windows

petroglyphs near site #3

green mask site amazing pictographs

green mask site

green mask

near miss

sheiks canyon

sheiks canyon

yellow house

yellow house

This was a great first foray into Cedar mesa/Grand gulch and I am definitely planning to add it into my regular rotation. There is so much more to explore!

[Gimpilator]

This is one of the most awesome reports I've seen. Thank you.

[jinx'sboy]

Thanks for a great trip report! And some nice memories. I was sorting through some old slides of my visits there, recently. I was lucky enough to visit there in the mid-70’s, worked and lived at Kane Gulch in 1978, then visited a couple of times in the early 80’s and have floated the SJ river twice. I need to get back there…an old friend lives in Bluff.

[Eric Hansen]

Fabulous trip report, pics, thanks! I stopped at Kane Gulch once and remember it as pretty darn quiet, not much traffic. A friend served as a volunteer ranger there, month at a time for many years. She always raved about the area.

[kite]

Awesome!

[contour5]

WoW! Thanks for another really great TR!

[Nancyann]

I always look forward to your trip reports, Megan and this one really stands out as one of your best. Thanks for taking the time and energy to share it, especially for those of us who would never be able to have these experiences ourselves!