DESTINATION Generic 47 Photosets
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| The Comb - Hidden Ruins, UT | |
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| | The Comb - Hidden Ruins, UT | | | |
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The Comb - Hidden Ruins, UT
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| Hiking | 5.15 Miles |
1,270 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.15 Miles | 3 Hrs 24 Mns | | 1.68 mph |
| 1,270 ft AEG | 20 Mns Break | 25 LBS Pack | | |
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| partners | | Hike #6 of 10 of our Spring 2014 Utah trip.
The plan was for a short 2-mile loop hike to a cave dwelling/ruin site on one of the upper fingers of The Comb along with a possible view down on the Eagle's Nest from above. But, as has become the norm for our hikes, the plan didn't last past the first objective... the farther we were able to traverse Comb Ridge northward, the more interested we became in seeing just how far we could go before being forced to turn east and head back out toward Butler Wash.
Surprisingly, we were able to continue almost four ridges to the north before realizing how far we had gone and how much time it would take to get back and decided it was time to find a route out. And it just so happened where we had to decide to either drop down into a canyon or climb back up and follow the third ridge out, when we looked across the canyon what do we see but a ruin site I had not been aware of.
With this hidden ruin beckoning us, it didn't take a moment to decide on descending into the canyon for a closer examination.
But wait, not so fast! We still have to find a safe route down. Although there always seem to be routes to ascend or descend along The Comb, not all are what we would care to try, so we looked around and came up with a plan A & a plan B, along with a few other possibilities. Plan B looked to be the easiest but as a wide arc it would take longer so we stuck with Plan A, just drop down as quickly as possible while attempting to keep it as direct a line-of-sight route to the ruin site. Plan A worked out just great and in less than 10 minutes we were standing in from of the ruins.
We shot a number of photos and video and figured it was time to find a return route, after all, with so many pour-offs it was very possible we would have to retrace our route for quite some distance. On the way eastward I saw a footprint in one spot of sand on the canyon floor, which got our hopes up that there just may be a trail out to the ruins. Then around the next corner we come across another hidden ruin site.
More photos and video and we're on our way again... until encountering a 40' pour-off with no getting around it up the north wall of the canyon, and hardly any more appealing up the south wall... but not wanting to retrace over a mile of our route, climbing all the way, it was time to suck it up and just climb! It became one of those spots where I only made it by NOT looking back down until all the way on top... and when I did look, I had instant Gumby-legs... there's no way I would ever think of descending there. Of course it's always easier climbing, you just look for the next hand/foot-hold, and the next and the next. But looking down that 150-foot drop? No way!
Now on top of the ridge we had to make a quick choice of two routes from which it would than be a piece-of-cake to return. We chose staying up top as long as possible before descending into Butler Wash at the last moment... which turned out to be the right choice as later when we looked back on the other route there was another pour-off to avoid. Sometimes luck just happens to come our way.
So, a quick short loop turned out to be our 2nd-longest hike of this trip, bringing the bonus of two previously-unknown-to-us ruin sites, which I decided to call the Hidden Ruins.
I posted 50 of 90 photos from the hike here on HAZ, the full set is on my website.
Hidden Ruin #1 video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/VWLJjfUb4PU
Hidden Ruin #2 video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pl3T8eHq7X0 |
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