House On Fire

Today we are headed for one particular home of The Ancient Ones. An ancient Anasazi ruin that goes by the name “House On Fire”. I could tell you where its’ location is, but then I’d have to…well you know what I’d have to do!

I slept in till 7:30, tired and hobbling around from the previous days hike. I had aggravated an old work injury to my left foot. Fortunately I did not have any extensive hikes planned for another week or so. I packed up and left camp without breakfast, made my way the 38 miles back out to the main highway and headed south. Passing through a small town, I stopped to fuel up, get a burrito for lunch and refill the cooler with ice. As I broke up the bag of ice on the pavement, a shard of ice cut through my thumb a began to bleed profusely. As I write this, my thumb is still healing from this injury.

Hidden away in the high desert of the Colorado Plateau in southeastern Utah, isolated in remote canyons on the sides of cliffs and tucked under alcoves, The Ancient Ones built their cliff dwellings. In this particular area, there is hardly a canyon or wash that they did not inhabit between 1000-1300 AD. Ruins are sprinkled throughout this area.

Having vague directions, and a basic idea where the House On Fire was located, I turned west. I was looking for a dirt road heading to the north just to the west of a large wash. When I passed the location of another highway heading south, I knew that I had passed it and needed to turn back. Slowly driving east, I found an unmarked dirt road heading north that was not visible when traveling west. This must be it!

I drove back on the dirt road for a little over a half mile to a location where it crossed another wash. This was where I was to park. The vague directions I had stated to hike the wash to the northwest for approximately 1.5 miles and look for a cairn marking the location to hike up to the cliffs above the wash.

I absolutely love these kind of adventures, where I am off in some remote area I have never been before, following some kind of vague treasure map to some secret hidden location!

The landscape was pretty much void of any major landmarks as I hiked up the wash. It all looked the same, high desert wash with juniper, pinon, some cottonwoods and prickly pears. I scanned the cliffs above when they were visible, but with my poor eyesight, I had very little chance of picking out anything at that distance.

Just over a half an hour in, I knew I should be getting close, if this was even the right wash! To my amazement I soon found a cairn stacked up on the side of the wash. Woo Hoooooo! I had found it!

This site was a very spiritual place, and I spent at least two hours hanging out, photographing and contemplating The Ancient Ones. It amazes me as to how they sustained themselves in this harsh landscape. But apparently they were able to farm here, hard as that is to believe.

It being mid afternoon, I knew I should head back to the car since I still had to find the trailhead to tomorrows adventure and a place to call home for the night. Finding this trailhead proved to be as clandestine as the House on Fire, but with a bit of persistent searching I found it. And with no one else around, turned out to be a fine campsite for the night.

After a dinner of Ramen and canned chicken and capturing a beautiful sunset, it was time to write in the journal and stargaze. The stars are amazing! Did I tell you about the stars…