Photo: David Van Winkle Backpacking and Ancient Civilizations, Grand Gulch, Utah Highlights:
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Trip Number: 09081A Price: $ 895 Deposit: $100 Capacity: 10 Rating: M Leader:
The Trip  Photo: David Van Winkle
Exploring Grand Gulch, you can't help but think about time. As you walk between sheer cliffs streaked with dark “desert varnish,” you are looking at sandstone which formed more than 225 million years ago. Many canyons pierce the great block of smooth sandstone that is Cedar Mesa, but Grand Gulch and its many tributary canyons are the most extensive, giving you the widest view into this remarkable place's geologic past. In our contemporary times, the rock's weird erosion -- towers, alcoves, rincons, and natural arches -- put on a mind-bending show worthy of Salvador Dali. Though deep in the desert, the canyons harbor much wildlife and greenery, particularly at the oases where springs flow year round. Grand Gulch's middle section trends east-west so that the northern cliffs receive solar heating in the winter. So the prehistoric Ancestral Puebloan (formerly called “Anasazi”) settled here in what for them represented very large numbers. Ruins abound -- from the homes of these mysterious people, to the tiny granaries tucked into small ledges. Some of the structures are fairly complete, and a few have been restored. In addition, the Ancestral Puebloans, who disappeared over two centuries before Columbus arrived in the New World, left behind art on the canyon walls: petroglyphs pecked into the stone and pictographs painted on the rock. Our itinerary takes us to the best panels of pictographs. In Grand Gulch, we will ponder still another dimension of time. In the clear air free of light pollution, the Milky Way in spring blazes overhead at nightfall. It is good for your humility and sense of wonder to consider that all the light from all those stars took years -- some, millennia -- to reach your eye tonight. With its fragile combination of geology, archaeology, and desert wilderness, Grand Gulch promises a week of many such meditations about time and the past.
 Photo: David Van Winkle We will meet in the trip leaders' motel room in Blanding, Utah the evening before the trip to distribute common gear, including food. We'll also go over the trip safety plan, finish last minute paperwork, and get to know each other. The trip leaders will be available to help answer last minute questions about the trip or how to pack your backpack. Day 1: We will meet at the Bureau of Land Management Kane Gulch Ranger Station at 9 a.m. After completing group orientation and a vehicle shuttle, we start our trip at the Collins Canyon trailhead. Our first campsite, at the confluence of Collins Canyon and Grand Gulch is a short backpack of only two miles from the trailhead. This will give us plenty of time to explore Basketmaker ruins and rock art down canyon from our campsite. Day 2: Today, we will explore numerous Basketmaker and Pueblo sites, including Round House, Railroad, and Grand Hotel ruins during our 10 mile backpack hike to our campsite at Polly's Island.  Photo: David Van Winkle Day 3: We'll hike 4 miles onward up the canyon to our Dripping Canyon campsite. We will view Polly's Island and Long House habitation ruin sites and the Big Man pictograph, among other sites. Day 4: We will backpack 7 miles to our campsite at the confluence of Grand Gulch and Bullet Canyon. Along the way, we will explore Green House, Two Story and the Quail pictograph panel amongst other sites. Day 5: This is a layover day. You will have the opportunity to day hike 6 miles in Bullet Canyon to view Perfect Kiva and Jailhouse ruins. Or you can relax around camp. Day 6: This day's 8 mile backpack trip will take us past Green Mask, Rincon and other ruins on our way to our campsite at Todie Canyon. Day 7: Our last day will take us past Turkey Pen and Junction ruins as we backpack 7 miles to the Kane Gulch trailhead. Getting There We will meet at the BLM Kane Gulch Ranger Station at 9 a.m. on Sunday. Please be on time so that we can move out as early as possible. The ranger station is located on Utah Highway 261 just south of Natural Bridges National Monument, which has a campground. The nearest city is Blanding, Utah. Getting to the trailhead is the responsibility of each participant. The leader will distribute the trip roster to assist participants in setting up carpools. The closest airport with commercial service is at Grand Junction, Colorado; the nearest with service by major airlines are at Salt Lake City , Utah , and Albuquerque , New Mexico .
All food will be provided from trailhead to trailhead. The first and last meals will be lunch on the first and last days of the trip. Our dinners include soup, a backpacking entrée, and desert. Breakfasts and lunches tend to emphasize fast, light-weight nutrition. All participants will assist with camp chores, including taking turns in the preparation and clean-up of meals as well as hauling water from springs to camp. Even though our sources are springs, all water must be treated. We will provide chlorine dioxide tablets for water treatment. If you do not want to use this approach, you are welcome to bring your own.
This trip is rated Moderate (M). The total backpacking mileage is 39-miles, plus day hike mileage. Much of our route follows canyon bottom (instead of maintained trails), and includes some bushwhacking through riparian thickets. Some rock scrambling is required to fully explore some of the ruins and rock art we will visit. The highest point of elevation is our last-day trailhead at 6,400 feet. In mid-April, the weather at Grand Gulch is only beginning its transition into spring, so temperatures in the 60-70s are a possibility. At night the thermometer can fall into the 30-40s. Regardless of this outing's rating, all backpacking makes physical demands on hikers, so all participants must exercise regularly, and arrive at the trailhead in top physical condition.
The leader will send a comprehensive equipment list to all registered participants. The Sierra Club will provide all group gear: stoves, cooking equipment, rain tarps, and, of course, food. The food and group gear will be divided up each day with each person carrying an equal share. You will bring your own standard backpacking gear: pack, broken-in boots, tent, sleeping bag, raingear, and clothing. We suggest that you bring water containers for 4-5 liters.
Maps
Books
Conservation The Grand Gulch Primitive Area is part of a larger Wilderness Study Area (WSA) awaiting action by Congress to permanently protect its wild nature. In Utah , the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) deemed suitable for WSAs only a fraction of the public lands identified as deserving by conservationists. So far, the state's political establishment has sided with BLM. There will be a briefing about what you can do to help save these remarkable wild lands owned by all Americans. This will be a Leave No Trace (LNT) trip. We will talk about the impact of visitors on the fragile ecosystem of Cedar Mesa. The dark, crumbly-looking ground next to the trails is actually alive and called "cryptobiotic" soil. Made up of lichens, mosses, green algae, microfungi, and cyanobacteria, these organisms bind the soil together, making it resistant to wind and water erosion. But cryptobiotic soil is easily destroyed by hiking boots. Following the LNT principle of leaving what you find, we also need to prevent impacts on the archeological wonders of Grand Gulch. We particularly need to avoid unintended or accidental disturbances such as stepping on middens –- mounds which the Ancestral Puebloans made when they threw out their garbage.
See the How to Apply for an Outing section for more details on registering for this trip and details about our Reservation and Cancellation Policy. The payment of a deposit does not confirm you as a member on the trip. Participants must be approved by the trip leader. After signing up for this trip, you will be sent a confirmation packet containing approval materials (Participant Approval Questionnaire, Medical Form, Liability Release Form). Each applicant (including those on the waitlist) must fill out these forms and promptly mail them to the trip leader. The leader will review the approval materials and notify you of your acceptance in a timely manner.
Leader 
David Van Winkle has led numerous backpacking trips in the Sierra Nevada, the North Cascades, the Rocky Mountains and on the Colorado Plateau in Utah and Arizona. David was previously the Dallas group Outings Chair and is currently the Quality Coordinator for the Southwest Subcommittee of the National Outings Program. He hikes frequently in the mountains and desert near his home in Santa Fe. In addition to backpacking, David's interests include canoeing, astronomy, photography, ornithology, geology and green residential building. David is a Wilderness First Responder.
E-mail: david@vw77.com Assistant Leader Arthur Kuehne is currently an outings leader and the Webmaster for the Dallas Group of the Sierra Club. He has been active in the Club for almost 30 years and has served as Dallas Group Chair and Chair of the Lone Star Chapter. He has led backpack and canoe trips in Texas and throughout the Southwest for over 25 years. In addition to backpacking and canoeing, Arthur’s interests include photography, green/energy efficient building, computers, and nature study. E-mail: arthur@akuehne.com See many trip pictures at www.akuehne.comGeneral Notes About Sierra Club Trips
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