Camp at Todie Canyon trailhead  in the morning. Our camp is located HERE. You can even see the fire ring.

Packs are in the truck, and we're about ready to head for the ranger station to get our permits.  Unlike the past few years  we didn't bust our asses to get out early as we didn't have a long car shuttle this year - hike was a loop trip.

Allan's Camry - I don't know how he got it up here as it was a very rough road. We left his car at the Kane RS parking lot rather than have him driving the very rough road to the Fish/Owl TH, especially considering the possibility that rain was forecast the day we would be driving out.

Solar power at the Ranger Station (note that the photo was taken the previous evening as shown by the shadow of the kybo) but it seemed appropriate to put it here.

Map at the RS showing the Fish/Owl loop.  Ominous warning note - After doing the hike maybe they should add "and anyone over 60 years old"!

Expected weather conditions for our trip - not looking good for Thursday and Friday

Group photo (missing Will who is taking photo): Mike, Fred, Nancy, Allan, Tracy, Bill, Nick, & Jon

Another group (-1) photo.  We didn't have far to carry our packs initially, as we just carried them down the hill a short way and parked them in the wash so we could do a day hike to the ruins under the rim of Owl. Leaving TH at (10:00 AM)

Bill heading down the wash - It's amazing you can't tell that there is a deep canyon there until you are right on top of it.

Jon's video - Jon and Nick at the end of the wash.

To enter Owl, the cairns lead you to the left of the wash we hiked down.

Ready to drop over the rim - I'm leading the way followed by Mike, Nancy, and Allan.  "Wrong way" Bill does it again and heads into a cleft in the rock rather than go down over steep slickrock to the right.

Tracy exits the cleft (it's really good that we didn't have the packs on).  Allan and the others heading out. Wrong way is located HERE

If you click on the thumbnail, you will see Bill "butt-sliding" (which we will do a lot of this day) down a steep section of the "Trail"(??). A couple of cairns are also visible if you look closely.

A composite of Bill and Allan's videos of the trail as it drops onto a section of slickrock "steps".  Video shows how rough the terrain is.  It goes on to show the ruins we are heading toward at the end.

The way leads through a couple of massive boulders to a section of fairly steep slickrock.  Boulders are located HERE

Continuing down, the trail goes around the rocks and over to the ledge on the left.

Looking back up, Bill heading down slickrock steps. Allan and Jon above. We would have to climb back up this on Friday carrying packs.

Tracy, Allan, Bill, Nancy, Will, & Jon making their way around the ledge just before the trail goes down.

Another view: (Note that Nick has leapfrogged all of us and has climbed to a high vantage point to get this photo)

Kiva showing placement of the logs and the remnants of the cedar bark roofing.

Allan's video of the ruins in the alcove.  He mentions that they are waiting for me. I went down the main trail which drops quite a way below the alcove (which was what we had done on previous trips). When I tried to climb up to the alcove, there was a high step that I couldn't get up and there was no one there to give me a boost so I had to climb back up above the alcove and scramble down as the others had.

Nick & Allan - the small granary behind Allan seems to be perfectly cylindrical.

Information about the ruins at the site (click the thumbnail to enlarge for reading)

Note the rubble at the left of the kiva, possibly of another structure that has collapsed.  There is a large opening into the kiva from this side.

If you notice someone new at the left, that is a solo hiker who is doing the route in the opposite direction than us. We would pass him the next day as he was making camp in Fish Canyon.

Another view of the interior construction - I wonder if the portion of the structure above the rocks at the bottom to the roof is mud mortar applied over stick reinforcement.  It certainly has stood the test of time.

Granary - note stone for door has been shaped to fit. Roof construction is also visible. This granary seems to be more crudely constructed that the other.

Looking down on the kiva (and granary) showing the remnants of the roof and the opening at the base of the kiva floor.

Pile of cedar bark which probably the remnants of the kiva roof

At the bottom left of the cedar bark, there are these small objects that appear at first glance to be dog crap. If you enlarge the photo to original size you can see embedded bark or grass.  Another mystery.

Note that logs have been used to make a wall rather than the usual stone masonry - reminiscent of the Three Little Pigs.

Handpring Panel above. I've visited this alcove three times (including this trip) and I never saw these until I saw these photos.

Heading back up: Tracy & Bill / Nick & Nancy (in shadows by tree & boulders)/ Will hung up on boulders.

Nancy a & Bill climbing up the steps - Jon waiting to see if everybody is making it up allright

Back to the rim of Owl. Small ruin visible from the ruin to the right of the wash. (12:15 pm)

Hiking across the mesa to Fish Canyon, we get this peekaboo view of the Bears Ears

You don't see much on the hike across the mesa, you're hiking through the cedars, up and down through dry washes.  Then the trail leads out onto a rocky outcropping where we take a break and enjoy the views.

Fred - Nick is preparing our lunch. Supposed to be bagels, summer sausage, and cheese but we discover that the bagels are still in my freezer at home!!

Mike's video

Allan's video - Dropping Allan's pack over the edge and Nancy shimmys down the "Crack".

Bill's video: Going down the crack and lowering Jon's pack

Coming down the Crack - In my two previous trips, we went the opposite direction and exited via the Crack. This time I felt that it would be impossible for me to get up as it took several of my former scouts 12 years ago to push and pull me up.

In the end, coming down was much easier than going up.  The downside was that the rest of the descent down to Fish was very hard and tough on old legs.  It had been much easier to climb up.  Also going back up Owl was much harder than going down.

About a third of the way down, we took a break in this shady alcove. Everyone was complaining about the difficulty. (4:05 pm)

Jon's video from our break - you can see we still have a long way to go

The "trail" switchbacks across the slope - you can see the faint path in the bushes beyond the rock

Mike and Fred make it to camp (you can see Fred's foot at the lower right) - 2 hours to hike 1.5 miles.  A lot of us are still up on the mountain. Allan had a couple of bad falls. Nick went back and carried my pack the rest of the way. (about 5:00 pm)

Fred in camp - Allan's comment, "He looked like a beached whale".  He didn't move much either.

Nancy, slowly but surely coming down.  She hates steep descents with a passion

Allan's video of the pool below our camp.  In the video, you can see the couple who we shared the camp with sitting on the rock looking at their phones (????). I don't think that they were too happy to see us coming in.

Allan & Mike - setting up camp.  We were a little crowded because of the couple camped below, but we made it work.

Fred Firing up the Dragonfly to heat some dishwater. Bill's changing into his moccasins.

Nick's night view of our camp - you can see Bill's tent & Nick/Tracy's tent to the left.  The Main area is just to right and up of center. Bill's headlamp is shining on his tent. Tracy is to the right of his tent. Jon, Will, and Mike can be seen in the main area.  Someone with a headlamp is coming down toward Bill (probably Fred).