Native American Ruins

We took a day trip up the Escalante River portion of Lake Powell. This part of the lake is particularly beautiful.

Amidst all the gorgeous scenery, there are some Native American ruins built into the sides of the canyons. You can actually access some of the ruins by water and climb up to them using the steps that were carved into the rocked hundreds of years ago. I had not gotten to see this part of the lake on my last trip and was particularly excited for this excursion.

It was so hot climbing up the steps to the ruins. Sweat was pouring off us. Climbing up the canyon required using your hands and the rocks were unbearably hot. If you left your hand on more than a second, it could really burn you. It was worth it to see the three small homes that are still preserved even centuries later.

The coolest part about it is that Lake Powell is man-made. When these homes were built, there was no water meaning that they were even higher up!

We rested in the shade before begining the trip back down to the boats. The huts are totally camoflauged in the rocks. You could pass them without even knowing they were there.

The boats were so far down from where we were. Imagine this same location with no water, and climbing thousands of feet up to where your home was! It was so hot that I wanted to jump straight in that water!