This gem requires individual hiking permits; 20 per day are given. The day of our permits started out with rain and snow. No other idiots chose to use their permits that day so we had the place to ourselves. Great day!
1 We stepped out of our hotel on the morning we visited Moon House Ruin (MHRuin), only to find it had snowed during the night and flakes were still coming down! But what's a little snow for old - but, well prepared - guys from the desert.
2 We had about 9 miles of rough, dirt (mud, when wet), high-clearance road to get to the trailhead. Part of the experience
3 We exit the Lexus, put on our rain gear and snap this selfie. l. to r.: BobF, Don, Joe and Ed. Smile, Don. You're gonna enjoy this hike.
4 We start down the trailhead and stop for this photo.
5 We get to the edge of McLoyd Canyon and begin looking for signs of the trail (e.g., cairns)
6 Are you sure this is the trail? But there is a cairn back there.
7 We are looking for a place where you have to use a stack of rocks to get down from one shelf/ledge to another. Joe found it.
8 Are you sure there is a rock pile down below so we won't FALL down to the shelf/ledge below?
9 Don goes for it and verifies that the rock pile below can be used - carefully. Packs and hiking sticks are passed down and Joe goes next.
10 Ed gets down and takes pictures from below.
11 Bob, the last man to come down, doesn't have anyone or anything to grab onto.
12 We don't realize we're leaving a thin coating of mud on the slick rock - will it cause us problems on the way out? Stay tuned.
13 So that's what we just came down: it's the recommended way of going from one shelf to another. Actually it's one of the few ways to go from this particular upper shelf to the next shelf down. BobF shot this after we were at the MHRuins.
14 Ok. We've conquered the most tenuous part of the trail and look across the canyon to see the Moon House Ruin. But we're not there yet!
15 It's still drizzlying
16 Zooming in on the ruins.
17 Down we go
18 Yep! It's still up there. Sorry, there's a spot of rain on the lens.
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20 See that zig-zagging trail down that steep embankment just left of the center of this pic? That's the trail we are just coming down in the last few pics. Bob took this shot back after we got to Moon House Ruin. It was fun.
21 Joe and Ed reach the bottom of the canyon
22 Joe and BobF start up the other side.
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25 We reach the same shelf/ledge that holds the ruin
26 BobF, Ed and Joe
27 Ed, BobF and Don. If we die out here, we're doing what we love to do. Just use us as a base for new cairn.
28 Ed, Don and Joe. OK, so we're not camera shy. Tell us something our wive's don't know.
29 Since we have arrived on the shelf that has MHRuins, we take in a little nourishment and rehydrate before exploring.
30 It magically stops raining, so we take off our rain gear and put it on a rock to dry. The rain gods are good to us. It didn't rain again util we got back to the car.
31 We're anxious to explore the ruins. The sun came out for a while. Water condensed between Don's camera lens and the uv filter and he had to rely on his iPhone camera for most of his MHRuins exploration. Fortunately, BobF and Ed's cameras were still working.
32 Just in front of us is MHRuin - and we'll take you on a tour
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36 A couple of ceiling joists/rafters are still there (see next few pics)
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38 Looking up from the front door. Notice the shims to level the joists/rafters.
39 Looking down from above.
40 This is the guest room above the missing-roof ruin
41 A nice view of nearly the whole apartment complex.
42 From farther away.
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44 If you enter the (round) door on the left you'll be in an interior hallway.
45 Ed, the peeping tom? Who knew?
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47 This is an interior hallway.
48 We now peer into some of the rooms that are off the hallway (you are not permitted into the rooms)
49 Some interior walls. Not exactly 2x4 on 16" centers.
50 Aha! This is the room that has the painting from which the name of the ruin is taken. Early visitors must have assumed the round feature in the wide white stripe was the moon; the name Moon House Ruin was coined.
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54 Joe and Ed in the hallway.
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58 Corn cobs of various sizes dot the floors (the orange sheet is a reminder not the enter the rooms and to treat this cultural site of an earlier civilization with respect.
59 Don continues up-canyon along this same shelf/ledge.
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62 BobF had already been out here and found this ruin - take a closer look in the middle of this pic.
63 Zooming in this is what's there.
64 Don found a different set.
65 Zooming in, Don sees some more ruins on a lower shelf ahead. These were far enough ahead and of a quality that we decided to head back considering the time.
66 Don heads back to catch up with the rest of the party down-canyon of the Moon House Ruins. See that bright orange jacket in the center of this pic?
67 They have found some more ruins.
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70 Various states of disrepair.
71 Inside are more corn cobs
72 We suspect there has been some extensive restoration work done here.
73 Interesting interior decoration attempts.
74 Aha! Some petroglyphs.
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76 Interesting decorations above the lintel of this window: small white rocks stuck in the mud mortar.
77 Looking up at the rock cliff above this window shows an interesting feature.
78 Bird houses?
79 Joe consumes some trail food in preparation for our hike out of here. We all do likewise. We'll need the energy.
80 One last feast for the eyes before we say goodbye
81 Just reverse the process of hiking in! Simple.
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83 Down one side and....
84 Across the bottom...
85 Up the other side
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88 Remember this spot? Well, what comes down this spot, must go up this spot. It's the LAW! This time we have video - just ahead.
89Video "This is one of those places where a little piece of line would sure help." Note to the team: bring a 30 ft. rope next time. It looks so easy from down below; but wait 'til the shot from above. And remember, it's 4 old codgers from 75 to 80 years old!
90 After successfully getting up that difficult part, Don looks back in amazement at this group's accomplishment
91 Back up on the rim of McLoyd Canyon. What a day - and it's not over yet. There's a storm closing in.
92 We got to the car just as the snow and sleet started to come down. Here you see what we had to deal with when driving back to the paved highway. This is why you want a 4W, high clearance vehicle.
93 On the drive back to our hotel, we take note of what happened in the Abajo Mountains in the northern part of Bears Ears National Monument west and a little south of Monticello. We lucked out on the weather today: bad enough to keep every other hiking-permit-holder away from MHRuins, but great when we got to the ruins and had the place to ourselves.
