The best backpack and hike of 2015 was the 4 day hike down Upper Salt Creek Canyon in Canyonlands National Park.    The route starts in a remote spot outside the park at Cathedral Butte.   The 17 mile backroad to the trailhead is a good one.   The parking area is signed and the hike starts at 7000 feet, but drops quickly into the Upper Salt Creek Canyon.

There is a good creek running through much of the route so water was plentiful along the route until the lower end of the canyon.   The trail enters the park in about 1.5 miles then emerges into a wet area near the Kirk Cabin.

The Kirk Cabin was built about 1890 and was used by other ranchers until the park was created in the 1960’s.   It sits in a wide area with a perennial water nearby and incredible scenery in every direction.

From this spot on were a series of arches (Natural Arch, Fisheye Arch, Kirk Arch, Trail Arch, and a few unnamed ones) high in the canyon walls, as well as interesting rock features down the canyon.

 

 

The first backcountry campsites were passed, then there was a series of ruins, artifacts, and rock art from the Ancient Puebloan culture, now abandoned for 900 years.   All of these require a scramble up the rock into high alcoves.

We were pleased to find pottery shards, maize husks, grinding tools, spear points, pictographs, and petroglyphs at these spots.   We left them all untouched.   The archaeological sites by themselves are worth the effort for this hike.

 

 

Wedding Ring Arch is off a short hike on a faint side trail.

We camped along the route at designated sites, first at Salt Creek 3, then at the Bates-Wilson Camp at Angel Arch Canyon, and the third night at Peekaboo Camp, a total of 24 miles.   The nights were cold in mid-April and the sunny days were warm.   We hiked down canyon, but took many side trips to see the ruins and rock art.   Several well-known pictographs can be seen with a bit of exploring.   The All-American Man is in a dark cave/alcove off the trail.

This panel was found near some pueblos above the trail.

A series of small clusters of ruins, artifacts, and rock art continued in the canyon as long as water was present.   We were pleased to find squash still growing at one site, reseeding itself for centuries.

 

 

At the Angel Arch Canyon junction, a side trail winds up the side canyon to a viewing area of Angel Arch.  There is also a cairned scramble route up to the base of the arch.

The creek continues to run for a ways below this camp, but the volume of water diminishes as the creek runs underground.

The last few miles of the Canyon is a dry wash down to Peekaboo Camp.   A shortcut can be taken through Trail Arch to the campsite.

Although the area has cottonwoods lining the streambed, we had to travel down the canyon to find water is small still pools.

By Peekaboo Camp, the rock starts to take on the shapes of fins and pinnacles similar to the main area of the Needles District.

From this last camp, we took the Peekaboo Trail over to Squaw Flats, a 5 mile route over the slickrock and canyon washes to our vehicles, completing 29 miles of backpacking over 4 days.

The route has incredible scenery, lots of ruins and rock art, a good trail, water along the way, and is remote.   Maybe we should keep it a secret?