I Found an Abandoned Native American City - Hiking & Camping in Snow Storm

Luke here on the Outdoor Boys YouTube channel and I'm in the deserts of southern Utah and I'm

camping

in a blizzard and looking for ancient Native American cities. I'm having a great time. Come with a ride, it will be amazing. I love you guys, will you be good for mom? Yes, I am going on an 11 and a half mile hike through a series of canyons and it is rumored that there are dozens of pristine ancient Native American archaeological sites in this canyon that we can explore. I heard one person call this hike an open-air museum. I have to admit I'm excited to see this.

This is going to be great, it's a surreal experience. I'm sitting here walking in the bitter cold with

snow

around and I'm in the middle of the desert it's so strange to see cacti and

snow

at the same time, foreigners right there, so these are the dwellings of the Anasazi Indians, the Anasazi would find these outcrops under these cliffs and would build their houses here. They take this flat stone that's everywhere and they stack it and they put mud between them and they build houses with it. They take these beams and cedar sticks. They put them in a criss-cross pattern with mud on top.

There you have it, you have a cozy little home. we would light a fire here and that heat would reflect brightly. A lot of these structures like this were green areas, they would have very seasonal food and they would take the surplus food, preserve it and put it here and then wall it all up. and they would just fill it with stones and then the animals couldn't get to it. Look, they have a barn back there. One right there. One right here. You can see this barn is open, but there's this one and this one. over there and there's no entrance, so it's still sealed, yeah, who knows what's inside those things.

Look at this little piece of pottery here that's so cool. It could be a thousand years old. I'm going to go ahead and return it. Now this looks more like a building because there is like a window and a door. Wow, that's cool, there's barely enough room for you to lay down and light a fire in here, which is really all you'd want to do in the winter. from the summer this place feels amazing wow, it looks like a little shard of pottery right there, it's so cool it's a bit of mortar that's falling off, look at this log, how old is it?

You know these pieces of wood have been here for hundreds. for years and they haven't rotted abroad this is just amazing it's been here for hundreds of years and no one has managed to destroy it or fence it that's cool this is cool hey look this look what I

found

this is the center of the corn on the cob India, look, I'm just leaving those pieces of charcoal left over from your campfires here, that's great. I keep finding these pieces of flint or flint. I think this is what they use to make arrowheads and spearheads and stuff, man.

It makes a lot of sense to build your house here if you build your house at the bottom, it will flood every time there is a

storm

, you build your house at the top, you have full sun in the summer and all the cold wind in the winter, well it was very cool, but we have a lot of ground to cover and a lot more interesting things to explore abroad, so this here is a wash or a dry river here in the desert, these are usually just dry as you see them now, but if it rains even very far away, these can turn into raging rapids and then you don't want to be here if you are in a very narrow canyon where your only option is to walk through the Wash.

This can be really dangerous and you should watch the weather closely so you don't get caught in a flash flood, but Fortunately this canyon is quite wide and the sides are not that steep, so I can get out if necessary. look at this, oh, we have a little rodent, Prince, here we have a kind of little cat that doesn't see any claws in the print, oh, here's another one of those barns, you see some pack rats made their home, you see all the poop from the little pack rats, check it out. You can see more pack rat nests, they just gather everything they can and stuff it into these cracks.

Well, I better keep moving. I have much more to see. Lots of ground to cover between Slick Rock and the snow. Finding a trail here is a little challenging, luckily I know I'm supposed to go downhill at the bottom of this Canyon so I can't get too lost. I was worried about not seeing water on the trail until now, there has been a lot of water. summer, finding water in these canyons is really unpredictable, oh, look at that view it's pretty, oh, sitting here having my snack, I think I see another set of ruins up there, let me see if I can improve, look a little. something was built here this is some of that dry mud here this is some dry mud right there thank you looks like there are some structures up there maybe but I don't want to break my neck to get there plus I have a still many miles to go, If you spend enough time in this Canyon, you will find things that no one else has

found

.

Oh, I'm assuming that the Canyon is going in that direction, but we have a small window to look into the next Canyon. If you look up that cliff, right on this little ledge, you can see more ruins up there, how the hell did they get there? They must have had some crazy stairs. Look at it up there, on the rocks. I can Look at another structure, someone put this rock here and put all this mud on top and smeared the mud with their fingertips a thousand years ago oh yeah, that's so cool, here's another piece of mud with the rock sticking out, I mean , someone had to transport it.

All that mud and food here to make this Granary, this is crazy. I mean, look at this big Granary over there that the idea was to build here, no one will casually leave with your food, although you have to go down without killing me and I'll continue. stopping and exploring every few minutes makes things go a little slow I need to pick up the pace oh, that's Steve, having all this equipment on my back doesn't make this any easier on my quads oh, I'll take it off, we have a poplar tree these things always grow near water and look at this just below there is a spring you want to find water in North America learn to identify cottonwood trees from far away oh, that's kind of nasty water, though oh oh, that hurts oh yeah, pretty and little cactus thorn right on the top of my foot, yeah, you definitely want to wear boots and long pants around here.

I already removed some thorns from my legs, oh, oh, the desert is not friendly, great, I tell you, this place is deserted, I haven't seen it. one person all day check it out, there are more ruins up there on Earth, did they get there? Although I'm getting my backpack out of this one, there's a pretty good-sized set of ruins here and these rocks came loose from the cliff face. and I broke it look at this oh look at this a bunch of boards down there foreigner there's a room down here sound look anastas the indians drew this look at all these drawings these could be up to 2000 years old, that's so cool, look at the little footprints of hands that looked.

I wonder what the rhyme and motif of this piece of art is. I mean, these figures don't have heads, but this one has nipples. Look at it and you can see all these handprints. there are tons of them look at these ears of corn the anasazi grew corn and stored it here look that's hundreds of years old look this used to be someone's house right there you can see the mud walls down there it's been like a little barn or something like that , there's all this mud up here and there's a big pile of corn on the cob.

I was reading a little about the history of this place before coming here and apparently while the last known occupants of this place around 1200 AD. people who have been here for thousands of years before that, you see all these big rocks that have fallen down. I bet there was a huge shelf that was here because look, there are paintings all the way up there. I can see a lot of drawings of cornstalks and handprints of different people. I think it's like a turkey or something. I have to go. I'm not making very good time because I keep stopping and exploring all the time.

Oh, look at that, you can barely tell it's up there. If I hadn't seen the petroglyphs on part of that wall, I would never have known. I wonder how many of these things have happened. Look at all these Canyon walls up here. There could be an entire

city

hidden there. I got lost, oh that was neat, oh I think I can see more ruins up there on the cliffs, how the hell do you get there? Although I can see it peeking out from that cave, but how do you get there? I think I need to drop my bag here oh strange pieces of corn look at that over there it's a very old piece of bone another piece of bone more corn forget that symbol the line with the vertical lines coming down from there I saw that in the other place C mcloyd 1891.

I think at some point graffiti becomes historical and I think that qualifies. Look right there, that's a little bit of a wall, a little bit of a ladder, a big piece of corn, right there look, that's bamboo. Where the hell did they get the bamboo? Look at some. walls right here take a look you can see all the black charring on the inside of this wall probably from all the fires they had here to keep them warm in the winter look at all the black on the ceiling there must have been another enclosure here . but there are no more corn husks, some flint flakes to make arrowheads or spearheads, someone carved a spiral into the wall and it stayed there for hundreds of years.

That's crazy. You see where the snakes slithered. Here they slipped. I don't see any prints. I don't know the last time a human being was here. This is a great view to have in your living room. Check this out, another bit of cash here. Oh, hey, look at this. Look at this depression here a thousand years ago. how people made flour, just put the corn flour here and grind everything into a fine powder, oh check it out, there's more around here. I think these rock slides have buried a good part of this. Look at this, oh, I think it's a package. rat skull right there, right now, for the hard part, I need to get down, oh I can't believe I made it this far.

I checked my map and I'm in a bind, the sun sets in two and a half hours and I'm about a quarter of the way through the hike. I stopped and smelled too much of the roses. There are so many interesting things to see, so I need to keep my head down and make some prints, and it's breaking my heart. a little bit because there are some ruins up there on the cliff and I'm passing by it. I can't, I can't stop up there on the cliffs. I can see some more ruins. Oh, I just can't get enough. time there are so many side canyons and nooks and crannies here I could spend a week exploring all these ruins hey look at a tumbleweed that's why they call them tumbleweed look at some more ruins in the cave up there oh one of these springs I have to come back here with the kids and do this hike wow, that's a thick tree, that's what the kids call thick, that would be a fun little campsite right there, oh there's so much stuff up there that I'm missing.

I'm making good time, but at what cost? I'm making good progress right now, but I have to keep going for two good reasons: one is one of the most interesting archaeological sites on this entire hike, it's further up the road and I want to see it before the sun sets in about an hour. Half past two it's supposed to start raining tomorrow after dark, so I have to get out of these washes before they flood. You can see some small ruins right there, there and there, the other time to explore there seems to be some ruins there too.

I could spend days searching this Canyon. There are some really good ruins around here. I have to take a look at it. Just look briefly. It is really in good condition. Look at the size. It's great, but I have. to leave, I know a

storm

is coming tonight and I can feel it in the wind now the wind has changed, it feels bothersome, take it out. I can see some ruins and petroglyphs up there okay go check them out yeah let's drop my backpack here oh look there's a little window in this look at a bunch of sticks they put together vertically and covered it with mud cool look at this another little piece of pottery that's so cool pottery shards look where they made some kind of cool pattern on one side and it's smooth and concave, that's just amazing, we're back.

I'm glad I made time for this one, but I have to move on. I have to make a very difficult decision, not as far as I am. I want to be I want to go at least a mile or so before

camping

, but this is the nicest campsite I've ever seen. I even have firewood. I wouldn't even have to set up my tent. I could just throw away my mat. and my bag and a campfire and this would be really nice. I have a long way to go to get to my appointment with Becca in the morning.

I would love to stay here, but I don't think the math adds up, I guess. If I stop now I'm not going to make it in the morning oh that's heartbreaking we need to make some footprints Before sunset there's another set of ruins up here this is a really special look at this look at that piece of pottery that's so cool look at all of this , look at all these pottery pieces, nice little place to sleep, there was probably a roof over it at some point, check this out, you'll have a much better idea of ​​what these look likehouses when they were intact, we turned off the headlights, look at Giro, we have like a little chimney right here in the middle, a little smoke hole at the top, a shelf to put things on.

I can see why someone would want this in the desert, man this would be cool in the summer and warm in the winter oh I think we have to do it I think we have to get down here okay oh I think that's a lot of pack rat piss and poop that's really gross They have these logs that hold up the roof and all this grass and stuff in the middle and check it out, they have a little hole to let air in when there's a fire down here, my watch says the sun will set in 20 minutes and it will set Very dark and cold in here it's going to be very difficult to find a place to camp in the dark so I have to make some tracks, okay we have to move fast, well I'm back in the wash and I'm a little nervous, In about two hours it is supposed to start.

It's raining and that rain will be a mix of snow and ice, these rocks are going to get very treacherous and this wash could fill up with water, so one of the reasons I'm pushing it even though it's getting dark is because I know that every mile I can do now is a mile I don't have to do in the water in the rain, looks like we have to climb some rocks. I've made it about four miles from Suds and now I'm exiting the canyon Just one last push I get on the plateau and then I'm going to find a spot at camp.

Well, I made it and found a nice flat spot. You know, I was feeling pretty warm until I stopped moving. Now I'm getting. very cold I think it's time to prepare a hot dinner. Get into bed. A piece of hot, toasted gouda cheese that's hard to beat. Oh that's good. It's getting cold. I've been waiting for a hot meal all day. My shoulders hurt from holding that backpack now I brought my water filter and we had so many opportunities to fill up on water I just didn't think I needed it and I was in a hurry now this is my last drink of water.

Who knows, maybe it will rain enough to fill my uh, my pot with water. Let's put my little cooking pot in here and see if we can catch some rain. I'm exhausted guys, I walked a lot. The sleeping bag is inside out, but man, I want to go to sleep and, uh, call it a night, yeah, oh, good morning, well the rain was pretty decent last night and at some point it turned to snow because I could hear the Snow sliding off the roof. from the store, so I'm a little curious to see what it looks like outside.

Oh, I have a little snow and rain in my pot, so I bought some water for breakfast this morning, yes, moderately warm foreign instant oatmeal in a winter compound, this reminds me. Camping so much when I was a kid, it's really not that good, okay, let's make a cup of tea and wash my cup with the same water because water is a precious commodity here, nothing like being in the forest enjoying a cup . of hot tea while watching Star Trek the Next Generation on your phone I think I better start cleaning up my things, okay. We have the camp broken down.

Now we have to go find the PATH. It's somewhere around here, but you can see it with the snow. Things are tough, well last night I tried really hard and did about four and a half miles in the dark and I'm really glad I did it because I'm in really easy striking distance to get to my meet with Becca this morning and I'm really glad if it is not done. I'll be walking on that slippery rock in the snow and I'm so glad it's snowing instead of raining. Freezing rain is the worst. It's absolutely the worst.

I'll take negative 20 on freezing rain. We have fresh deer tracks. Those must have been like that. In the morning there is only a little snow on them. I did it and, most importantly, I didn't keep my wife waiting. I hope you enjoyed this video. If you want to see more videos like this, check out our playlist. We have full camping adventures. playlist and then I also have a bunch of

hiking

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