Biggest Cave in Butler Wash
Bears Ears National Monument
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I tried to get to Bluff via Comb Wash to get WiFi at the library, but no way am I risking the car through the deep sand. The road crosses the main wash several times and although I did make it through the first somehow, even though I fell into the deep ruts left by a previous passer after using a line more than a foot away from them, it just seemed like too much risk. Getting back with wild hope and more speed also worked. But no. A few people (including the ranger) told me Butler Wash is more solid, so now I try that. Then I can see the sights on the way back. When I spotted the big cave on the side, I decided that I had to stop for that one now for the best (or at least most) light within.
There are small roads off the side, but I don't really want to risk those either, so try to find parking beside the toilets instead. The trouble is, there isn't any. A fellow walking up assures me it'll probably be fine except for the weeds I am already trimming. He's right. I can get to the main parking without much trouble. The road continues on around a small wash while a trail tumbles down the side into the middle of it. I'm not sure which to take, but trail is usually nicer. A short way along, there is even a trail sign. Further along, there are ruins along the side. They are just walls sticking out from a rock wall with roofs and fronts long gone, but it is still something. They are sheltered under only a very small overhang and when I look a little closer, I notice it also shelters the paint and pecking that used to decorate these walls. Mostly it is paint and it seems concentrated around what was once interiors. Hand prints are popular in negative or positive. Something about them sitting on the inside walls makes me think of lines on a wall to mark growth.
Deeper overhangs have more complete ruins within but less can be seen of the paint that might be there. As I continue upward toward the cave, the wash becomes a spectacular bowl of sandstone and becomes quite steep toward the end, which is to say the beginning. The last is a climb over broken rock.
The cave should be an amazing collection of ruins but is not just disappointing, it is heartbreaking. There are a pair of ruins still standing on the edge, but in the middle it is not so much as if it has fallen but more like it has been erased. The floor is covered in organic matter of corn cobs and charcoal and bits of fiber that were once wood and the footprints churning it all up and destroying the pieces. The back wall has a long strip of rock with ancient painting on either side, but the middle again has been erased by vandals who felt the need to pick up a piece of 1800+ year old charred wood and tell me they were here in meaningless ways. Some date back to 1904, but most are since 1970 and quite a few in the last 10 years. There are a few hard to remove clues that there was once a large settlement here. Rocks scraped for grinding and even a grinding stone. There are petroglyphs in the fallen rocks.
There might be more to see. A couple decided I should photograph their map showing how far things are from US-191 because it might be helpful, which I dutifully did, then said there should be an impressive petroglyph panel here that can be hard to find. I certainly haven't found it yet, but I don't think I'll be looking either. I'm a bit downcast by the display of names and dates. On the way back down, another couple asks if they are on the road to seeing ruins and says the panel is actually miles from here.
And yes, they are on the road to seeing ruins. The paths will take you there, but it is your job to be careful when you get there. Fingerprints are harmful and footprints can be detrimental.
©2019 Valerie Norton
Written 8 Nov 2019
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