Wow… What a hike! Especially in 105 degree heat. It drops down the side of a cliff around 700 feet in no time and then you have to climb back up around 150 feet of loose rocks to get into the ruin which is in the side of the cliff. Then you have to reverse that on the way out. Luckily, we did that in the dark so the harder part wasn’t as hot. However, it made it harder to follow the trail and you have to be careful in one spot at the bottom of the cliff not to fall over the edge – it is around a foot or two wide in an area and then just drops down. It’s not a terribly long hike. It probably took 45-60 minutes each way, but there is a very quick elevation change and will make you huff and puff quite a bit. I honestly don’t think I could have made that hike even a few months back. When I reached the car at the end of the hike, my knee felt like it was on fire from all of the ups and downs. False Kiva is an Anasazi ruin in the Island of the Sky area of Canyonlands National Park. Because it is at the end of a hard hike, the park service decided it doesn’t need to be protected. However, because of some recent minor vandalism (idiots thinking that they should add their names and hand prints to the walls of the cave) and people climbing into the ruins, the park service is considering closing the site entirely. Rangers regularly knock down the cairns that people set up to mark the trail to keep people out. The reason it is called False Kiva is because the actual Kiva (the round room which is generally used for gatherings and ceremonies) is most probably not an authentic Indian ruin. The best guess it that the kiva was built in the 1960’s by a Boy Scout troop using the stones from the real ruins in the back of the cave. The actual ruins are the remains of storage rooms and cisterns that held grain and other supplies. However, since the kiva is over 50 years old, it is now also protected by the park service. It clouded over at sunset and there was not much light coming through for a typical sunset shot. I wanted to also shoot some night sky photos (and light the inside of the cave and kiva with flashes) but since the sky was clouded over, that wasn’t a possibility. However, right after sunset there was some nice reflective light on the cliffs and the sky looked great, so it worked out for a really nice twilight shot with the amazing saturated lighting that goes with that time of day. I hope to get back there again now that I know where it is and work out that night shot. This and all of my other photos can bee seen and ordered on my website at aaronkeigherphotography Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Posted on: Sun, 07 Jul 2013 15:34:03 +0000
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