Ben had been bugging me about Moonhouse. He's seen my pictures. He's seen my tattoo. He hasn't been there, and is apparently suffering physical pain because of it. He's been to backcountry ruins before. He knows how to act. Besides, I'd like to get back to Moonhouse before the weather turns foul with the monsoons. So, loading up myself, Ely, Ben, as well as Buster the Canyon Dog, we leave Page early in the AM, bound for points north.
Unfortunately, things along the route to Moonhouse quickly turn into a quagmire. The only cloud in the sky decided to start pouring rain right over us, turning the road we were driving on into a river. Rather than risk being washed away in a flood, we decided to backtrack, and hit some other ruins that I'd been to before, but neither Ely or Ben had seen. Our first stop was Flaming Roof Ruin.

Ben poses in front of Flaming Roof Ruin.
After rimwalking the canyon and scouting the route, to make sure there wasn't a roaring flash flood, we three descended into the canyon, with Buster faithfully in the lead. It wasn't long until we came across our stated destination - Flaming Roof. Flaming Roof is probably one of the most famous and photogenic ruins on Cedar Mesa, ranking up there with Perfect Kiva and Moonhouse. The oxidization and exfoliation of the rock above one of the rooms does give the impression that the ruin has petrified flames coming out of it.

Sections of the ceiling look somewhat unstable.
The reason for the optical illusion has as much to do with ancient builders as it does with modern geology. The ceiling is friable, fracturing along ancient dune surfaces, creating the differential oxidation. Its something of a surprise that more of the roof hasn't come tumbling down.

Something is missing here...
Unfortunately, with Flaming Roof's popularity and easy access, it has suffered. While scientists can lay claim to removing some of the artifacts, the casual tourist has more to do with the total depredation of the site. At least there's no obvious graffiti, but I found only one Black-on-Red sherd and one corrugated sherd during our visit. Furthermore, there's this hole in the wall. I'm not sure if its human-induced or not, but its awful unstable looking. And with genius comments like "make the trail clearer" (its in a canyon bottom without side branches) and "Add benches" (the ruin is only 3/4 mile from the trailhead) in the trail register, things may not be looking up.
Enough! After enjoying our time in the ruin, we take off back downcanyon, and resume our trek. Our next stop was Cave Towers. I'd visited Cave Towers briefly before, but hadn't had the time to really do any exploration in the area. We had several hours remaining until Ely wanted to leave, so we acted!

One of the seven towers of the Cave Towers Complex.
Cave Towers consists of several towers clustered around a spring at the head of Cave Towers Canyon. Some are little more than rubble now, but some are still quite substantial structures. There are also the remains of some other structures just below the rim in the canyon. While Ely and Ben and Buster walked around the cliff-edge ruins, I plunged into the canyon.

The first ruin pokes out from the trees.
The first set of ruins below the rim weren't very substantial. A kiva and a small roomblock. There was an archeologist's site number painted on the back wall - very unasthetic and unappealing. One interesting aspect to the site, however, was a walled-off doorway in an exterior wall. Its outline was still visible against the preplanned masonry. I've seen several such doors, but its always a nice surprise to find a new one.

The "Digging for the Truth" ruin, shown on the History Channel.
I headed around the corner, and out of site of the rest of the party. I promised myself 15 minutes and I'd be back on the mesa top. I could see one ruin far downcanyon (the Digging for the Truth site), and knew it was too far away for my timelimit. But as I came around a steep corner, I saw a large-ish structure in between me and the DFTT Site. Dropping down to a slickrock bench, I quickly made my way over to it.

The "Deer Clan Granaries", so-called because of their association with "deer" pictographs.
It was a large, decently preserved set of granaries. Large amounts of corn cobs remained in the interior of the buildings, and the lack of smoke blackening confirmed my guess that they were granaries. A profusion of faint Basketmaker pictographs decorated the back wall, as well as some more recent (PIII) symbols that resembled deer. Batteries on my camera running low and my allotted time almost out, I had to reluctantly turn around, and head back towards the mesa via a shortcut. After a brief "scolding" by Ely, we all loaded up, and headed back towards Page.

Cave Towers Canyon, looking back from the rim.
My adventures on Cedar Mesa and the surrounding areas weren't over for the week though. During the course of my work, I returned to Cedar Mesa several times. Obviously I'm not an archeologist, so I didn't spend much time poking about in ruins, but I did come across some pretty neat stuff, even so.

A large sherd found on a mesa top site. This sherd, like all others, was left exactly where it was found.

The same large sherd, in situ, where it remains today.

Same site, different sherd.

Same site, different sherd.

A site along a road west of Cedar Mesa. Holding up better than some backcountry sites I know.

Same site.

Despite fake petroglyphs and a general picking-over by visitors, the walls were in good shape, and I still managed to see some authentic 'glyphs and found three Black-on-White sherds.

Cliff dwelling out by Fry Canyon.

Monument Valley with a storm clearing out on the way back from Cedar Mesa.

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