Welcome to Bears Ears!
This spring we had the opportunity to show various members of the Mountain Spirits family Bears Ears! We did two separate week-long backpacking trips and one Moab based hiking trip. One trip was dedicated solely to raising money for the Mountain Spirits Fund and our Nepali families that are suffering through their THIRD season without guide work. Most people have heard of Bears Ears which is a National Monument designated by President Obama in 2016. The Monument surrounds public lands in SE Utah that are rich in history and artifacts dating thousands of years back. BE is managed by the BLM, the USFS and a coalition of 5 Native American tribes. Bears Ears received a ton of press when Trump was elected and dramatically slashed the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase National Monument (both which led to challenges in court that have yet to be resolved). Biden’s new Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland, visited the monuments recently (June 2021) and recommended they be restored to their original designations. Along with the press came throngs of curious people visiting Bears Ears with no awareness of how to travel through this area and leave no trace. Bears Ears remains drastically underfunded and in dire need of protection. We are waiting and hopeful that the Biden administration will restore and fund these monuments. Bears Ears is an outdoor museum that offers a lifetime of exploration possibilities. Enjoy our short tour below!
Here we visit a little known pictograph panel deep in Bears Ears
A kiva in Bears Ears (a kiva is a large, circular, underground room traditionally used for spiritual ceremonies).
We call this panel “Skier Panel!”
One of the many arches you can find in Canyonlands (nope, not in Arches NP!)
Thank you so much Cheryl Jensen for organizing this group of intrepid backpackers to raise money for our Nepali families. What a hoot!
Striped clay pot remnant…how many years ago? Bears Ears inspires an immense amount of pondering…
