House on Fire Ruin
Wrapping up the trip on our last full day in Bluff, our goal was to make a visit to one more of the very popular and fantastic Anasazi ruins. House on Fire ruin is one of many located in Mule Canyon on Cedar Mesa to the north of Bluff. This is another very well preserved ruin and is located a short approximately one mile hike into the canyon.
This ruin gets its name from the unusual erosional patterns in the sandstone roof that appear as flames when illuminated by reflected sunlight. We arrived here in the late afternoon, but I'm thinking that the early to mid-morning might be a better time to get the best light for this effect. Nevertheless, as the sun ducked behind the ridge to our backs, this was still a spectacular scene.
The hike in was quite scenic, as the trail followed along a small stream. Lots of wildflowers and other vegetation complemented the rock formations along the way. Fall color was also apparent in some of the leaves along the trail.
If you look carefully, these handprints in the sandstone can be seen near the ruins. Luckily, Bob knew just where to look. Otherwise, we may have never noticed these.
One last look down at the trail before heading back to Bluff for our last night. Our trip was almost over at this point. I hope you have enjoyed reading along and seeing some of the images I captured along the way. Check back for a final wrap-up and to see what's next...