Memorial Day at Keet Seel

On Memorial Day 2012, eight campers from Sedona, the Village of Oak Creek and Cottonwood descended into Tsegi Canyon and hiked to Keet Seel Ruin.

Keet Seel or Kiet Siel (roughly “broken pottery scattered about” in Navajo¹)/Kawestime (Hopi) is one of three Ruins included as part of the Navajo National Monument. The others are Betatakin (“Ledge House” in Navajo)/Talestima (“Place of the Blue Corn Tassels” in Hopi) and Inscription House (Tsu’Ovi or, “place of the rattlesnake, in Navajo). Inscription House is closed to the public. Ranger guided tours are available at Betatakin and Keet Seel.²

The primary purpose of our trip was to visit Keet Seel. We would drive to the Navajo National Monument on Sunday the 27^th and camp overnight at Sunset View Campground, which has charcoal grills, water and toilets facilities, hike the 8.5 miles to Keet Seel and tour the ruin on Monday the 28^th (Memorial Day). We would then stay overnight at the nearby Keet Seel Campground, which has composting toilets but no water, before hiking out the next day. On our return from Keet Seel we would decide whether to stay another night at the Sunset View Campground (or the nearby Canyon View Campground, which has toilet facilities but no water) in order to visit Betatakin Ruin before returning home on the 30^th.

Part of the group left Sedona at 0900 and met the rest at the Flagstaff Airport parking lot to begin the 144-mile drive to the Navajo National Monument. We stopped for lunch at the Cameron Trading Post, where we were immediately seated, barely before a tour bus arrived and a long line formed at the restaurant.

We arrived at the Navajo National Monument Visitors Center in plenty of time to select prime campsites in the adjacent Sunset View Campsite and walk back to the center for the 1530 orientation, required of all visitors to Keet Seel before a group visitors permit is issued. We could have attended an early morning orientation the next day; however, we intended to get an early start on our hike. Only 20 hikers are allowed to hike through Tsegi Canyon to visit Keet Seel each day and we were told that, including our group, 18 were signed up for the next day.

Sunset View Campground was nice and quiet. Some members of our group played a card game. The rest of us were in our sleeping bags by dark. Most of the group had brought tents; I had decided to make do with a waterproof sack that I normally use just for a ground cover, but that can be opened to accommodate a sleeping bag, sort of like an oversized pillow case. The temperature dropped to around 38 degrees (a guess based on the NWS forecast) at the rim and most of our group got quite cold that first night. As for myself, having suffered through a cold, sleepless night during a March 2012 overnight trip to White Pocket³, I was taking no chances; I was equipped with two reflective blankets and had an extra sleeping bag in the car Just in case the rim proved to be too cold. I donned long underwear, but didn’t need the extra sleeping bag or the reflective blankets.

We arose at first light the next day, ate breakfast, repacked our backpacks, arrived at the Keet Seel Parking lot shortly after 0700 (MDT) and started our hike at 0720. The first half-mile of the hike is along a dirt road from the Keet Seel parking area to the Betatakin parking lot, which opens at 0800 and closes after the last daily tour of Betatakin Ruin. At the Betatakin parking area, a locked gate (bar) blocks the way ahead to vehicular traffic; however, a rough but easily passable, dirt road continues for about another mile to Tsegi Point, the start of the steep descent into the canyon. It is worth pausing at the point for a few minutes to take in the view looking up Keet Seel Canyon and noting the stream along which you will soon be hiking.

Looking up Keet Seel Canyon from Tsegi Point where the trail starts its 

sharp descent.

A sign posted alongside the trail notes that it is another seven miles to Keet Seel, points out that the trail descends for 1000 feet “over two sets of rugged switchbacks and sand” in the next mile from this point and then ascends for 400 feet before ending at Keet Seel. It also suggests what to wear, what to take with you and notes that wood and charcoal fires are prohibited.

The sign also provides a map of the trail (below).

Map, displayed at Tsegi Point, showing the trail up Keet Seel Canyon 

to the ruin

The trail now becomes very steep. The following photograph shows a section of trail formed by carving steps in the surface of the steep rock face of the cliff.

Looking back up the trail from just below Tsegi Point – the steps are carved 

in solid rock.

A section follows this with steps made from crossties. The step-down from one crosstie to the next was about 18 inches, which is not a serious problem going down, but would be very tiring coming back up the trail. Fortunately, someone has placed a rock just below each of the crossties. I really didn’t notice them on the way down, but I certainly took advantage of them on the way back up the next day. The following photograph illustrates this section of trail.

Section of trail formed by the use of crossties

Looking ahead, we could see the faint mark of the trail approaching the first stream crossing, marked by a large rock (or boulder) on the far bank.

Photograph taken just below Tsegi Point showing the trail below at the 

first stream crossing

As shown on the Map below, the trail descends from Tsegi Point to the confluence of Long, Betatakin and Dowozhiebito Canyons with Tsegi Canyon (Keet Seel Canyon drains into Dowozhiebito about a mile upstream from the confluence).

Showing the trail descending from Tsegi Point to the confluence and 

heading up Keet Seel Canyon

About 0.2 miles from Tsegi Point, Betatakin Trail leads off to the southwest. Continuing on down Keet Seel Trail, we crossed an old steeply sloping sand dune, another section of switchbacks and, finally, another old sand dune that sloped sharply down to the stream at the mouth of Long Canyon. As we descended into the canyon, my enjoyment of the view below was tempered a bit by the knowledge that on the morrow, during the hottest part of the day, we would be slogging our way back uphill through the loose sand of the dunes and climbing the steps of the switchbacks. Oh, well, at least my pack would weigh less than 25 pounds as opposed to the 40 pounds I was now carrying, primarily because I would have either consumed or dumped most of the two gallons of water I was carrying.

Our group of eight had been given two copies of a trail map during the orientation, one carried by Becky Fowski and the other by Lila Wright. Lila had specifically requested a second copy with the thought that some of the group might wish to forge ahead. Even so, two of our group went ahead without a trail map, took a wrong turn and added an extra mile or two to their hike. The remaining six hikers in our group stayed within sight of one another until we had passed the second, and most impressive, waterfall.

Second waterfall shown on the trail map located on the sign at Tsegi Point

The first fall, located at the mouth of Keet Seel Canyon, was so unimposing that I didn’t even classify it as a fall until I later noted that it was labeled as such on the Tsegi Point trail map.

Shortly after we passed the second fall, we came to the beginning of the upper trail, which climbs out of the streambed and follows along the east canyon wall. A posted sign warns hikers of the danger of flooding and quicksand in the streambed. The ranger had addressed this during our orientation, telling us that the upper trail was in “rough condition” and suggesting that we follow along the streambed. However, thinking that it might be a nice change from wading in the stream, I decided to give it a try. Although I found myself hiking alone, the other hikers were still visible most of the time in the streambed below. The trail I was on started out with a steep climb up a dune through loose sand; but then it leveled out and the loose sand was replaced by a good packed dirt surface. Unfortunately, following the contour of the canyon wall, as it must, the trail frequently dipped away from the main streambed to cross washes along the way. These washes seemed to become ever deeper, requiring more lengthy detours to find an acceptable trail crossing. Also, the trail was washed out in some of the washes making crossing very difficult. I finally came to one very pronounced wash where the trail was so badly damaged that it required a perilous climb up a steep slope and down the other side to cross over. I must have been delayed for fifteen minutes in overcoming this obstacle.

At this point, I could no longer see the streambed below and had no idea where the other hikers were. Not wanting them to worry that I might have had an accident while separated from the group, I pushed hard to make sure that, if I didn’t regain sight of them below, I would at least reach the end of the upper trail by the time they arrived at that point. As it were, I never caught sight of them again until I descended into what turned out to be a side canyon located at the falls labeled as number four on the map posted at Tsegi Point. The first two of the hikers who were following the streambed arrived at the same time I did; they were headed upstream, neither they nor I realizing that they had left the main canyon.

NOTE. I later learned, from reference to the map, that the upper trail supposedly extends for another two-tenths of a mile beyond where I returned to the streambed on the Keet Seel Confluence map (above). That would put its end very near to the campground entrance. However, I did not see any sign of it coming out there. I did notice what might have been the trail continuing beyond the point where I turned off.

Knowing that three other hikers were behind us and wanting to let them know that I had returned safely from my side adventure on the “upper trail,” I decided to take a nap alongside the trail and wait for them to reach me. Just as I leaned against the soft, sandy bank and pulled my hat over my eyes, I heard their approaching voices. Several minutes later, I awoke to dead silence. Surely they would not have passed by without awakening me. As I was still deciding what to do, the first two hikers, having reached a dead end on their fruitless trip up the side canyon, returned, and we all three made our way back to the main canyon, climbed over the waterfall and continued on to the campground, just three-tenths of a mile ahead. We clambered (struggled might be more accurate) up the steep slope to the inviting shade offered by a grove of oak trees, dumped our packs at a picnic table and collapsed.

Entrance to Keet Seel Campground

Looking around, we found that three hikers who had been bringing up the rear had already arrived, dropped their packs and continued the short distance to check in at Keet Seel with the ranger. After a short rest, we too started to the ranger station, but were met on the way by Ranger Diane Boyer who informed us that a tour had just started and that the next one would be at about 1530. It was now shortly after 1400, so we returned to the shade of the oaks at the campground and set up camp for the night.

At around 1500 we proceeded to the ranger station to wait for the next tour. At the ranger’s residence we again met Diane and learned that she along with her husband, Steve Hayden, were both volunteers on a two-week tour at Keet Seel. Although very much isolated and with limited services (Diane hiked out the day we left partly to make a phone call), a tour of duty at Keet Seel must be paradise to a lover of the outdoors. It amounts to a two-week working campout, except that one is camping in a very attractive hogan provided by the Park Service.

Ranger’s residence at Keet Seel

Diane directed us to a shady spot with picnic tables in an oak grove along the trail between the residence and the ruin. Two benches are installed a bit closer to the ruin, positioned so as to provide a good look at the runs visible across a wash. We checked the benches out, but they were in the sun and, after getting a first good look at the ruin, we headed back to the shade to wait for our tour.

View of Keet Seel Ruin across the wash from benches

According to National Park Service publication (NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR—2007/005)⁴, “the Wetherill brothers (part of a ranching family from Colorado⁵), who explored the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park, also found the Keet Seel dwellings in 1895. Excavation of the site began in 1897”

The same source records that Navajo National Monument was established on March 20, 1909 by Presidential Proclamation No. 873, issued by President Taft. This was followed by Presidential Proclamation No. 1186 in 1912, adjusting the monument boundary to its present size of 360 acres. John Wetherill was the first park employee. Monument headquarters are located on 245 acres of tribal land adjacent to the Betatakin section.

Archaeologist Julian Hayden wrote the following in an article published in the Arizona Archaeological and Historical Society’s magazine, Kiva:⁶

The great Depression, with its unemployment, was at its height in 1933. It was necessary to put as many men as possible to work, and the Civilian Works Administration was set up for this purpose. Repair and stabilization of a number of ruins within the purview of the National Park Service fitted logically into the scheme of things, for many men could be employed to good effect. Such ruins as Tuzigoot, Wupataki, and Kiet Seel were in the program. Accordingly, a project was set up for Kiet Siel with the museum of Northern Arizona as repository and Hosteen John Wetherill as superintendent. Field Archeologists were in very short supply, so my father and I, fresh from Casa Grande and the Grewe Site, were recruited, he as archeologist, I as cataloger, and we went to Kiet Siel. Base camp was at Marsh Pass, and we packtrained up canyon to the ruin.

When, Steve, the ranger conducting our tour arrived, we learned that he was the grandson of Irwin Hayden (archaeologist) and son of Julian Hayden (cataloger) for the 1933/34 excavation. Julian had kept a detailed diary, which Steve discovered and transcribed after his father’s death. The diary recounts that Irwin Hayden walked off the job before the excavation was completed due to a dispute over a restoration project. Steve showed us a window-like opening built into a retaining wall erected by the excavation crew. He said that window (right) was the subject of the dispute over which his grandfather left the project. He basically repeated for us what he had already said in an interview by a reporter. His words from that interview are presented in the following quotation from a KNAU radio program transcript written by Rose Houk:⁷

"Gramps was offsite when Milton [Wetherill, the crew foreman] undertook to stabilize that wall," Hayden says. "He did it by building an addition to the kiva that was to say the least un-Anasazilike. When my grandfather came back and saw that he just had a hissy fit."

Steve’s in depth knowledge of the site coupled with his friendly and engaging demeanor made him an excellent tour guide and we felt extraordinarily lucky to have made our trip while he was on duty. He discussed most of the following information, quoted below from National Park Service publication (NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR—2007/005).⁸

The Keet Seel site, located up a north- south trending side canyon in the Tsegi Canyon system, contains the largest cliff- dwellings in America: the Keet Seel cliff dwelling … and the Turkey Cave cliff dwelling.

Many of the features in Betatakin Canyon are present at Keet Seel. Like Betatakin, Keet Seel has a spring at the contact between the Navajo Sandstone and Kayenta Formation. Pictographs of birds are preserved in Turkey Cave.

Pottery and tree- ring dating indicate that the ancient Puebloans lived here as early as A.D. 950. Inhabitants of Keet Seal did not come in groups, as at Betatakin, but arrived and departed randomly. As a result, Keet Seel contains more variation in room design and construction and more kivas than Betatakin.

A surge in building activity in 1272 suggests the arrival of a new group of people. Population growth apparently taxed the capacity of the alcove and people began moving out. Those who remained converted abandoned rooms into granaries; however, they also left around 1300.

Our guide also pointed out, as does the previously quoted NPS publication, that four American Indian tribes (Hopi, Navajo, San Juan Paiute, and Zuni) have cultural associations with the area. Each tribe “has a distinct set of beliefs and a relationship with the sites, geography, and landscapes of the monument.”⁹

Steve also told us that Keet Seel Canyon was once a lush area with marshes and pools of water. The below quotation from the NPS publication possibly alludes to this:¹⁰

From carbon-14 dating of wood fragments near the base of the Tsegi, deposition began around 5,389 years BP and ended about A.D. 1275- 1300. Erosion removed extensive areas of the Tsegi, often to bedrock. Naha deposition began after A.D. 1375 and continued until A.D. 1884. Fresh- water gastropods, pelecypods, and ostracods have been found in the Naha Formation (Briscoe 1974). A new cycle of erosion is in progress today (Clay- Poole 1989).

We were told that Keet Seel contained 150 rooms¹¹, and could see that the structures (dwelling units, granaries, kivas, etc) are still relatively well preserved. As we drew closer to the site, these came into better focus

View of Keet Seel as we approached

A sturdy, well-constructed 70-foot ladder leads from the end of the trail up to the ruin. The ladder, visible to the left in the photograph (below), tops out at the end of a retaining wall. Just to the right of the top end of the ladder, a small opening, surrounded by a lighter, worn looking area, can be seen in the retaining wall. This is a section of the original wall. CWA workers rebuilt the rest of the wall seen in the photograph. Just above the top of the ladder is seen a log from a “great white fir, 24 inches through at the butt and 30 feet long, … cut down with stone axes … and man-handled up a 40 foot steep slope¹².” It now separates a section of the ruin, to the left of the log, which is basically untouched by modern hands from that which has been restored.

Ladder up to the ruin, ancient white fir log and section of original 

retaining wall

As we stepped off the top of the ladder, we saw a mortar and pestle (photograph below), located just to our left near the rim of the retaining wall. A short distance away, we found shards from intricately decorated pottery (photograph below lying about.

Mortar and pestle

Shards from decorated pottery

Looking to the left from where we ascended we had a good view of the unreconstructed part of the ruin. This section is closed off to protect it from damage.

Closed-off section of Keet Seel Ruin – still in original condition

Several paintings were visible on the alcove ceiling above this section of the ruin.

Paintings located on the alcove ceiling above the untouched section of ruins

Looking to the right from our position at the top of the ladder, we saw buildings (dwellings, granaries and kivas) and retaining walls that were a mixture of original construction and restoration efforts. The workers closely followed the original style of construction and the main differentiation now appears to be due to weathering, excluding, of course, the “un-Anasazilike” window that caused Irwin Hayden to walk of the project.

Parts of the ruin have been restored/repaired by copying the original 

construction methods

The photograph shown below displays a mixture of original construction and restoration.

A mixture of original construction and restoration

Some of the walls were constructed of mortared stone; others were built using the jacal (hä-käl) or wattle and daub method of construction. “Walls were woven like giant baskets between a series of upright wooden posts. The entire structure was covered with mud¹³.” The photograph included here (right), showing a deteriorated section of a dwelling at Keet Seel, illustrations the jacal construction technique.

In one of the ruins we saw a handprint, apparently made with soot, on the ceiling. It was in a very dark area and required a flashlight to view. With much bending and twisting to insert my camera and upper body through the small room opening while still keeping focused on the location of the print, I finally managed to photograph the print (left).

We also looked down into a well-formed kiva

Looking down into a kiva at Keet Seel

It was now fast approaching time for the ranger’s next tour, so climbed back down the ladder, said farewell to Steve and Diane, and made our way back to the campground. We left the ruin satisfied that we had been well rewarded for the strenuous, 8.5-mile hike to get there.

The campground was a most pleasant place and, primitive though it is, I would have liked to spend another night there. It was fenced in to keep cattle out and had two clean, well-maintained, unisex composting toilets, placed in opposite sides of the building shown in the photograph (right).

We had set our campsite up near a picnic table at the very edge of the oak grove. Donna’s tent is shown in the following photograph, my bedroll is placed beyond the picnic table seen just to the right of her tent, and Lila’s tent is in the edge of the grove just to the right of Donna's tent. Becky and the other four campers from Sedona/Oak Creek were scattered at various locations in the shelter of the trees. A picnic table is to the right of

Camp setup at Keet Seel

We relaxed for a few minutes and then ate an early dinner. I set up my camp stove and heated water for my freeze-dried pasta vegetable parmesan meal, and an after dinner cup of tea. No one else had come prepared for hot meals. After dinner, we all placed our backpacks in the nearby metal container to protect them from varmints, mostly ravens the ranger said. I was asleep well before dark.

We all arose at the crack of dawn the next morning, had a quick breakfast and headed back down the trail. We were intent on completing the 1000-foot climb out of the canyon before the hottest part of the day.

This is where I rejoined the streambed on the hike up the canyon

When we reached the point where I had rejoined the streambed after my misguided trip along the “upper trail,” I paused long enough to take a photograph of the fall. A small stream from a side canyon flows in from the right at the bottom of the fall. It is the one mistakenly followed by the two hikers I had met at the end of my hike on the upper trail the day before.

We continued on down the canyon at what was for us a rapid pace, but soon were overtaken by Diane, one of the rangers, who was hiking out to post mail and make a phone call. She chatted for a few minutes and then, saying she had to be going, left us in the dust, or what would have been dust if we weren’t hiking in a stream.

We Passed a nice patch of primroses freshly blossomed in the early morning sun and saw a log lodged on a rock, which the ranger had mentioned as marking a recent high water point.

Primroses blooming along the stream bank in Keet Seel Canyon

Log lodged on a rock during the last flood

Normally, we try to get everyone together at some point during a hike for a group photograph, and it suddenly dawned on me that we had not done that yet. Two of our hikers had, like yesterday, surged ahead, so I hurried to catch them, passing Diane on the way. I finally caught them and we waited a few minutes for the rest of the group, but then decided to take a separate photograph of the two of them so that they could be on their way (left). The hiker on the left is Pam Greene; Cathy Lutz is shown to the right.

I then managed a nice nap while waiting for the rest of the hikers to catch up so that I could complete the group photography.

Left to right: Donna Goodman, Lila Wright, Becky Fowski, Phyllis Elliot 

and Barbara O’Connor

Then, just to make sure everyone was accounted for, someone used my camera for a photograph of me (right).

After the photography sessions, we continued on our way down the trail, making only one other significant stop, and were soon crossing the stream for the last time for the climb back across the sand dunes and switchbacks on the 1000-foot ascent to Tsegi Point.

Lila and I had both stashed water at the bottom of the first dune, but didn’t really need it. We used it to water some nearby flowers and headed on up the trail, actually finding the going a little easier than we had anticipated.

The following two photographs were taken during the climb back to Tsegi Point.

Becky, Lila and Donna trudging up the soft sand trail on the climb to 

Tsegi Point

Donna and Becky navigating a switchback on the climb to Tsegi Point

We arrived back at the trailhead just about five hours after leaving the Keet Seel Campground. We had not yet eaten lunch and decided to drive on to eat at Taco Bell in Tuba City. We had long since decided against spending another chilly night on the rim in order to visit Betatakin the next day. At Taco Bell, I had a vegetarian taco and, surprisingly enough, found it to be acceptable, possibly because I was so hungry by then.

This hike was one of the most rewarding I have done. The tour of Keet Seel was both interesting and educational, and the trip there and back was not nearly as difficult as I expected from reading reports written by others.

The entire 8.5-mile route of the hike is shown on the map included on the next page. The basic hike is shown in red; the upper trail that I hiked on the way up the canyon is shown in blue; and the short yellow section near the top is the part of the upper trail that I did not hike.

Miscellaneous comments:

If you make this hike, be sure to take enough water, but stash some of it along the trail on the way in. I carried the recommended two gallons when I started and made two stashes along the way. I also brought along chlorine dioxide tablets just in case I needed to treat contaminated water overnight. Treatment this way does require a bit of forethought, as the dwell time is four hours. However, water was not a problem with any of us, possibly because the temperature in the canyon never got above the high eighties.

Most of our group ate cold meals both nights we were camped out, although we camped with our vehicles nearby the first night, and bringing along stoves would not have been a problem. As for myself, I carried a lightweight propane stove and freeze-dried meals. I find these to be quite tasty as well as lightweight.

Some of our group carried tents into the canyon and some just spread their sleeping bags on tarps (or light plastic sheets). We were all quite comfortable the night we spent at Keet Seel Campground.

Our group did not stay together during the hike and some members made wrong turns on the way in as well as on the way out. The rangers normally provide only one copy of the Keet Seel trail map. My suggestion is that everyone maintain contact with the person carrying the map. Hiking up a streambed in the bottom of a canyon sounds straightforward; however, as amply demonstrated by our group, there are a few places where one can easily follow the wrong stream or fail to turn off at the appropriate point.

Finally, the upper trail, which I unwisely took on the way up the canyon, is pretty difficult, even dangerous in at least one place, because of the requirement to climb around or across washed out sections in the washes. If I were doing the hike again, I would take the upper trail only if real flooding danger existed, as might be the case during the monsoon season.

Finally, thanks to Becky Fowsky for arranging this very rewarding trip.

The 8.7-mile hike to Keet Seel is, except for the 1000-foot drop into Tsegi Canyon, and a 400-foot climb approaching the ruins, almost level, showing just a gentle upslope along the canyon floor, broken with the occasional climb across a low hill formed between bends in the stream. We were on the lookout for quicksand during the frequent stream crossings but did not encounter any.

Our track for this hike, including my ill-advised trek along the upper trail on the way in, is shown on the included map (below).

1 Other sources list the Navajo as “Kits’iil, meaning broken house.”

2 Navajo National Monument, U.S. National Park Service (http://www.nps.gov/nava/parkmgmt/index.htm)

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermilion_Cliffs_National_Monument

4 Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR—2007/005, page 14 (www.nature.nps.gov/geology/inventory/publications/reports/nava_gre_rpt_view.pdf)

5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo_National_Monument

6 Kiva: Journal of Southwestern Anthropology and History. Vol. 43, nos. 3-4, 1978

7 http://knau.org/post/americas-best-idea-excavating-keet-seel-navajo-national-monument

8 Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR—2007/005, page 14 (www.nature.nps.gov/geology/inventory/publications/reports/nava_gre_rpt_view.pdf)

9 Natural Resource Report NPS/NRPC/GRD/NRR—2007/005, page 3 (www.nature.nps.gov/geology/inventory/publications/reports/nava_gre_rpt_view.pdf)

10 Ibid, page 24

11 But the Encyclopedia Britannica says the site has 160 rooms and 6 kivas (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/406829/Navajo-National-Monument)

12 Kiva: Journal of Southwestern Anthropology and History. Vol. 43, nos. 3-4, 1978

13 http://www.nps.gov/meve/forteachers/upload/ep_activity3_chronology.pdf