Middle Reservoir, Lynn Tank, Bushhead Valley Ranch and Shed Valley Tank, Paria Plateau, Vermilion Cliffs NM, AZ

By Christian 835 0

 

In march 2017, we did an all day trip in the Vermilion Cliffs NM, visiting Big Sink Valley, Middle Reservoir, Lynn Tank, Bushhead Valley and Shed Valley Tank. We stopped at Middle Reservoir for lunch and headed to Lynn Tank from there. Lynn Tank is an area, where there are not many informations available. It is a natural tank, which has some very nice rock formations. This side trail to Lynn Tank was almost gone. From Lynn Tank we went to Bushhead Valley and stopped at the ranch. From the ranch we tried a trail, we never drove before, towards Shed Valley. That trail was partly very sandy, while crossing the Horse Ridge area. In Shed Valley Tank we found some very nice geological formations. From there we went out, due to the upcoming storm.

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We went in the usual way via House Rock Valley Road.
We followed Pine Tree Road...
...and stopped at the Red Pockets.
We hiked around and explored a bit.
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Interesting...
The ranch in the background...
Our jeeps below Red Pockets...
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We went left from Pine Tree Road and drove towards Big Sink.
We passed the turnoff to White Pocket and went straight.
And arrived soon in Big Sink Valley.
Big Sink Ranch is on that ridge.
From Big Sink, we continued on the upper route...
We stopped at Middle Reservoir and had lunch.
A view from the reservoir up to the windmill.
The natural tank had some water...
Somewhere towards that area is Lynn Tank.
Some more shots from the natural tank.
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Mikes jeep parked outside of the gate.
We continued on the upper route until we found the hard to spot trail to Lynn Tank.
Some rock formation along the road...
And then we arrived at Lynn Tank. On the map, there is an ongoing road from here, but in reality, that road is gone. We did not want to create a new trail to go ahead. So we stopped here and explored Lynn Tank.
It´s a short hike to the real tank from here.
Interesting vegetation...
...and Lynn Tank.
Brainrock like structures...
...and the natural tank.
Weird sculptures all over.
Very cool...
More cool stuff...
And a tree between the rocks.
Behind the tank is Button Ridge.
Interesting scenery...
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Mike, exploring the area.
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A tree went through the rock...
Cool...
The backside of the tank.
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And the 'Lying Dog' (my name).
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Huge...
We turned around and went back. The trail was now better to see.
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Almost back at the upper route.
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Then we went left and followed the upper route.
We passed the white Brain Rocks there.
Then we went left towards Bushhead Valley.
The road into Bushhead Valley was not too bad.
We stopped at the ranch and took some pictures.
Astrid, checking the area.
The ranch house is still in good shape.
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A ridge in the background.
And an old vehicle. I think Wayne checked it, but I don´t remember, what brand it was.
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The ranch house itself was in very good shape.
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A look through the window...
And some auxiliary staff.
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There is a road going straight down to Bushhead Valley Tank and forms a loop back via Little Valley. But we wanted to try a road, we never drove.
That road goes via Horse Ridge and eventually crosses the route to the northeastern overlooks.
The trail is partly sandy and after crossing the route to the northeastern overlooks, we still went straight to eventually arrive in Shed Valley.
After some driving we made it into Shed Valley.
We had to hike a bit through some bush area and finally arrived at Shed Valley Tank.
Shed Valley Tank is also a natural tank and is mainly white/grey colored.
We explored the tank...
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There was no water in the tank, the time, we had been there.
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There was some kind of camera installed.
On the west side, we climbed up the tank to find the geological structures, we hoped to see.
Looking to the east side...
Nice view...
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Mike, climbing around...
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...and finally, we found the structures.
It seems, like there is a lot of erosion happening...
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Here one can also download a gpx file of this trip:

Tracklog: Big Sink Valley, Middle Reservoir, Lynn Tank, Bushhead Valley Ranch and Shed Valley Tank (785 downloads )

The following map shows the complete round trip, starting from US89A:

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