Mule Canyon: The Fortress

We woke up to a beautiful morning of sunshine and warmth. We decided instead of pushing for the end of the canyon and traversing the mesa to the north fork we'd go back the way we came and see if we couldn't find a way to get to the ruins that we were unable to climb to. It would be a true test of our ingenuity and skill. We took our time in the morning and just enjoyed being out in nature. Once we packed up and hit the trail it wasn't long before we were back to "the fortress" ruin. We began to look around for some logs that we could use to fashion a ladder. It wasn't long before Jake and Paul were hauling the logs up the sandstone to the ruins. Once they set the logs against the wall that we were to scale I became a bit skeptical and was afraid they wouldn't make a tall enough ladder. Getting up would be easy, getting down would be the hard part. We were goin' for it anyways and Jake soon had the first rung lashed to the logs. We found two more rungs and Jake worked his magic with the rope to sturdily lash them to the logs. Before we knew it Jake was at the top rung reaching for some hand-holds in the sandstone and then up on the ledge right below the ruins. With a shout of joy he tied a rope off and threw it down to Paul and I so we could make our way up even easier. Here's the play-by-play:
I made it up and Paul came, tying the ladder off on his way so it wouldn't fall over as we were up there, leaving us stranded. Good work Paul. I turned around and Jake was already up in the ruins remarking how incredible they were. I would have to agree with his description. In the main dome there were 3 structures and a large retaining wall in front of them to create a safe, flat spot for hanging out. We talked about how easy it would be to defend yourself in this fortress because you had a wall to hide behind and only one way up. The finger prints of those who packed the mortar were still visible and the structures looked perfectly square. The sand behind the wall was full of rodent bones and pottery shards. It was so rad to sit there and think about the people that lived there hundreds of years ago. We climbed down to the ledge and looked at another set of ruins that were on a ledge to the left of the fortress. Paul noticed some footholds that had been carved into the sandstone so one at a time, with the aid of the other two, we ascended into that ruin as well. We dubbed it the "mother-in-law" ruin. It was next to the fortress but not accessible from it. Time came to make our descent and we speculated for a while on how we would do it. Paul went first since he has the longest limbs and could assist Jake and I as we came down. We talked about what we would do if the ladder had fallen down and we decided that our best option would be to jump into a nearby juniper tree. Luckily the ladder was solid and we made our way down then disassembled it. I went back down to the river as Jake and Paul dispensed of the evidence. I noticed a large pool of water that seemed pretty deep with a prime jumping cliff nearby. I got on idea....