IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Memorial Day Weekend, Saturday, May 28, 2011

Amanda and I have a little tradition of heading down to Comb Ridge and Cedar Mesa for the Memorial Day weekend. In the past she has had no trouble getting the weekend off from work, but unfortunately she was unable to get it off again this year. I had invited a friend or two to join me, but neither of them were able to make it down this weekend. That meant I would be heading down by myself.

After driving down through Moab, Monticello and Blanding , I setup my camp in Comb Wash and got ready to start my first hike into Lower Fish Creek Canyon.

Hands Through Ruin

After finding my way into the canyon from the new trailhead (the BLM has closed a few roads in the area recently), I soon stopped at the first set of ruins I came across. There are a few faint reverse handprints on the ceiling above the ruin.

First Ruins

A closer look at the first set of ruins.

Hands Around a Crack

Reverse Handprints Ruin

After hiking just a little further up-canyon I came across the set of ruins I was most looking forward to visiting on this hike.

Great Hands

Here’s a close look that the very well-preserved reverse handprints above the ruin. Very cool!

Left & Right

Broken Pottery

I normally don’t take photos of potsherds anymore, unless they are very unique, but something about this pile interested me enough to stop and take a photo…

Square Head Snake

Here’s a snake pictograph with what appears to be a square head, or maybe just a square in front of the snake….

Lonely Window

Still further up the canyon I found a small granary hidden in an alcove a little above the canyon. Not much left but this wall with the opening.

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Sunday, May 22, 2011

After leaving Hovenweep National Monument I started heading north towards home again. On the way I took a detour down Utah 211 to try and find some more rock art along the Indian Creek Corridor. I took the road into the Needles District of Canyonlands so that I could hike to a pictograph panel that I had not visited before. This panel contained a number of faded Barrier Canyon Style anthropomorphs and a whole bunch of handprints. Unfortunately, reaching this panel was no fun, as I had to bushwhack through the densest tamarisk jungle I have ever been through! Next time I visit this location, I’m hiking from a different direction!

Anthropomorph & Handprints

While most of the anthropomorphic figures on this panel were Barrier Canyon Style, this one appears to be Fremont? A bunch of reverse handprints next to it, too.

Handprints

Speaking of reversed handprints….

Hands

A closeup of two different styles of handprints found here.

Fading

The start of a long row of Barrier Canyon Style anthropomorphs.

Attending Dogs

These two figures at ground level seem to have attending dogs above their shoulders.

Two Rows

Here you can see the two rows of figures.

Fading BCS

The details on the anthropomorph on the right reminds me of the Moqi Queen pictograph.

Three

Three more figures with a few handprints.

Five Faces

My next stop was a revisit to the Five Faces panel, one of my favorite panels! 🙂

Five Up

A different perspective.

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May 21-22, 2011

After spending much of the day exploring Montezuma Canyon I headed over the border into Colorado and found a campsite in the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. Then I made my way over to the Holly Group of Hovenweep National Monument.

Holly

Holly House and Boulder House near the head of the canyon.

Holly House

A closer look at the Holly House.

Hovenweep Castle Sunset

After spending some time at the Holly Group I made my way over to Little Ruin Canyon so that I could photograph the Hovenweep Castle at sunset. The biting gnats and other bugs were terrible while I waited for the sun to go down…

Once the sun was down I headed back to camp for the night. I had wanted to try some star trails this evening, but was too tired to stay up….especially since I was planning on heading back to Little Ruin Canyon for sunrise!

Twin Towers

The Twin Towers at sunrise.

Eroded Boulder House

The Eroded Boulder House and Rim Rock House.

Once the sun was up, I left Hovenweep and started on my way home…..but, of course, I would be making a few more stops on the way 😉

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Another weekend on my own, so I decided to head on down to start really exploring Montezuma Canyon. I have driven through the canyon before, but that was during a rainstorm in 2008 and I missed a lot on that trip. This time I started at the south end near the old Hatch Trading Post and ended up going about 15-20 miles up the canyon before turning back around. I only knew the locations of a few rock art panels and ruins, but I managed to find quite a lot on my own. I’m sure I missed a ton, so I know I’ll be heading back there again!

First Horse

The first of a few horse petroglyphs I would find in the canyon. It seems to be emerging from the crack in the wall.

Fading Circles

I managed to spot these faint concentric circles high up on a cliff from the road and then hiked over to investigate.

Bird Feet?

After spotting this spiral carved onto the top of a large boulder in an alcove, I noticed the other faint carvings around it. A few of them look like birds feet? It also appears there are some sandal prints up near the spiral. Based on the location of these petroglyphs, it makes me wonder if there is any light interaction on them during the solstice or equinox…

Duckhead Party

I spotted this panel tucked under an overhang high above and climbed up to find a pretty impressive and well preserved panel.

Coyote

What looks like a coyote as part of the same panel above.

Two Horses

I found these two horses on a ledge below the panel posted above.

A Horse

A closer look at one of the above horses.

Petroglyph Over Ruin

Here’s a small ruin with an anthropomorphic petroglyph above.

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May 14-15, 2011

Here’s the final set of photos I am going to post from our trip through Nine Mile Canyon. Make sure to check out Sets 1, 2, 3 & 4!

Patty-Cake Sheep Panel

Here’s a cool panel we found on Sunday morning….look for the two bighorn sheep figures sitting and facing each other that look like they are playing patty-cake.

Rainbow Panel

This panel with a large rainbow-like figure is just to the left of the one pictured above.

Horned Serpent

One of the more unique horned-snake figures we found all weekend.

Faint Green Elk

Two faint pictographs near Daddy Canyon, including what appears to be a green or blue elk on the right.

Fallen Panel

A few petroglyphs on a slab of sandstone that has fallen.

Yellow Man

An anthropomorph pictograph in yellow.

Painted Petroglyphs

A wider view of the panel that includes the Yellow Man. There are plenty more pictographs here and a few of the petroglyphs that are here are filled in with paint.

Pregnant Buffalo

A closeup of the Pregnant Buffalo petroglyph.

High Pictographs

A faint white shield-like figure located high above on a canyon wall.

I can’t wait to head back to Nine Mile Canyon and search for some more rock art….hopefully sometime later this year 🙂