IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

November Cedar Mesa & Comb Ridge Trip 2011
Friday & Saturday, November 11-12, 2011

Right after an awesome three day weekend in Northern Arizona I was headed down to Cedar Mesa with my friend Jackson for another long weekend over Veterans Day weekend. Our destination and goal for this trip was to explore Natural Bridges National Monument for two days. I had been to the park once before, but at that time we only stayed up on the canyon rim and viewed the bridges from their respective overlooks. This trip we were planning on descending down into White Canyon so that we could begin to explore the area for the abundent ruins and rock art found within the park. This was just the first of many trips I plan to spend exploring the area!

One of the main pictographs I was looking for on this trip was the White Man. We managed to find that one first.

White Man Alcove by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

There’s a few other interesting white pictographs next to it, including a large T-shaped design.

White Pictographs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The White Man is larger than it might look in the photos above. Here’s Jackson standing next to it for scale.

Jackson and the White Man by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Friday-Sunday, November 4-6, 2011

The Wave, located just south of the Utah-Arizona state line in the Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area, is one of those places that every photographer and hiker wants to visit. It’s hard to blame them because it is such a unique and amazing area. Unfortunately, because of it’s popularity, the BLM has a permit system in place that allows only twenty people per day the chance to experience this remarkable area. If you’ve read my blog for any length of time you might know that I am averse towards any kind of permit when I go out exploring, so in the past I have usually avoided those places. This year I have made an effort to finally visit some of those places that require a permit, including The Maze and the White Rim. A few months ago I decided that I would try to get a permit so that I could hopefully visit The Wave this year, too. Since there are only 20 permits per day, it can be difficult to obtain one. For anyone not familiar with the Coyote Buttes North permit system, ten of the permits for each day are awarded in a lottery three months in advance and the other ten are distributed in person the day before. I guess I was pretty lucky since I managed to snag two permits in advance on my first try. Once I had my permits, Amanda and I decided to make a long three day weekend out of the trip.

We left early on Friday morning and drove down through Monument Valley since Amanda hadn’t been through there before. Shortly after passing through Kayenta we turned off the main highway so we could make a quick visit to Navajo National Monument. We took the short Sandal Trail to on overlook of the Betatakin Ruins. The viewpoint was still pretty far away from the large alcove containing the ruins so I’m glad I had my long lens with me. We were lucky that most of the ruins were all in the sunlight, so I didn’t have to deal with a large shadow in part of the scene.

Navajo National Monument by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This huge alcove contains the Betatakin Ruins.

Betatakin Alcove by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at the ruins found here.

Betatakin Ruins by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Here’s a view of the large alcove in it’s canyon setting for a little better sense of scale.

Betatakin Overlook by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Sunday, October 30, 2011

After spending Saturday hiking to the Dragonfly Panel, I decided to head over to the San Rafael Swell to visit some new rock art sites. The first site I visited is actually just a little bit west of the Swell along Ivie Creek at the edge of the Wasatch Plateau. It was a little tricky finding the way up to this panel, but I did manage to make it up there.

Three red anthropomorphs and one very long snake.

Three Men and a Snake by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

These handprints and the large shield figure are located in the same alcove.

Shield & Hands by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at the three Fremont figures.

Fremont Warriors by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Today I spent an awesome day hiking in a beautiful secluded canyon to some seldom-seen and exquisite rock art panels. I have been wanting to visit the Dragonfly Panel pictographs for quite a while and they did not disappoint. It’s not a large panel, but the details and uniqueness of the figures found here are just amazing!

This is a nice overview of the main portion of the Dragonfly Panel.

The Dragonfly Panel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at the two larger anthropomorphs in the scene. There appears to be a very elongated dog, a rabbit-like figure and one other smaller zoomorph (maybe a bird?) here.

Dragonfly Twins by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Another of the larger anthropomorphs found here with a faint white one to the left.

Fringed Anthropomorph by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Saturday, October 22, 2011

I’ve wanted to return to Horseshoe Canyon and the Great Gallery all year, but I decided to put it off until October when I knew the weather would be nice and the cottonwoods would be changing colors. When I found out that my friend Lisa was trying to put together a trip there for the Flickr Rock Art Group this weekend, I marked it on my calendar. This was also the last weekend of the year that there would be a ranger guided hike into the canyon which I wanted to attend so that I could get closer to the Great Gallery.

Luckily, besides Lisa and her son, only two other people showed up for the hike which kept the group small. I probably would not have liked hanging out with a bigger group than that. I had never gone on a ranger led hike before, but I really enjoyed it and learned a few new things along the way. The ranger also pointed out a few pictographs and petroglyphs that I had missed on previous trips which was nice. It was very nice getting up close and personal with the Great Gallery at the end of the hike, too.

Our first stop was the High Gallery. Here’s an overview of the full panel.

High Gallery by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at a few interesting figures on thee right side of the High Gallery.

High Gallery Detail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

On our way up the canyon we came across some calm water in Barrier Creek that made for some interesting reflection photos.

Barrier Creek Reflection by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr