IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Memorial Day Weekend, Sunday, May 29, 2011

After a very windy night, I was up early and on my way south down the Comb Wash Road. I crossed through the Comb on US 163 and drove to the trailhead for Lower Butler Wash. I descended down the old wagon road on foot and made my way towards the San Juan River through the thick vegetation. Once I neared the river, I started to come across some rock art.

Connected Circles

At the first large alcove I explored I found this unique petroglyph. I’m not sure what it might represent….any ideas?

Hello

This ‘lizard-like’ stick figure was nearby, too.

Hard to See

Once I reached the mouth of Butler Wash along the San Juan River I came across a bunch of petroglyphs. Many of them were hard to see like this panel, though.

Rider Over the San Juan

A rider and bighorn above the San Juan River.

Man On Shoulder

Here’s one of the larger basketmaker-style anthropomorphs. Even though it’s still hard to make out, it’s a pretty cool petroglyph and it appears there is a smaller figure on it’s shoulder.

Stand Up Riders Wide

Here’s a couple of riders that are standing up on the backs of the animals.

Triangle Man with Small Head

Just a triangle-shaped anthropomorph with a small head.

On the Ledge

Another very abstract figure that has a stick-figure person within.

While I was searching the area for rock art the wind had really started to pickup….I especially noticed it as I hiked out of the canyon on the old wagon road. Once back at the Jeep I crossed the highway again so that I could visit the Wolfman Panel since it has been a few years since I was here last.

Wolfman Panel Vertical

Looking up at a portion of the Wolfman Panel

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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 😉

May 14-15, 2011

I’ve wanted to get back to Nine Mile Canyon for quite a while. The last time I was there was in 2007 and I kind of rushed through the canyon on my way elsewhere, so I missed a lot. I had wanted to go to Nine Mile Canyon back in November or December, but the weather prevented me from doing so. Then I planned on going in March, but that never worked out either. Finally, this weekend Amanda and I were able to spend the weekend there searching out many panels of rock art!

We left bright and early on Saturday morning and made a quick stop in Wellington to top off my fuel tank before making our way into the canyon. Our first stop was at the Nine Mile Ranch so that we could setup camp before starting our search. After leaving the ranch we spent the rest of Saturday and much of Sunday searching the canyon for rock art and taking many photos. Unfortunately, many of the rock art panels are located on private property and you can only take photos from the road. Luckily I had my 100-400mm lens with me, so I was able to get decent photos of most of the panels we found. We managed to find well over 50 different rock art sites, many which contained multiple panels….and I’m sure there are a ton more that we missed. I’m looking forward to getting back and finding many more in the future!

Since I took so many photos on this trip, I’m going to break this report up into a few sections with plenty of pictures…so enjoy! I’ll try to keep them in the order I took them.

Long-Necked Sheep Panel

An overview of the Long-Necked Sheep Panel.

Long-Necked Sheep

A close-up look at the Long-Necked Sheep….a very interesting petroglyph.

Ladder Man

An interesting anthromorph that is part of the Long-Necked Sheep Panel.

Another Long-Necked Sheep

The right side of the panel with another long-necked sheep.

Cheer Leaders

These figures remind me of cheer leaders….though they are probably holding shields.

Leading A Horse to Water

A man leading a horse with a rider.

Colorful Faded Figure

Located alone on a boulder near the balanced rock, this anthropomorph is fading away but on a colorful section of the rock.

Another Hunting Scene

Hunting scenes are common in petroglyphs, this one has a figure with a bow and arrow in the middle.

Decorated Torsos

A line of decorated pictographs.

Staring Sheep

More photos to come…