IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

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 6 – 8, 2011

After work on Friday I stopped home to finish loading the Jeep and then made my way to Arches National Park. I would be spending the weekend with a group of photographers from the Rocky Mountain forum on the Nature Photographer’s Network. Bret Edge was nice enough to setup the Spring Fling event for the group in Moab.

After setting up camp just outside of Arches I headed into the park and over to the Windows Section. There were a lot of people wandering around over there, so I decided to keep going and stop at Double Arch, where there was almost no one. There were some clouds in the sky, so I was hoping that as the sun set they might get some color to add to the background behind the arch. That never happened, but just after the sun set, the sky cleared up and I took this photo of the arch in the twilight.

Twilight at Double Arch

When I finished up at Double Arch, I went over to Balanced Rock to meet the rest of the group for a little night photography led by Scott Bacon. While standing around in the parking lot talking and waiting for it to get dark enough out, some more clouds rolled in and it appeared that we wouldn’t be taking any night shots after all. Half of the group decided to leave since the conditions weren’t looking good, but those of us who decided to stay got lucky and the clouds did end up clearing out. I took a few photos of Balanced Rock, but unfortunately I wasn’t getting the focus right. So instead I turned my camera to the right and illuminated the sidewalk with my headlamp. The lights from Moab highlighted the horizon behind the butte in the distance.

Sidewalk to the Stars

If I remember correctly, I think I made it back to camp around midnight. I quickly went to bed, but didn’t sleep very well that night. My alarm went off at 4:30am so I could meet up with the group at Dead Horse Point State Park to shoot the sunrise.

Colorado Bend

Once the sun had come up, a few of us headed over to Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park to catch the last of the good light.

Mesa Arch

Washer Woman

After the light at Mesa Arch was gone, I had a little free time before we would be meeting up at the Moab Library for a little workshop, so I stopped to revisit a few rock art panels.

Supplication Panel

FishMan

After our little workshop we headed over to the park and hung out for a while until it started getting closer to sunset. That’s when we headed back over to Arches and hiked out past the Marching Men and then to Tower Arch. I didn’t get any good photos here, so I have nothing to post…..but once the sun was down I made my way to the Moab Maiden so that I could take a photo of it with some star trails. Here’s my attempt, which I think turned out pretty well (especially the lighting on the petroglyph), but I think I can do better…..I just need to head back any try it again when I have a chance.

Maiden Under the Stars

Then it was back to camp again……it was a long day on less than four hours of sleep. I ended up sleeping in on Sunday instead of trying to catch the sunrise again……but before heading home I went searching for some new rock art. I looked for three different panels, but only managed to find one of them…..

Book Cliffs BCS

I had a great weekend, met some cool new people and learned a lot from some really great photographers 🙂

Day 4: From the Maze to the Mesa

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

On our forth day Under the Ledge, we awoke to an awesome sunrise. The colors in the sky were just amazing! I quickly hopped out of my tent and grabed my camera for a photo. When I got my shot composed, I realized that I had taken the battery out the previous night to charge in the Jeep…and hadn’t replaced it! I ran back to the Jeep and grabbed the fully charged battery, but missed the best colors of the sunrise in the process. Here’s the shot I managed to get before all of the colors disappeared.

Color Over the La Sals

After the colors over the La Sal Mountains were gone, I turned around and took a few more early morning shots.

Standing Rock on Fire

Standing Rock bathed in golden early morning sunlight on our last day in the Land of Standing Rocks.

Lizard and The Plug

Lizard Rock and The Plug glowing in the early morning sunlight.

First Light

The first light of the day strikes Ekker Butte and the rims of the canyons that make up The Maze.

After sunrise we had some breakfast and packed up camp so that we could move on. We would have a long and full day ahead of us, since we would be leaving The Maze and heading to Cedar Mesa…but there would be plenty of stops along the way.

Before leaving The Maze we parked near Mother and Child Rock so that we could hike a little way into into Ernie’s country. We dropped down into Range Canyon so that we could visit Cedar Bark Ruin and Lou’s Spring.

Cedar Bark Ruin

There has been some disagreement as to how old this ruin actually is, however, after seeing it in person, in my opinion, the ruin itself looks pretty old and not recently made, but the roof certainly looks newer, like someone may have added it. I’m no expert and these are just my impressions from my visit to the site.

Lous Spring Pictographs

These very faint pictographs found on the ceiling of the alcove that contains Lou’s Spring kind of remind me of the one’s located across the Colorado River in Cave Spring in the Needles District.

After reaching the Jeeps again, we finally started to head out around Teapot Canyon. Along the rough road we met some of Canyonland’s rangers in 4×4 training. We had to wait for a few minutes to let them pass. They were driving the roughest stretch of road in the park’s 4-door Jeep Rubicon Wrangler.

Leaving the Maze

Just a photo of my Jeep as we head out of The Maze.

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Day 3: The Doll House & Tibbett Arch

Monday, April 11, 2011

During our second night camping at Chimney Rock there was much less wind, so I slept a lot better. When we woke up in the morning it was also a bit warmer and the wind had completely disappeared. I, of course, grabbed my camera and took a few photos as the sun was coming up.

Ekker Butte at Sunrise

The sun rising in the east over the La Sal Mountains lights up Ekker Butte.

Layers in Blue

Early morning light looking towards the La Sal Mountains casts a blue hue over all the different layers of the landscape.

Chocolate Bars

Known to most as The Chocolate Drops because they are misnamed on current maps. They really look more like Chocolate Bars to me, anyway. The Maze Overlook is located right behind them from this angle.

Chimney Rock Camp

Our campsite near Chimney Rock before packing up and leaving.

Since our permit for the Chimney Rock camp was only for two nights, we packed up camp after some breakfast so that we could move on, and then headed to The Doll House.

Our first hike in The Doll House area was the Granary Loop, which gave us a nice view of Surprise Valley on our way to visit a few hidden ruins.

The Doll House

View of The Doll House while hiking The Granary Trail.

Photos in the Slot

On our way to the granaries, we passed through this small slot. Jared takes my photo as I take his.

Checking Out Suprise Valley

Dave and Jared check out Surprise Valley from above. Look closely and you can see the Colorado River.

Three Granaries

Three of the four small granaries lined up on one side of the alcove.

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Day 2: Pictograph Fork & The Harvest Scene

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Our second day started out cold with plenty of wind. None of us slept very well since the wind was noisy all night. After some breakfast we bundled up and started our hike down Pictograph Fork to check out the Harvest Scene pictographs.

Hiking Pictograph Fork

If you look closely you can see Dave and Jared in the canyon ahead of me as we hike towards Pictograph Fork.

Along the way we stopped at a petroglyph panel.

Pictograph Fork Petroglyphs

Pictograph Fork Anthropomorphs

Then we continued on until we reached the Harvest Scene, which was one of my main reasons for going to The Maze this trip.

Near the Harvest Scene

The canyon near The Harvest Scene Panel.

The sun was shining on the panel and washing it out pretty good, but luckily there were a few puffy clouds in the sky that blocked the sun for a few minutes at a time so that I could try and take some decent photos of the panel.

Harvest Scene Panel

An overview of the Harvest Scene Pictograph Panel.

The Harvest Scene

A closer look at the part of the panel that gives it the name ‘Harvest Scene’.

Tall, Skinny, & Elaborate

These figures found on the left side of the panel are very elaborately decorated.

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