IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

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…

Sunday, May 1, 2011

After spending a long weekend in Salt Lake City for Amanda’s birthday, we headed home through the San Rafael Swell so that I could stop at a few easily accessible rock art panels at the base of Cedar Mountain that I had not been to before. Here’s a few photos I took.

Silent Sentinel

Our first stop was at The Silent Sentinel. It’s hard to tell scale from this photo, but it’s a pretty good sized petroglyph.

Cedar Mountain Petroglyphs

Next to The Silent Sentinel was this boulder that had a bunch of petroglyphs on it.

Daisy Chain

Next up were the Daisy Chain petroglyphs.

45 Degree Rock

The next stop was at a slab of rock sticking out of the ground at about a 45 degree angle.

Duck Panel

At a set of rocks named Railroad Rocks, after some historic inscriptions carved into them, there are a few more petroglyphs. Some say that one of them is of a duck….but I’m not so sure about that?

The Duck and the Snake

A closer look that the figure that ‘might’ be a duck above a snake-like figure.

Loner

This lone anthropomorph is high on the front of Railroad Rock.

Scorpion

What looks like a scorpion-like figure found along Buckhorn Wash.

Spiral Arm

A larger anthropomorph next to the scorpion posted above.

Cattle Guard Panel

Then I made a stop at The Cattle Guard Panel.

Of course we also stopped at the famous Buckhorn Wash Panel along the way, but I’ve posted plenty of photos from there before and didn’t get anything better this trip, so I won’t bore you with anymore from there this time 😉

Saturday, April 23, 2011

The weekend after getting back from my week in The Maze and on Cedar Mesa I was ready to head back out and search for some rock art. This time Amanda and I headed back to the San Rafael Swell so that we could attempt to visit the Ascending Sheep Panel and the Ferron Box. Back in March Dave and I had attempted to get to the Ascending Sheep Panel, but the snow we got that day slowed us down and we ran out of time after spending most of the day in Short Canyon. This time we also got snowed on in the morning, but not enough to slow us down too much, just enough to get my Jeep dirty and our shoes muddy.

The Juggler

Our first stop was at The Juggler. Unfortunately, it was still snowing a bit when we were here and the ground was pretty muddy…..it was that bentonite clay that sticks to your shoes and eventually dries like cement. I hate that stuff!

Small Snake

A small snake petroglyph near the large snake petroglyph at the base of the Molen Reef.

Molen Snake

Face to face with the large snake.

Slithering Away

The Molen Reef Snake Petroglyph slithering away

Ascending Sheep

This is an amazing pictograph panel! It’s not very big, but the details are just stunning! The main figure is anthropomorphic, but has a bighorn sheep’s head with a snake’s tongue and what looks like a bird’s feet. It’s also holding a bird-like figure on it’s outstretched hand. Not to mention all of the small bighorn sheep in this panel.

Rainbow Panel

Besides the Ascending Sheep Panel, this was the other main pictograph panel that I wanted to visit on this trip. It’s a very cool pictograph and petroglyph (pictoglyph) panel along Ferron Creek. Unfortunately, at some point in the past someone ruined the left side of the panel with plaster…

Ferron Line Up

A line up of small anthropomorphic pictographs high above. They remind me of the small clay Fremont figurines that have been found.

Line of Spirits

A closer look at the pictographs from above.

Red & Black Snake

A red and black snake-like pictograph located along Ferron Creek.

Feet of Sinbad

A pictograph panel located at the Head of Sinbad. The top part of this panel hasn’t survived.

Barely Visible

To the left of the Feet of Sinbad are a few faint pictographs, including this anthropomorph.

Typical Shaman

Just the ‘typical’ photo of these pictographs at the Head of Sinbad through the tree in front. Figured I might as well have a shot through the tree in my collection. 😉

Skeleton Shaman

Here’s my take on the Skeleton Shaman at the Head of Sinbad.

Copyright

A very detailed panel at the Head of Sinbad. It looks like the anthropomorph has a copyright symbol on it’s chest.

The Snake and the Clock

A closer look that the snake and the circle (that looks like a clock) above the Skeleton Shaman.

Gremlin

Just a closer look at one of the interesting figures of the Head of Sinbad pictographs.

Lone Warrior in the Rocks

Before heading home we made a quick stop at the Lone Warrior pictograph.

We had a great day exploring some new rock art panels and revisiting some others, and I’m looking forward to heading back to the San Rafael Swell in search of some more!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

On Saturday, Jackson and I headed into Utah so that I could check on a geocache I hid last summer. After checking on the cache, we hiked around the rim of the canyon nearby.

Wavy Sandstone

After some more hiking around and on Jug Rock, we headed north to the Book Cliffs in search of some petroglyphs….specifically The Butterfly, or bat, petroglyph. I had an idea on where it was located, but not an exact location. We searched the area for a little bit and managed to find it.

The Butterfly

After finding The Butterfly, we searched the nearby boulders and found a bunch of other petroglyphs.

Book Cliff Boulder

There was a small crack between two large boulders that I squeezed into, and inside there were a bunch of petroglyphs…

In the Crack

Sheep in the Crack

Another Hand

Lichen & Faint Spiral

Another look at a boulder with many petroglyphs on it….

Book Cliff Boulder 2

When we were done searching the area I took Jackson over to the Sego Rock Art Site, since he had never been there. I’ve been here numerous times before, but not since I got my new camera, so I took a few photos while we were there.

Sego Canyon Pictographs

Sego Snake Man

We searched the area and managed to find a petroglyph of a sheep I had not seen before.

Sego Sheep

Sego Snake

Fremont petroglyphs over faint Barrier Canyon Style pictographs. Look closely above the petroglyphs…

Fremont Over Barrier

Sego Ute Shield

We had plans to find some more pictographs, and I headed to the area they were supposed to be in…..unfortunately, I took the long way and by the time we got there we had run out of time and had to head home. I know I will be returning to the Book Cliffs in search of more rock art this year 🙂

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Well, here’s the last set of photos I’m going to post from our trip to the McConkie Ranch in Dry Fork on Saturday . You can check out Set 1 , Set 2, Set 3, and Set 4 for more.

Sun Carrier

A closer look at The Sun Carrier, also known as the Three Kings. One of the most impressive panels we came across. You can’t get too close to it, but luckily I had my 100-400mm lens with me. Click on the image and look at it in a larger size to see more of the detail.

Fading Partners Overview

An overview of the ‘Fading Partners’ on what turned out to be a pretty nice day.

Knife in Hand

Looking up at this large anthropomorph that appears to be holding a knife.

Trophy Head 2

A close-up of another figure holding a trophy head. This one looks a bit meaner than the others.

The Line-Up

A straight-on view of this large pictoglyph panel along the Main Trail.

Small Shield Figure

Just a small shield figure petroglyph.

Lichen man

Another view of this medium-sized figure that is next to a colorful display of lichen.

The Couple 2

I liked the setting of this set of petroglyphs, so I took a few different photos. This is a nice overview.

Head Hunter Panel

Another of my favorite panels that I took a few different photos of. Look closely and you can even find the Red Spiral pictoglyph I posted earlier.

Trail End

The end of the Main Trail. I thought this photo might be a fitting end to my sets of photos from the trip. Hope you enjoyed 🙂