IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Sunday, February 13, 2011

After leaving Fish Creek Cove we continued on our way home, but we made one last stop at the petroglyphs in Capitol Reef National Park.

Capitol Reef Anthropomorphs

Fremont Anthropomorphs

Capitol Reef Sheep

Many Fremont Sheep

After leaving Capitol Reef we stopped for a burger at Ray’s in Green River before finishing up the drive home. It was a great birthday weekend!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

After spending almost two full days at Fremont Indian State Park it was time to start heading home. Instead of taking I-70 all the way home like we had taken there, we headed west towards Boulder Mountain and Capitol Reef so that we could make a few more stops. Our first stop was Fish Creek Cove to check out the Headless Elk Pictograph Panel and other pictographs and petroglyphs.

Parade of Headless Elk

A closer look at the headless elk pictographs.

One-and-a-Half

One and a half Fremont anthropomorphic pictographs.

Fish Creek Cove Pictographs

A few more pictographs located next to The Headless Elk Panel.

Two Headless Elk

A close-up of two of the headless elk.

Shaded Pictoglyph

After searching the alcove in Fish Creek Cove for more pictographs and petroglyphs I found this ‘pictoglyph’ in the shade of a tree. I kind of like the effect of the shaded and sunny areas in this photo.

Headless Elk Watcher

This small anthropomorph floats above the rest of the Headless Elk Panel

Anthropomorph in Stripes

A fading anthropomorph on a striped wall.

Two-Tone

A two-toned ‘shield-like’ figure

Stay tuned for the last part of this trip report in Capitol Reef.

February 11 & 12, 2011

Even more photos from Fremont Indian State Park in no particular order. Make sure to check out Set 1, Set 2 and Set 3.

Connected Spirals

We spotted this petroglyph panel when we first arrived at the park as it was easily visible from the road. We returned later to photograph it in the late afternoon sunlight.

Spiral Anthropomorph

We didn’t find these two good-sized petroglyphs near Radford’s Roost until our second day, even though they were near the road.

Sheep, Elk & Dots

We found this panel when were were exploring the Canyon of Life.

Clear Creek Canyon Petroglyphs 2

Another of the larger petroglyph panels located along the Rim Trail between the large anthropomorph and Newspaper Rock.

Arch of Art Boulder

A large boulder near the Arch of Art that has a few petroglyphs on it.

Top of Hunting Maps

A closer look at the top of the Hunting Maps panel along the Parade of Rock Art trail.

February 11 & 12, 2011

Some more photos from Fremont Indian State Park in no particular order. Make sure to check out Set 1 and Set 2.

Square Spirals

This petroglyph panel along the Rim Trail near Newspaper Rock contains a few square spirals. There’s even a small anthropomorph in the upper right hand corner that is separated from the rest of the panel.

Fremont Twins

These two faint figures can be found along the Parade of Rock Art trail near the museum.

Fremont Pithouse

Inside of a replica pithouse that was copied from varying features of the ones found on Five Finger Ridge.

Arch of Art Panel 1

The ‘Arch of Art’ contains many petroglyph and pictograph panels that can be spotted from the main viewpoint. The tricky part is actually locating them all. This is one of them. Notice the faint pictographs on the right side.

Arch of Art Panel 2

Here’s another panel found on the ‘Arch of Art’. It’s not really an arch, but the formation that houses these panels is arched.

Indian Blanket Pictographs

This blanket pictograph might look small, but it’s actually about 16 feet long and 4 feet tall. The pain was dated as being about 250 years old. There is a legend about this blanket pictograph: Many years ago a group of Indians passed through Clear Creek Canyon on the way to their winter camping area. While in the canyon the new baby of a young Indian girl died and was buried near the site of the blanket pictograph. During the winter the mother could not get the thought of her baby being alone in the winter cold out of her mind. The next spring she made preparations and returned to paint the blanket for her lost baby to use in the future cold winters. (The source of this legend is residents of the local towns near the park, not the Paiutes)

Panel 96

Just another photo of the largest anthropomorph in the park, and one of my favorite petroglyphs I came across while exploring the park.

Rock Art Jail

I’m all for protecting rock art, but this is a bit extreme for me…

Still more photos from Fremont Indian State Park to come…

February 11 & 12, 2011

Here are a few more photos from Fremont Indian State Park in no particular order. Make sure to check out Set 1, too

Black & White Shaman

The largest anthropomorph figure in Fremont Indian State Park in black & white.

Drought Panel

This petroglyph panel in Skinner Canyon is located here for a reason. It is thought to tell about the great drought which has been confirmed by tree-rings to have occurred in the 1200s. The lines of dots show the fields of corn that had been planted, but did not come up. The human with his hands in the air is praying for water.

The Spaceman

This petroglyph that looks like a spaceman along the Parade of Rock Art Trail has been identified as being carved there by Paitues, most likely in the late 1880s.

Hidden Secrets Panel

A large but faint petroglyph panel at the end of the Hidden Secrets Trail.

Glowing Hunting Scene

A hunting scene panel located in Skinner Canyon across from Spider Woman Rock. The figures are faint in the direct sunlight, but that same sunlight caused the rock to glow orange.

Hunting Maps

This petroglyph panel along the Parade of Rock Art is interpreted as being a map. The seven triangles are thought to be the mountains you see on the south horizon. Directions can be determined by the way that the two sheep face. The top one faces the setting sun and the bottom on the rising sun, if they were parallel to the mountains. Above the triangles, the sheep are arranged around a concentric circle. Similar circles are often seen in rock art and are thought to mean water. This corresponds to the features of the area since on the other side of the mountains there is water at Puffer Lake.

Still more photos from Fremont Indian State Park to come…