IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

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
 

Monday, October 17, 2011

Living in Grand Junction, I see Mount Garfield towering above the Grand Valley almost every day. Every now and then I think to myself that I should finally hike up to the summit, but since I usually seem to spend most of my time exploring Southern Utah, I always put it off. Finally, I decided to stop putting it off and set a date to hike it before the days got too short this year. My friend Jackson was supposed to join me on this hike, but he got sick and ended up not going, so I did the hike alone. Right after work I headed straight to the trailhead and got started on the climb. I managed to summit just before sunset and made it back down to the Jeep just before I would have needed to get out my headlamp. It certainly was a climb, but it was also a nice hike that’s close to home.

A warning at the beginning of the trail. This sign is actually wrong, the hike is shorter than 2 miles. There is a lot of quick elevation gain on this trail.

Mount Garfield Trail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The start of the climbing.

The Beginning by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The trail continues to climb this ridge quickly.

Follow the Ridge by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Return to Dinosaur National Monument
Saturday & Sunday, October 15 – 16, 2011

I’ve wanted to get back to Dinosaur National Monument most of the year to re-photograph some of my favorite petroglyphs and visit some new ones. I had to be patient while the Fossil Bone Quarry was being rebuilt because Amanda really wanted to check out the dinosaur bones. At the end of September the Quarry finally reopened and we were looking forward to getting back up there. Since I was was in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah for the first week in October we had to wait until the third weekend in October to finally spend a weekend there.

On Saturday morning we left early and drove right to the park.

Dinosaur National Monument by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Our very first destination was the newly rebuilt Fossil Bone Quarry. It has never been open when we’ve been to the park before, so this was our first time there.

Dinosaur Quarry by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Close-up of a dinosaur skull.

Dinosaur Skull by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Since I returned home from my Arizona Strip and Southern Utah trip a day early, I thought it might be a good idea to take a drive up on the Uncompahgre Plateau to see if there were any fall colors left to photograph. Unfortunately, what I found was either the aspen trees were still green, or they had changed colors and the leaves had already fallen off. It seemed like there was no in-between up there. It was a very strange fall season this year, so it appears that I am not going to be taking any good fall color photos this year. I guess I will have to try again next year. Here’s a few photos from my drive up on Divide Road.

After climbing up to Divide Road from Jacks Canyon and Unaweap Canyon I soon entered the Uncompahgre National Forest.

Uncompahgre National Forest by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Divide Road on top of the Uncompahgre Plateau.

Divide Road by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Not a great photo, but I found this scene interesting. It looks like all the trees here are growing away from the one in the middle.

Outwards by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr