Joshua Tree National Park is a wonderful place to wander in the desert, whether you are out in the open among the Joshua Trees, or tucked in between granite outcroppings, wandering the washes.
That’s what we did one fall morning, and after poking into many nooks and crannies we happened to stumble across a tiny pictograph site.
It is really just one little alcove with a few elements in it, but it was still a delight to find. Like some other sites in the Park, I marvel to think about the person who climbed up to paint this site. There was no easy way up that I could see or wanted to try, and I live in the age of Search and Rescue and hospitals that can treat compound fractures! I’m amazed to think about some of the risks that were taken to create pictographs or petroglyphs in some of the places I’ve been to.
Now, let’s have a look!
My companion spotted this site while I was off fighting a losing battle with a Muller Oak. The oak kept poking me with its spiky leaves until I quit trying to squeeze past it to reach an interesting-looking rock. The site is in the shaded little alcove just to the left and above the center of the picture.
It takes a bit of scrambling to get close enough for a good look, but we manage it.
Most of the elements in the alcove are tally marks. The larger elements at the bottom seem carefully drawn, as does the little “alien” with its arms on its hips.
After determining that there’s no route up that I’d like to risk my neck on today, I get the best angle I can to make sure there’s nothing hidden on the ceiling of the little alcove.
This is a gorgeous little site, despite being so small. I love the elegant curves of the rock surrounding this site.
One final check with DStretch to make sure nothing is hiding from us.
I hope you enjoyed this little site! If you visit, remember to step lightly. For cross-country travel, stick to washes where your footprints will be erased by the winter rains, or scramble on solid rock. The desert soil can be very fragile, and there’s a lot of small critters making their homes in burrows who would prefer that you don’t fall through the ceiling and into their living room!
That’s a new one for me. Nice find!
Thanks! I’ve found a handful of sites where I had no idea how the creators reached the spot they painted pictographs, and this site was almost one of them – I could see a possible route up, I just didn’t think I’d be able to do it without falling! Sometimes though, it really seems impossible to reach the pictographs.
Here’s a link to my post with a “space man” or “alien” looking picto, from what I think is the same area as the one in your post. Maybe I’m wrong though.
http://patricktillett.blogspot.com/2016/04/space-man-petroglyph-joshua-tree.html
That’s an interesting little find! ( By the way, I get a “photo not found” error instead of the photograph you took of it when I look at your blog entry ).
I have once or twice hunted all over the place for something, skittering to every little nook and cranny, only to have a companion pipe up “Oh hey, what is this?”. Keeps one humble, right!