Oh, this site!
I heard a rumor of a possibility that maybe, perhaps, possibly … just a rumor, but perhaps! a certain little canyon had something up its sleeve. In my book that is more than enough reason to go out, so we bumped our way down an alarmingly rough two-track road one warm spring day.
There is a nice petroglyph on the right side of this big boulder.
As often happens when your truck is as teeny and two-wheel-drivey as mine, our ability to traverse the road ran out way before the road did! I parked on the road, on the outside of a wide curve, and hopped out. Cannot pull off the road, oh no. That way lies sinking to the rims in deep sand and digging out with a flat rock because you forgot the shovel …
At that point, hopping out of my truck all eager to start the hunt, I made an important mistake. After climbing a little ridge I stood at the edge of the little canyon. From there I had to climb down and then pick a direction — up the canyon, or down the canyon, which to choose? Why, up the canyon! Rocks are looking good up there!
Some very faint petroglyphs on a boulder in the canyon riverbed.
I dropped down into the canyon and almost immediately noticed a scoured rock that had some very faint “maybe” markings on it. Impatient to get started, I snapped a quick picture and got going.
I really should have searched the area around this rock before storming off.
Thus started a fruitless slog through sand and over rock. I peered every which way, debated whether I should climb up the steep sandy slope on the south side of the canyon to look at some boulders – no, petroglyphs do not occur on that type of granite boulders very often – and kept my eyes glued to the canyon sides.
The whole site. The boulder in the foreground is kind of bowl shaped.
Finally the canyon petered out into scrubby hills and we turned around, disappointed. Nothing more to be seen up there.
We climbed back out at my entry point and stared down canyon.
A small section of the canyon was hidden by a spur of land, but I could see down into the bottom part of the canyon and it was a boulder-choked, scrubby, trashy mess. Ugh. I didn’t feel like whacking my way through pointy plants and rusty trash.
That is a rather nice petroglyph, isn’t it? Definitely worth finding.
Still, we put in the effort to travel here, and I haven’t explored everywhere yet. No giving up in the middle of a trip! I decided to walk up the little piece of canyon I couldn’t see first, just in case there was something there. Only then would I tackle the unappetizing lower part of the canyon.
I took some steps and … wham! Not even 200 yards down canyon from our original entry point I found it! I could have saved myself an annoying trek with the right decision earlier.
Looking back at these pictures I recall the exasperation that was hanging thick in the air at the time. I had vetoed my wiser companion’s suggestion to search downstream first in favor of slogging up the canyon on my wild goose chase. Word of wisdom: take the easier route first!
The petroglyphs are spread across two boulders. One is low and flat, with petroglyphs in its bowl shape and also on its highest point. The other is a large boulder with a panel on its upstream side.
This panel is very obviously entoptic. It contains some of the hallmarks of a hallucinogenic experience: parallel zigzags, meandering lines, and a grid pattern ( at the very top of the petroglyph and visible in the photo above ).
There are some smaller details to the panel as well: first note the small zoomorph to the right of the large figure. Also look carefully at the lower left edge of the rock face by the figure’s left “knee”: there is a very faint diamond pattern there.
The diamond pattern often represents the rattlesnake – a spirit helper and guardian of the supernatural realm. A shaman would be likely to encounter one during a vision quest. Its presence here strengthens the possibility that this site records a shaman’s vision.
The lower portion of the main panel shows the small zoomorph and the faint diamond pattern.
Petroglyphs are hard to enhance, but DStretch does manage to grab onto the diamond pattern a little bit more.
A little upstream from this boulder sits a flat, curved boulder. The light wasn’t very good when I visited so the panel is half in sun, half in shade. The patterns on this boulder are dense and geometric.
It also gives an interesting look at the technique used to create this site. The petroglyphs on this boulder are made up of many small, precise pecks. A small chisel-like device was likely used, as opposed to a larger hand-held stone that is often used on softer rock.
The flat boulder with its designs half in the sunlight and half in shade.
Looking down at the design on the top of the boulder.
A close look at the dense pattern in the bowl. Part of it was erased by massive pecking at some point. There isn’t a lot of varnish on the boulder so the designs are difficult to see in direct sunlight. They are also shallow so direct light doesn’t throw them into relief.
The many small, sharp pecks that make up the petroglyph lines.
A close look at the maze-like element on the upper part of the boulder. This is also a common entoptic design.
This small boulder sits a short distance away and also has some designs.
This site is unscathed even though it is pretty close to civilization.
Petroglyphs are more sturdy than pictographs, but still need to be respected. If you visit this site, make sure to leave it exactly as you found it. There is no need to touch the designs. Looking at them is enough!