Sometimes, pictograph sites are vibrant and impressive. Other times, the remaining pigment needs careful attention and some deliberate work with DStretch before you can see what used to be. Today’s site falls in that category.
This is a small site, a single boulder really, situated a good ways up a canyon that runs from the toes of the Eastern Sierra all the way up into the granite peaks. The trip is well worth making just for the natural beauty. This canyon was part of the Homesteading Act at one time, I suppose, since there are traces of grazing – corrals, a collapsed cabin, healing dirt road scars – in the area. It is all being returned to nature now: the brief dream of scratching a living from the desert soil is gone and once again the land is open to roamers.
We visited this canyon one weekend on the cusp of summer, squeezing in a last trip before the desert turned into a broiler. As soon as we set foot over the wilderness boundary I could feel myself unwind. Nothing like a walk in nature to reset the mind … fresh air, peace and quiet, beautiful surroundings. By the time we reached the site ( wheezing a little on the way up, like we do when we venture from our perch near sea level up into the high desert ) I was deeply absorbed in thinking about the history of the site. We had walked up one of the forks of the main canyon after finding lithic scatter and some bedrock mortars near the confluence, and had finally spotted a large boulder that looked worth investigating.
As soon as we got close we knew we were on to something. The boulder was large, with a smooth, slightly sloped face – perfect for pictographs. And there they were, much faded, on the exposed rock face. We dropped our packs round the back of the boulder where there was a sliver of shade, sucked greedily on our water bottles, and proceeded to take pictures.
I thought about the creators of this site as I hunkered down in the dirt, trying to find the optimal angle for a photo. Why this one boulder out of a whole field of boulders? It was probably the biggest boulder around, but there were some others, very similar, nearby. There wasn’t any lithic scatter that I saw. We did find a possible encampment or village site much further downstream, by the confluence. We took a look around the stream bed in this area and didn’t see any signs of habitation. Maybe a shaman walked up this canyon until he found a rock that sung with power, and then he painted these symbols on it. We would never know – I certainly do not.
Bedrock mortars are always a good sign that you’re on the right track.
There is a fair amount of lithic scatter about. I didn’t find any arrowheads or implements, but I didn’t make a thorough search either.
It is a beautiful day to be out, if a tad warm. Summer is coming.
The granite peaks of the Sierra tower over us as we move further up the canyon.
Finally, we find a boulder larger than most others in the area, with a small overhang and a smooth face. We close in and notice that there is definitely something to see under that overhang.
These pictographs are extremely faded. The rock face is exposed and faces generally easterly, so the elements and the sun’s rays have been beating down on these for a while. I applied a touch of DStretch here so you can see the elements, running rather haphazardly from upper left to lower right in the shaded part in the center of the picture.
Leaning in more closely we can view the entire panel at once. There are two circular objects with hashed lines, two sets of two parallel lines, and a small spiral design.
A bit of DStretch helps us out. The smaller circular element is darker, with thicker lines, but they both share the same design.
Here is the smaller of the circular elements. It is the best preserved at the site.
With DStretch we can see how carefully the hash lines were applied. They are evenly spaced and do not overrun the outer boundary of the circle.
To the left of this element are two faded parallel lines.
I take a DStretch-assisted look at the lines, but there’s nothing else here.
The larger circular element is quite faded.
DStretch can still see it, though. It is also carefully drawn, in the same pattern as the smaller element. The pigment on the top right is noticeably thicker and it also has an inner line in that area. The circular shape is flattened at the top and bottom.
The little spiral element in the upper left of the panel. At first it looks almost natural.
That is definitely human-applied pigment. I think the natural shape of the rock was followed when applying it.
One last good look at the upper part of the panel.
This site is very faded and obscure, but it was still worth a visit. I would like to return to this canyon one day and follow it further up, for the sake of exploring as much as for the sake of enjoying nature, but for today we’re still trying to visit one more site and then hurry back into town for another commitment, so we say goodbye for now and resume our journey.
If you travel out to this site, enjoy the site and the surroundings but make sure not to touch the pictographs. They are barely hanging on.
I wonder what the full extent of the range in which these circles with hash marks appear. It does seem to be a common motif to this area.
It does! I get really excited at each site I find that has this motive, because it adds another data point that there is definitely something more to it … this motif is both common in this area and as far as I know, unique to this area, definitely when drawn on this scale. And further west many Tübatulabal sites exhibit really long hash mark lines – the shorter, “rake” version is very common elsewhere in California too, but as far as I’ve seen those 5-6ft and longer lines are only in Tübatulabal territory.
Ok, this is the second time I have been impressed. I have been scouring the Southern Sierra for rock art my entire adult life and have just recently found this site. Even if you happen to wander into this lonely canyon and happen to walk past the random boulder, it is still almost impossible to see, especially with full sun blazing on it. Good find!
Hi, thanks for the kind words! This site has been on my radar for many, many years and I finally managed to track it down last year. I’ve been up and down the main drainage in that area hunting for “the second site” I’ve heard about, and finally realized that I probably now knew every boulder in that canyon, so I couldn’t have been looking in the right place … and I started planning a trip to this side canyon. I confess to having had help from a fellow explorer who confirmed my idea and assisted with the location. You’re so right that this is an extremely unlikely site to find! I have to say though, the boulder itself was very striking to me and just seemed “right” ( as was a similar one just 200 or so yards downslope in a gully – that boulder had no pictographs that I could see though. ) Even if I only saw this boulder off in the distance I probably would have walked over for a look. It is foolish to think that one could develop a “feel” for which boulders might have captured the interest of a rock art creator, but sometimes I do like to believe that I get “a feeling”. ( Though I only need to think back to the dozens and dozens and dozens of times I was convinced that a boulder would hold something and didn’t! ) This site was fascinating – I did poke around the area a little and didn’t find anything else. I plan to explore as far as possible that canyon at some point, I turned around not long after this boulder on my visit. As a side note on this, I’ve also had a go at entering this canyon from the crest once, since I happened to be up in the mountains above it. I do not recommend that idea, to say the least! There are deer trails leading out of the canyon, but those are not suited for human passage. I darn near had to run on thin air to keep from sliding down the hill at one point, and retraced my steps soon after.
I’m sure the other site you referred to is the rock pile farther up the other fork. If that is the case, just to pique your interest, there IS a third site in the main canyon.
You got my interest piqued! The literature mentions a second site under the name of the main canyon. I just assumed this fork was the location of the second.
Well now! That is a bit of news indeed! I would love to visit such a site. You’re right, the other site I mentioned is that one in the rock pile. So, a third site … I’m thinking about what I’ve seen in the canyon so far and the settlement patterns that the lithic scatter indicated, since that is sometimes a very good hint … hmmm. I wonder if I’m going to have to do that one thing I didn’t do in the main canyon because I used my monocular on a few boulders I might have paid a visit in person otherwise. Can’t see through rock that way to see what might be on the other side, after all!
If you want to send me a personal email that is not visible to the world, I will give you a description on how to find it.
Much appreciated. Email sent.