Press "Enter" to skip to content

A Swell Birthday Weekend

San Rafael Swell Rock Art XII | Saturday & Sunday, February 11-12, 2017

Rainbow Panel
The always amazing Rochester Rock Art Panel in the San Rafael Swell.

Since Saturday was my birthday, we decided to spend the weekend in the San Rafael Swell based out of Green River to celebrate. We ended up visiting a bunch of rock art sites that I hadn’t been to in a while and that Diane had never been to (much like our day trip to Moab a few weeks ago), but we also found a couple of new sites. I had hoped to visit more new sites on this trip, but the roads in those areas were still pretty muddy, so we stuck to the drier areas of the Swell along the San Rafael Reef. Of course, I made sure to have a birthday burger from Ray’s on Saturday evening! Here are plenty of photos from the weekend…

A few scenes from the Rochester Panel.

Lower Left

The Hunter

The Hunter

Such unusual petroglyphs found here…

Corner Petroglyphs

Creatures

Little Owl

A new pictograph panel we found this weekend.

Horned Serpent Pictographs

Of course, we stopped to check in on the Molen Reef Snake.

Molen Snake

We took a break at the Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel for lunch on Saturday.

Whip It

Rain Angels

Rain Angels

The Snake Dance

Snake Dance

Our view of Mexican Mountain as we hiked along the old road to the airstrip.

Mexican Mountain

Mexican Mountain Petroglyphs

Mexican Mountain Petroglyphs

A number of boulders had petroglyphs on them.

Boulder-Glyphs

Hands Boulder

This was Diane’s favorite boulder at the site.

Big Foot Boulder

The San Rafael Reef from Mexican Bend.

Mexican Bend Reef

A colorful landscape along the San Rafael River.

Colorful Landscape

While it was overcast for most of the day, the sun did come out shortly before sunset as we were driving back down the Mexican Mountain Road.

And Then The Sun Came Out

Spotlight on Window Blind Peak.

Window Blind Peak Spotlight

Light Up the Sky

Light Up the Sky

The sky turned magenta as we drove up Cottonwood Draw on our way back to I-70.

Swell Sunset

Saturday Evening Color

The clouds were interesting on Sunday morning as we made our way towards Temple Mountain.

UT-24

Interesting clouds over the San Rafael Reef.

Reef Morning

The Transformation Scene

Transformation Scene

Ochre Alcove

The pictographs here are small, but they are very detailed.

Tiny Detailed Pictographs

Alcove Exploring

Alcove Exploring

Diane hikes ahead of me into a slot canyon.

Into The Slot

I’ve always wondered what that big rectangle on the left was supposed to be?

Bunny Ears

Great lines in this slot canyon.

Converging

Canyon Lines

Canyon Curve

Three Fingers Petroglyphs

Three Fingers Petroglyphs

Connected Circles

Big Circles

You can just barely make out the red paint that decorated this petroglyph.

Faded Paint

Before heading back home we made one last stop in Petroglyph Canyon since it’s been a very long time since I was here last.

Diamonds

Tracks Panel

>> A Swell Birthday Weekend Photo Gallery

Leave a Reply