Short Trip to the Book Cliffs

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Earlier today, Jackson and I headed west into Utah so that I could check on a geocache that I hid last summer. Once we checked on the cache we hiked around the rim of the nearby canyon and did a little exploring.

A view down into the canyon we hiked around.

Wavy Sandstone by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After we did a little more hiking and exploring around nearby Jug Rock, we drove north to the foot of the Book Cliffs in search of some new petroglyphs. I was specifically looking for a petroglyph of a butterfly or bat. I had a general idea on where it was located, but not an exact location. We searched the area for a little and did finally manage to find it.

The Butterfly by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After finding The Butterfly, we searched the nearby boulders and found many other petroglyphs.

Book Cliff Boulder by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

There was a narrow crack between two large boulders that I squeezed into and found many more petroglyphs carved inside.

In the Crack by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Sheep in the Crack by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Another Hand by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

I have heard that this site might interact with the sun on the solstice. Perhaps that’s what this spiral is here for?

Lichen & Faint Spiral by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Another boulder found nearby with some interesting petroglyphs carved into it.

Book Cliff Boulder 2 by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

When we were done searching the area, I took Jackson over to the Sego Canyon Rock Art Site just out of Thompson Springs since he had never been there before. I’ve been here numerous times and taken many photos, but I haven’t been back since I got my new camera earlier this year, so it was a great opportunity to get some new photos.

Sego Canyon Pictographs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Sego Snake Man by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We searched the area and managed to find this petroglyph of a sheep I had not found before.

Sego Sheep by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Sego Snake by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This panel contains Fremont petroglyphs carved over some faint Barrier Canyon Style pictographs. You can see them if you look closely above the petroglyphs.

Fremont Over Barrier by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Sego Ute Shield by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We had plans to find some more pictographs in the Book Cliffs, so I started driving towards the area they were supposed to be in. Unfortunately, I ended up taking some roads that took much longer than I had anticipated, so by the time we got to the mouth of the right canyon we had run out of time and needed to head home. At least we had a nice scenic drive! I know I will be returning to the Book Cliffs in search of more rock art this year.

>> Short Trip to the Book Cliffs Photo Gallery