Shamans Gallery

Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 5
Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Visiting the Shamans Gallery, which is also known as the Spirit Shelter, has been high on my to-do list for a while. It is actually the main reason I planned this trip to the Arizona Strip in the first place. We woke up just after sunrise and had some breakfast before driving back into Grand Canyon National Park to the Tuckup Canyon trailhead. We wanted to get an early start so that we didn’t end up in the canyon after dark again. After the storm the previous night things were much cooler out and the wind was blowing pretty good all day. The hike down into the canyon was on a much easier trail than our previous hike into another side canyon of the Grand Canyon.

Jared hiking down into Tuckup Canyon ahead of me.

Jared & Tuckup by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Down in the wash, the Spirit Shelter is just up ahead on the left.

Almost There by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A quick view of the pictographs from the wash below.

From Below by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

One more view that shows the location of the Shamans Gallery from a little ways down the wash.

Spirit Shelter by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This is the left portion of the Shamans Gallery. Many interesting figures found here.

Shamans Gallery by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at two of the more prominent figures painted here. Very unusual.

Ghosts by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

I’m not sure if this figure is supposed to have three heads, but it’s eyes have eyelashes painted on, which is something I have not seen before.

Eyelashes by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Another large and elaborate figure further to the right side of the panel.

Circles by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Look closely and you might be able to see the different layers of painted figures over top of each other. This location must have been important for a very long time.

Layers by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

All of these pictographs are painted on the underside of the large overhang.

Overhead by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Looking out from the shelter up the canyon.

From the Shelter by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A large white sheep with an older and faded figure behind it.

Shamans Sheep by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

These particular pictographs had a lot of green and yellow paint including a few green suns.

Green & Yellow Designs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A wider view of the right portion of the large gallery.

Circles & Spirits by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Another white sheep with a large circular figure, plus what looks like another three-headed figure.

Circle & Sheep by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Jared taking a photograph of the pictographs for a little scale. Many of these figures were life sized. We had to be careful not to back off the ledge while taking photos.

Photographing the Gallery by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

One more view of the larger paintings on the right.

Right Side by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A different view of the large figures on the left.

Shaman Spirits by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We were originally planning on hiking further down-canyon and making a large loop back to the trailhead, but with the storms moving in and the cooler and windy weather we decided to hike back up the way we came after continuing down-canyon just a little bit further. We will have to save exploring the rest of Tuckup Canyon for another trip- maybe once I start backpacking.

Hiking Back by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

When we got back to camp, a cold front was moving in and colder temperatures along with lots of rain and snow were on the way. Once again I decided that I wanted to get another hotel room for the night to avoid the bad weather. As soon as we got camp broken down and loaded in the Jeep, the rain started and didn’t stop all night. It was a good choice!

>> Shamans Gallery Photo Gallery