Friday – Sunday, March 22-24, 2019
This past week was an unusual one for me since I spent most of it in Rifle, Colorado attending a training class so I could get a Remote Pilot Certification (FAA Small UAS Rule, Part 107) for work. The funny thing is that I have never touched a drone in my life, and as of Friday morning I am now an FAA certified Drone Pilot! After taking the required test at the Grand Junction Airport on Friday morning and then having lunch with Diane afterwards, I drove into Utah through scattered storms to Moab before continuing on to The Needles for the second weekend in a row. On Sunday morning I was going to be meeting up with my friend Clyde so we could go on a hike together, but until then I was going to be spending Friday evening and all day Saturday revisiting a few rock art sites and searching for new ruins and rock art panels on my own. I would find a couple of secrets along the way…
When I arrived at camp on Friday evening the light on Harts Point was looking nice with the clearing clouds above, so I could tell that I was in store for a good sunset!
The distant cliffs of Hatch Point lit up by the setting sun over the road near my campsite.
Nice light on North Six-Shooter Peak.
I have plenty of photos of North Six-Shooter, so I made sure to get one of South Six-Shooter Peak this time around.
Shay Mountain was looking pretty nice in the distance.
It did turn out to be a pretty spectacular sunset!.
One last photo of the amazing colors above North Six-Shooter Peak before I got into my sleeping bag for the night.
The Crack Granary
The Corner Panel
Ruin & Petroglyphs
I found this lone handprint just before the early morning light was about to illuminate it for the day. It was perfect timing!
I visited an old cowboy camp with a lot of historic relics scattered about, including this old empty box of M&O Cigars.
One of the more common containers found at the old camp were for coffee. I guess it was pretty important to the cowboys…
Part of an old Y.F. Peach box that looks like it was used for target practice.
The best part of waking up… (Did you sing it to yourself?)
White Hands Alcove
It took me a while to work up the courage to climb up a tricky slickrock ledge to reach these ruins located in three smaller alcoves since I was alone, but it turned out to be well worth it!
Skyline Ruin
A closer look at the ruin found in the alcove on the right side.
This large red pictograph is found between two of the alcoves.
Can you see the small arch?
Half-Door Granary
A pretty nice Canyonlands view while exploring a few side canyons.
Candy-Striped Pictographs
Shield Man Petroglyph
Canyon Hoodoo
The Shaman
Wandering on sandstone among plentiful potholes full of water.
An interesting panel of petroglyphs.
A small but very nice little granary.
On Sunday morning I headed over to the Cave Spring Trail to catch the sunrise since I wasn’t meeting Clyde until a little later at the Visitor Center. It was a bit cloudy when I arrived, but the sun eventually made an appearance.
A little light overlooking lower Squaw Canyon.
Then the needles in the distance lit up.
Junction Butte and the Island In The Sky to the north.
Morning light on Squaw Butte.
Golden Sandstone
Light On The Needles
Sun rays on the horizon as I finished the loop hike and was on my way back to the trailhead.
Layers in a shallow alcove.
A broken point I found while hiking with Clyde.
One last view from Sunday afternoon before hiking back to my Jeep and driving back home after another nice weekend in The Needles!
