Moab Area Rock Art XXXV | Wednesday, November 11, 2020
Apparently this is the week that almost nothing seems to be going right for me! Not only were my plans of going to Cedar Mesa over this past weekend changed, but I was off from work this week so Diane and I could spend it exploring the North Rim of the Grand Canyon with Jerry some more. However, some things came up for all of us that prevented the trip from happening at the last minute. Since I was now home on Veterans Day with no other plans I decided to take a drive out to Spring Canyon Point near Moab to visit some new arches for the day.
Unfortunately, things continued to go wrong today. My morning started when I woke up early to leave for Spring Canyon Point and I had an email that someone had changed the address on my credit card account and reported the card lost or stolen, so I had to get on the phone with the bank to try to get that all straightened out. Then, after I left and was finally nearing Crescent Junction I realized that I had forgot my GPS at home. I’ve never forgot to bring my GPS on a trip before! Then I had plans to make a quick stop at a new arch on my way to Spring Canyon Point and for the life of me I couldn’t find it, even though I was expecting it to be easy. On top of that, my camera was having some issues as I tried to take photos this morning. What a day!
As I drove past the Dubinky Well I stopped to take a quick video because I don’t think I’ve ever seen it spinning before.
Driving below The Tombstone on my way out to Spring Canyon Point.
I stopped to revisit Juniper Arch. This one I accidentally stumbled upon many years ago and it’s always been a favorite of mine.
As I neared the end of the road on Spring Canyon Point, I found a place to park and walked over to the edge for a view over Solitude Arch.
Exploring the benches around Solitude Arch as I tried to find a way down for a closer view.
I had hoped to find a way down below the arch for a photo, and I did manage to get down to the level just above it, but the route further down looked too sketchy for me to try alone, so I had to skip it this time. At this point I was just not having a good day and decided to skip my planned hike into Hey Joe Canyon since I just wasn’t feeling it. Instead I decided to head over to a different location that I had recently learned had some rock art so I could check it out and then call it a day early.
There were a couple of alcoves containing some hard-to-see rock art, plenty of graffiti and a lot of lithic scatter on the ground. Apparently this one was ‘Scientifically Excavated’
There was an inscription left by A. Thatcher in 1895.
You’re Too Late Tanner!
As I explored the area further, I did spot these really nice petroglyphs.
Just a little photogenic alcove…
Searching for rock art, inscriptions and whatever else I might find along the way…
There were also some faded Barrier Canyon Style pictographs.
A few more petroglyphs, too.
Finally there was this nice carving of a horse.
I’m sorry that I probably bored all of you with the complaining at the beginning of the post, but that’s how my day went and since I try to keep this blog as an accurate reflection of how things went on my trips, I thought it was important to share and keep a record of it. Although I didn’t really have a great day, I guess a bad day in the desert is still better than a good day stuck at work…
Hey Randy, I just left from 20 days in the Paria Canyon area, because of your visit there I had read about. Amazing time!
Curious, can you recommend to me maps to look for you have used, that shows the names of all these buttes & valleys & pictographs you come across? It would help me plan better. Thanks again! W.Randy Holman, Henrietta, Tx.
I’ve seen an excavation inscription by that Sharpe fellow in an alcove in the Moab Rim area.
Interesting…there’s probably more of them around.