Moab Area Rock Art XXXVIII | Friday & Sunday, December 24 & 26, 2021
It feels like it’s been a while since the last time I spent much time around Moab, especially with it getting busier and busier all the time. Lately it feels like I’m just passing through on my way elsewhere and usually try to avoid the area entirely if I can. However, since it was time to return to Arches National Park for our annual Christmas in Arches visit, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to get a hotel room in Moab for the holiday weekend and spend some time hiking closer to town. The weather forecast was calling for a pretty wet weekend, and it was raining when we left home early on Friday morning, and had been for most of the night already. There was light on and off rain during the drive, but thankfully the temperature stayed above freezing so there was no ice to deal with. It was actually over 50 degrees out when we reached Moab.
After arriving in Moab we spent the rest of the morning hiking and searching for petroglyphs, but our hike was cut short when it started to rain hard and the temperature quickly dropped. We were totally soaked and cold by the time we made it back to the Jeep. We drove back into town and grabbed lunch while we dried off and waited for the rain to stop.
Exploring fins in search of petroglyphs.
High Fin Panel
Arms Up
Upper Petroglyphs
I love the little line of figures across this large petroglyph panel.
The same panel from the right side.
Little Panel
Headless Panel
Once the rain finally stopped we headed back out to hike Jacksons Trail from the mouth of Kane Creek Canyon. There was one muddy and icy section near the beginning of the trail that we had to be careful on, but past that the hike was scenic and uneventful as we made our way up to the Amasa Back Trail. We didn’t make it as far as I had wanted to since we got a later start due to the rain, so we cut the hike short and made it back to the Jeep just before sunset. We returned to town, checked into our hotel and then picked up Christmas Eve dinner from Pasta Jays.
Diane in an alcove along the trail.
This was the muddy and icy section right above the creek that was really sloppy and slippery.
Piggyback Sheep
There’s a great view of Behind The Rocks from the top, and luckily the sun started to come out while we were up there.
Cliff & Clouds
I walked over to the other edge for a view into Jackson Hole.
Hiking back down Jacksons Trail shortly before sunset.
Old Folks Home
Colorado River Clouds
The Portal at Sunset
After spending Saturday in Arches National Park, we slept in a little later on Sunday and then headed out to search for some petroglyphs we hadn’t found on Friday morning before the rain really started coming down. We managed to find one of the panels we were looking for, but it was very windy out this morning and more rain was on the way, so after our first hike we decided to call it a day and headed home a little early.
Nice morning light on a jagged ridge.
Sheep Head Panel
Sheep Head
If you look closely at the bottom, you will see a pair of lines carved into the sandstone.
The storm clouds were approaching fast, but the changing light was nice!
Beautiful scenes and of course well-captured rock art. Unique and I have not seen the images before. ❤️
Thank you Dianne!
Thanks. Great photos. Love the sheephead panel
Thanks Peter!
I was at the Sheephead panel yesterday. There is quite a bit of damage compared to your photo. Did you photoshop some of it out? Regardless, I’m thinking about reporting it, although I’m not sure who to contact. These idiots actually scratched their names.
Yes, I digitally repaired the vandalism. I have seen some old photos of this site and the vandalism was present then, so it’s pretty old.
Ya, I thought some of the bigger gouges looked older. But some of the names scratched in looked pretty recent.