« Posts by Randy Langstraat

Cowboy Shelter Pictographs

posted in Rock Art

Cowboy Shelter Pictographs

This isn’t a great photo, but it’s the best I could do with this very faded panel. I wanted to post a photo of this panel because it is the first example of Grand Canyon Polychrome / Esplanade Style pictographs that I have found. This is not a very well-known panel, but I managed to do enough research before my trip to the Arizona Strip so that we could locate it. It was an exciting find, but a difficult hike! If you look closely at the mostly white figures in this panel, you will notice that there appears to be some fine red detail that is present. There also appears to be red snake-like lines that connect all of the figures in this scene. You might need to click on the image to view a larger size to see these details. It’s very interesting to examine.

>> Late Hike in a Deep Canyon

Petroglyph Cove

posted in Rock Art

Petroglyph Cove

I took many photos while exploring Nampaweap, so here’s another section with a bunch of petroglyphs all over the place. There were petroglyphs on many of the boulders in the area so we had to be very careful where we stepped and placed our hands while we explored the area so we didn’t touch or step on any of the petroglyphs.

>> Straddling the Border to Toroweap

Nampaweap Scene

posted in Rock Art

Nampaweap Scene

After leaving Paiute Cave we found our way over to Nampaweap to explore the countless petroglyphs found all over the boulders and cliff faces in the area. Nampaweap means “foot canyon” in Paiute. This canyon may have been an important prehistoric travel corridor from the Grand Canyon to the resources of the ponderosa pine country around Mount Trumbull. This is also one of the largest known rock art sites on the Arizona Strip. This photo shows a typical scene found at Nampaweap. There are plenty of boulders, petroglyphs and lichen in the area. We found a lot of petroglyphs on our visit, but I’m sure we probably missed many of them, too. This site will definitely require another visit or two when I have the chance.

>> Straddling the Border to Toroweap

Three Colorful Anthropomorphs

posted in Rock Art

Three Colorful Anthropomorphs

After our visit to the Canaan Gap petroglyphs, we continued back down into Arizona again so that we could stop at a few more sites on our way to Toroweap. The next stop was to a collapsed lava tube known as Paiute Cave that contains a few very vibrant pictographs. Here are three anthropomorphs that are all painted different colors. Below them and to the left is a large painted rainbow. This was a very interesting site to visit, but difficult to photograph because of the low light and large loose boulders. A tripod was mandatory in the cave.

>> Straddling the Border to Toroweap

Busy Sheep Panel

posted in Rock Art

Busy Sheep Panel

Yesterday I posted a photo from Canaan Gap, and I’m going to do the same today. I wasn’t expecting too much when I planned to visit this site, but I was pleasantly surprised to find many cool petroglyphs when I arrived. This was the largest panel at the site, and it kind of reminds me of the Great Hunt Panel in Nine Mile Canyon because of the way the figures are all grouped together. Another interesting figure in this panel is the upside down anthropomorph located all the way on the left side.

>> Straddling the Border to Toroweap

« Older PostsNewer Posts »