On my way to Canyonlands and Horse Canyon last weekend, I stopped to find a ruin that I have driven by many times before yet had never been able to find. This time I managed to spot it high above the canyon floor so that I could get a photo. I didn’t have time to hike up to it, but I did take this photo with my long lens from far below.
A small and little-known granary hidden on Cedar Mesa. The afternoon light reflects off the sandstone below and bathes this well-preserved ruin in golden light.
Last weekend I probably took my last trip to the desert for a little while until things cool down a bit again. While I was out exploring some remote canyons of Cedar Mesa I visited these interesting ruins with a few pictographs of bighorn sheep nearby.
Here’s an interesting ruin with the remnants of a pictograph panel above that I visited this last weekend as I explored more of Cedar Mesa. Not shown in this photo are two other small parts of the pictograph panel to the right that still remain on the wall. That could mean it was possible that the pictograph panel above this site was much larger than the remaining sections. I wonder what it looked like when it was still fully intact?
It’s been a little while since I have updated this blog, so I’m sorry about that. Things have been crazy these last few weeks but are finally getting back to normal…which means I can start getting out and exploring the backcountry in search of rock art and ruins once again. As a matter of fact, I just spent the weekend on Cedar Mesa in search of the specific ruin featured in the photo above. As you might have guessed, I did manage to find it!
This well-preserved ruin is nestled in the back of a deep alcove which has helped protect it from the elements and kept it in good shape. The most unusual part of this ruin is the painted pictographs on it’s exterior. I can’t recall seeing anything else like it which makes this one pretty unique. Because of the photogenic alcove this granary was located in, I had a lot of fun taking photoso of it from all different angles, so I’m sure I’ll be posting other photos of it in the future. This photo was taken to emphasize the curved lines and golden color of the smoke-stained ceiling of the alcove above the ruin.
