A view looking up at part of the large petroglyph site located in Three Fingers Canyon of the San Rafael Reef. This is another of those sites that I have visited a few times and always seem to find something new that I missed on the previous trips.
Horned Shield Figures
Here are a set of pictographs that are very similar in appearance. I’m not quite sure what they are, but they appear to be some sort of horned shield-like figures. They are both found in the Book Cliffs of Utah but are in different canyons. The funny thing about both of them is that I managed to stumble upon them when I was out searching for other pictographs. The one above I came across yesterday while I was searching for a ‘birthing scene’ pictograph and the one below I found a few months ago while searching for a very unique owl pictograph.
The Bird and the Sun
It’s been a few years since I hiked down McDonald Creek, but since I stayed home this weekend I thought it might make a nice Sunday morning hike. This is one of the four rock art panels I found in the canyon this trip. I’m not quite sure what the largest figure really is, but it kind of resembles a bird to me, so that’s what I’m going to call it.
Pueblo Bonito Doorways
One of my favorite photos from our trip to Chaco Canyon back in June with a short story to go along with it. On the day we were leaving the park to head home, Amanda and I were at the gate to get into Chaco Canyon about ten minutes before 7:00am – which is when they were supposed to open the gate (don’t even get me started about them closing the park in the first place….I would have loved to take some night shots in the park!). Then 7:00am came and went, yet no one was there to unlock the gate. I was getting anxious to get inside the park because I knew I would only have a small window of time to photograph this setting before the sun would be too high in the sky! Finally, about ten minutes after 7:00am, a truck drove up to the gate and finally unlocked it. I quickly drove into the park and headed straight for Pueblo Bonito. Once I parked the Jeep in the lot, I grabbed my camera gear and walked swiftly right to this spot. I setup my tripod and framed the scene and quickly took a few shots. I tried a few different compositions and then ventured further into the pueblo to get a few of the different doorway combinations. About 15-20 minutes after arriving in the pueblo the sun was too high in the sky and light was shining directly onto parts of the interior walls. Luckily, I had made it inside and got the shots I wanted before it was too late! Surprisingly, I was also the only one there during that time – I was expecting there to be other photographers showing up for similar shots.
Long-Necked Sheep
I just love this petroglyph of a long-necked sheep found in Nine Mile Canyon. Talk about a very unique petroglyph! I wonder what the heck this could have represented or meant?
