Yellow Comet Panel

Yellow Comet Panel

Here’s a very cool panel of Barrier Canyon Style pictographs located near Moab. It’s also a tough one to get a good photo of since it is in direct sunlight most of the day and the pigments are already pretty faded. It’s pretty amazing to think about just how well the paints used have managed to hold up to the UV rays of the direct sunlight for possibly thousands of years! Luckily, the day I visited this panel earlier this year there was just enough hazy cloud-cover in the sky to help me get some better photos. I think it would be even better on a very overcast day. Even though it’s hard to see, if you look closely at the figure that looks like a comet, you can see the very faint yellow pigment. Above the largest anthropomorph (which is life-sized) there are a few yellow arches that go from hand to hand, but they are very faded in this photo. A very interesting panel, indeed!

>> Yellow Comet Alcove

Gears in the Sky

Gears in the Sky

Looking up at a few smaller petroglyph panels on the McConkie Ranch located near Vernal, Utah. One of my friends said the circular shield-like figures visible in this photo reminded him of gears, which is where the name for this photo came from. These are only a couple of the many petroglyph panels you can find on the trail to the Three Kings Panel.

>> Dry Fork – McConkie Ranch

Inside

Inside

Of the many interesting petroglyphs I have visited along Indian Creek, this is one that really stands out in my mind. It appears to be a Fremont-styled anthropomorph with another figure inside of the torso…or maybe it’s just decoration? Either way, it’s a very unique petroglyph.

>> Indian Creek Corridor Rock Art

Barnes Rainbow

Barnes Rainbow

While out hiking in the San Rafael Swell yesterday we visited an interesting Barrier Canyon Style pictograph panel known as the Barnes Panel. Unfortunately, this panel has not held up to time and the elements very well and is very hard to see (especially in a photo). The above photo was enhanced using a program called DStretch. I have known about this program and it’s use to enhance faint rock art for a while but never took the time to play around with it. This is one of my first attempts with DStretch and it appears to have brought out quite a bit of the very faint detail in this panel. After the enhancement I converted the photo to black and white since DStretch changes the colors in the photo dramatically. In the enhanced image you can admire all of the fine details in this panel that are barely visible to the naked eye. Below is the image I ran through DStretch and pretty accurately represents what you can see in person.

Faint Barnes Rainbow

>> Rock Art Along the San Rafael Reef

High Alcove Anthropomorph

High Alcove Anthropomorph

Yesterday I met up with my friend Kevin so we could visit a few pictograph panels in the San Rafael Swell. I had searched for these same panels last month and not found them, but this time I found each site I was looking for, and more! The main site we both wanted to visit was the High Alcove Site which contains this very unique red-painted anthropomorph with scratched designs down it’s torso. This figure is located high on the canyon wall underneath a small arched alcove, which frames the site nicely.

>> Rock Art Along the San Rafael Reef