I’ve visited the Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel many times over the years (including a stop there last Saturday), yet it never seems to get old. With this photo I tried to accentuate the ripples in the sandstone that lead up to the figures that are known as ‘Rain Angels’ according to the interpretative sign below them.
Here’s a closer look at the middle portion of the Unexpected Panel that Philippe and I stumbled across last month. There is a lot going on in this spectacular panel! At the bottom sits what appears to be a large rain cloud. Above that there are some figures that seem to be in a supplicant position. There is also an interesting vertical squiggly line with a circle on each side. That design is also repeated above the white rainbow. Above the supplicant figures is a row of circles, followed by a row of very small and fine lines and then a white rainbow outlined by thin ochre lines above it all. Then to top it all off, there are two larger anthropomorphic figures that seem to be floating above. This is a very detailed pictograph panel and I could just sit and stare at it all day 🙂
Two of the three figures that make up the Secret Site which I have also seen referred to as the Observer Panel. Hidden in a shallow alcove in the San Rafael Swell, these are an exceptional set of Barrier Canyon Style pictographs with the main larger anthropomorph styled in a simple rake-like motif which is believed to represent rain. The smaller stick figure helps reinforce the rain interperetation since it appears to be pouring water from its hands. There is one more anthropomorph that is off to the right and out of the frame in this photo that looks similar to the large rake-like figure, except a bit smaller.
Before heading home last night, I made one last stop at the Black Dragon pictographs since it has been a while since I was last there. Thanks to recent flash-flooding, the road through the canyon was rougher than I remember it. I wasn’t sure if the pictographs would be in the sun or the shade, but when I arrived I found that the panel was bathed in some nice late evening sunlight. I also found out just how well the alcove traps heat. The temperature outside was in the upper 90’s, and this alcove must have been at least 10-20 degrees hotter! I could really feel the heat coming off of the sandstone as I climbed up to this panel….I ended up not sticking around too long because of it. I’m guessing this would be a great place to warm up in the colder winter months.
These two figures are found to the right of the well known ‘black dragon’ pictograph. There is the interesting anthropomorphic figure on the left and the large creature on the right which looks like it may possibly represent a dog, which is common in the Barrier Canyon Style, but I’m not 100% sure on that so I’ll stick to just calling it a creature. What I like about this scene is the lines in the sandstone that seem to radiate towards these two figures. However, I don’t like that most of the pictographs in this area are outlined in chalk.
Here’s a very intriguing Barrier Canyon Style pictograph that Philippe and I accidentally discovered in the San Rafael Swell last month. This is just the very top portion of the panel I’ve called The Unexpected Panel and it is very well preserved…it’s also my favorite part of this entire panel! The ‘holes’ in this figures’ hands and feet remind me of the Skeleton Shaman located at the Head of Sinbad, though this one has much longer and curved fingers. It seems to be interacting somehow with the ‘flying circles’ which might represent birds? Below those ‘flying circles’ there also appears to be a dog-like zoomorph with some details painted in it’s body that are reminiscent of the Intestine Man near Moab.
