I received word from my friend Philippe this last weekend that the Robidoux Panel in the Book Cliffs was broken when he visited it at the beginning of his Southwest trip this year, so I just had to go see it for myself. On my way home from Moab on the solstice, I made the short detour and found that part of the panel had indeed broken off and fallen to the ground. I had last visited this panel on December 18, 2010 and it was all in one piece then.
Turkey Over Chaco
Since I just finished my Chaco Canyon trip report over on myXJ.net I thought I would post up one of my favorite rock art photos from the trip.
This bird-like petroglyph that looks like a turkey watches over Chaco Canyon and Fajada Butte as the sun gets ready to drop below the horizon near Una Vida. I had visited this petroglyph earlier in the day and knew that I would have to return at sunset for this shot.
Solstice Snake
I’ve been anticipating the Summer Solstice this year so that I could visit the Solstice Snake (aka Solar Snake or Hyper Viper) and watch the arrowhead of light appear on the snake’s head. For about two minutes on the summer solstice a dagger of light shaped like an arrowhead appears on the head of this very large and well executed petroglyph of a snake near Moab. It was an amazing experience! I spent much of the beginning of the year researching this petroglyph and searching for it. Once I found it, it was just a matter of waiting for the short window of time to get this image. My time and efforts seem to have payed off!