Yesterday I posted a photo from Canaan Gap, and I’m going to do the same today. I wasn’t expecting too much when I planned to visit this site, but I was pleasantly surprised to find many cool petroglyphs when I arrived. This was the largest panel at the site, and it kind of reminds me of the Great Hunt Panel in Nine Mile Canyon because of the way the figures are all grouped together. Another interesting figure in this panel is the upside down anthropomorph located all the way on the left side.
On the second day of our trip last week, we stopped at this petroglyph panel located near the Canaan Gap before heading down into Arizona. Not only is this a pretty interesting panel located on a flat colorful cliff face, but it appears that some kind of erosion over the years has caused these petroglyphs to become much deeper than they originally were, since I doubt they were carved this deeply. This is the first time I have come across a set of petroglyphs like this. Very cool!
I just got home late on Saturday night from spending the previous week on a trip in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. One of the main goals of this trip was to visit some new rock art panels and sites. On our drive south, the first location we stopped at was the Parowan Gap. There are many petroglyphs located in this gap in the Red Hills west of the Parowan Valley, but the Zipper-Glyph is probably the most well-known. Some believe that the large zipper-like figure, that is the focus of this panel, represents some kind of map or calendar system….or both. The shape sure does resemble the Parowan Gap in which it is located. This was a great first site to visit on the week-long trip. I’ll be posting more from the trip in the upcoming weeks.
Let’s finish up the week with another ruin that I came across in the spring while hiking in Mule Canyon. While most people are familiar with the House on Fire ruins located in the same canyon, there are plenty of other ruins to visit….and even some that can be pretty photogenic, too. While exploring this ruin, I noticed the sun reflecting off of the sandstone above the granary accentuating the different colors which is what I wanted to show off in this photo.
>> Mule Canyon
There are many petroglyphs located above the confluence of Rochester Creek and Muddy Creek. This is a closer look of the main and most famous panel at the site. It contains Barrier Canyon Style elements, Fremont petroglyphs and probably some later Ute figures, too. There are also some very unusual creatures found in this panel that no one can seem to agree on who carved them! I have visited this panel a couple of times and I always notice something new on each visit.
