Rock Art depicting owls doesn’t seem to be very common, but the few pictographs and petroglyphs of owls that I have come across so far seem to really stand apart from the rest. This amazingly preserved petroglyph of an owl is carved high above the canyon floor near the Colorado River and Moab. It’s hard to see from below without the use of binoculars. It’s a steep loose climb to reach this panel, which contains many more petroglyphs than just this owl, but it’s well worth the climb so you can sit back and view this great site.
Big Man Alcove
The Big Man Panel in Grand Gulch is a large pictograph and petroglyph panel located in a very large alcove about 200 feet above the canyon floor. It’s not visible from the bottom, so you need to climb up to it if you want to see it. The focal point of this panel are the two life-sized anthropomorphic figures painted in red that seem to represent a man and woman This photo shows a wide view of the alcove and the pictographs painted within. In the future I will post up some closer photos of these figures for a better look at them. This is an amazing panel to view, and it’s easily seen on a day hike into Grand Gulch.
Broken-Hearted Man
Yesterday I headed back to the San Rafael Swell in search of some more rock art. The upper ninety degree temperatures didn’t keep me away, but the high temperatures certainly made me keep my hikes short. Luckily the humid weather seems to have finally left the area and it was nice and dry out. Though, the gnats and mosquitoes seemed to be out in full force during this short hike in the morning. My first stop of the day brought me to the Broken-Hearted Man petroglyph. This square anthropomorph has the weeping eye motif normally associated with petroglyphs up around the Uinta Basin which is not very common in the Swell.
The name of this particular petroglyph seems to stem from a story of a nearby burial that was found containing a woman and child (possibly both lost during childbirth). It is thought that this petroglyph may have been carved by the father of the child. It’s an interesting story, but I wonder if the Fremont held the same concept of a ‘broken heart’ that we do? Either way, it’s definitely a cool petroglyph.
The Couple
There are many spectacular petroglyphs located at the McConkie Ranch in Dry Fork, but this one really seemed to stand out to me as we hiked past it on our way to visit the Three Kings. On our way back, the sky had cleared up just enough to show some blue and I took a few photos of it that I think turned out well. This is probably my favorite of the bunch.