« Posts tagged utah

Circle of Life

posted in Rock Art

Circle of Life

When we headed down to Escalante this last weekend, it was one of my main goals to try and find this particular pictograph panel. I had seen a photo of this pictograph a while back, and because it was so unique I just new I wanted to find it and see it for myself. I have seen many petroglyphs and pictographs, but nothing like this one before. It’s very interesting that each person around the circle is different from one another…no two are exactly the same.

Unfortunately, I have no clue what style this pictograph is, but if I had to guess it would be from a later culture, after the Fremont/Anasazi were gone from this area. Perhaps it is Ute or Paiute? There is a small rainbow off to the right (just out of the frame) so maybe I am wrong and it is Fremont? If anyone out there has some thoughts or information on this pictograph panel, I’d love to hear them in the comments below.

>> Grand Staircase – Escalante Ruins & Rock Art

Hundred Handprints

posted in Rock Art

Hundred Handprints

This weekend, Amanda and I headed down to the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument so that we could search out some rock art and ruins in the area. Our first stop yesterday was to visit the Hundred Handprints near the Escalante River. Unlike the last cave that I visited which claimed to have 100 handprints, this one actually delivers. This panel of many white handprints is located high up in a shallow alcove, which makes them very visible if you know where to look. The steep slickrock to to access this panel was much too steep for my climbing ability, even if I hadn’t been wearing sandals!

>> Grand Staircase – Escalante Ruins & Rock Art

The Queens Alcove

posted in Rock Art

The Queens Alcove

The Moqui Queen and her dog are prominently displayed at the back of a very large alcove along North Wash in southeast Utah. Not only are these impressive examples of Barrier Canyon Style pictographs, they are situated in a spectacular location, which is what I tried to convey in the image above.

>> From the Maze to the Mesa

Kane Creek Sheep

posted in Rock Art

Kane Creek Sheep

I’ve seen many bighorn sheep petroglyphs while out exploring the desert, but for some reason this one has always seemed to stand out to me. I consider it one of my favorite sheep petroglyphs, and have visited it a number of times. It’s carved on a canyon wall along Kane Creek near Moab that has many other petroglyph panels nearby, including some that are quite large and impressive- but for some reason I always gravitate back to this precisely pecked petroglyph (say that three times fast!).

>> Mill Creek, Kane Creek and the Bartlett Panel

Into the Vortex

posted in Rock Art

Into the Vortex

Since I posted a photo yesterday with ruins and star trails, I figured I would follow up today with a photo of rock art and star trails, which is something I’m hoping to do more of in the very near future.

After photographing sunset in Arches National Park, I set out to visit the Moab Maiden (Moab Princess) for a night photography session. Since I knew this petroglyph panel faced approximately north, I had envisioned making an image looking up past the Maiden to Polaris with the other stars circling around. I ended up taking this shot with the aperture wide open so that the very close foreground and the stars were out of focus. This is something that I have not seen done before, since most photographers prefer nice sharp star trails, but I think it looks good and adds a feeling of depth to the ‘vortex’ beyond the Maiden. I lit up the boulder and petroglyph by bouncing the light from my headlamp off of a nearby cliff. I’m very happy with the way this image came out.

The Moab Maiden is surely one of my favorite petroglyphs around, and I’ve enjoyed trying to create a unique image at this location.

>> RMNP Spring Fling 2011

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