My last travelogue ended while I was beginning to explore the Book Cliffs about twenty miles north of I-70 and near the CO/UT border. My primary mission was to find some of the rock art known to be in the three canyons nearby, as well as 19th century inscriptions made by early settlers. Unfortunately, I had no information about the specific locations of any of these, so it was a matter of watching carefully as I drove by. Binoculars helped a little, but it was still a challenge because of natural markings on the cliffs and boulders.
The first rock art I found was located fairly high on a cliff about 100 yards from the road, with "No Trespassing" signs posted all around and some ranch buildings on the other side of the road. My long lens was adequate for getting photos from that distance. These were impressive panels of pictographs with many images.
Moving again, I looked out the side window just in time to see a red-tailed hawk flying directly toward me, soaring over the LRJ before I could grab the camera. However, he made a large circle and I was able to get a shot before he was completely out of sight.
The prickly pear cacti were densely packed in some areas. Many blooms had faded, but some were still pretty to see.
The road crossed Westwater Creek many times, but it was nearly dry at this time. The salt lining the creek is an indication of deposits made here when the area was an inland sea.
I drove quite a distance without finding anything else. Eventually, the
road became a steep climb out of the canyon. Since I had no idea where
it went from there, I turned back to check out the other two canyons. I tried one of many side trails, thinking the faint trail may be a sign that people have gone there to see rock art. This one led to a corral, where an old rancher and his son were rounding up a few cattle. Chatting with the rancher while his son did all the work, I explained what I was looking for. He knew of two locations where I could find pictographs, one he thought might be a drawing of an owl. When I found it, there was no owl, but a shield figure with a masked head. This type of image is not that unusual. I've seen some shields where feet were attached to the shield. No one knows the significance of all the dots around the figure.
The next panel is one called the "birthing scene". You can see a small figure within a larger figure, then a line and two dotted lines leading to a large figure holding the smaller figure. This type of art is quite rare, I think, although a few others in my experience have depicted similar stories.
To sum up the rest of my journey, I failed to find any more art, and saw none of the several 19th century inscriptions. Without more information, I had to simply enjoy the scenery as I drove.
Finding a mother pronghorn nursing her offspring was a pleasant experience. She tolerated my presence, making no effort to leave. Once the nursing ended, she calmly started grazing while the youngster stared at me.
While it was disappointing that I had found so few art panels, it was an enjoyable adventure and the art I did find was extremely gratifying.
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