Month: December 2019

When we decided to visit the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, we had no idea that we would also get to see the remnants of an ancient Pueblo village and, more importantly, some more cool petroglyphs. It’s a long drive from one end of the park to the other, but right in the middle are the remnants of an ancient pueblo.  While it wasn’t nearly as intriguing as some of the sites I’ve seen in other areas in recent years, it is a reminder of what life must have been like for the people who lived here.

Looking at the present surroundings, it’s hard to imagine how someone could have survived here, but nearby petroglyphs suggest that it must have been successful enough to allow time to create art.  The different styles here also seem to suggest that the village was occupied over a long period of time, while the antelope suggest there must have been game available.

For me, though, the most interesting petroglyph was this one, which appears to show an Ibis (with the downward curving bill) eating a frog.  If there were Ibis nearby, that, in turn, suggests that at some point there must have been wetlands nearby.

Several miles away from the pueblo there are even more significant petroglyphs.  This large rock covered in petroglyphs sits below a very steep cliff and requires that you use a large telephoto lens, binoculars, or the provided scopes to see them. The people we talked to as we drove up said that couldn’t find them at all.  The fact that it’s nearly impossible to read the petroglyphs on the left side of the rock because of the direction of the sun helps to explain why they can be so hard to see.

Someone obviously had a lot on their mind, and a lot of time to say what it was judging from this rock.  It’s too bad we still can’t completely understand what they were trying to say, and probably never will.

When planning our trip home through Fresno, I knew that I wanted to visit New Mexico’s Petroglyphs and Grand Canyon. When Leslie saw that the Painted Desert and The Petrified Forest were on our route, she suggested we stop there on our way.  I wasn’t too enthused at first — particularly by petrified forests — but it, unexpectedly, turned into the scenic highlight of our trip.  It was beautiful when we arrived, with crisp air and sunny skies.  What we thought would be a quick stop turned into an all-day affair, and we didn’t arrive at Flagstaff until dinner time, a late dinner time for us.

We were dodging snow most of the 4,000 miles we drove on our Thanksgiving trip, but I was really glad to see snow at Arizona’s Painted Desert as it contrasted with the brilliant reds of the landscape.  It’s hard to believe that this is a shot of exactly the same location shown yesterday but from the opposite side of the canyon; the snow cover makes it look entirely different.

Of course, the direction of sunlight is probably even more important than snow.  You need the sun behind you to bring out the colors in the landscape.  The visitor’s guide is probably right that the ideal time to see many of the formations is at sunset. That would certainly highlight the red and gold colors.

I’ll have to admit that I was drawn as much by unusual shapes as I was by brilliant colors.

Of course, I don’t object if I can find a subject that has both an interesting shape and brilliant colors.

This deserves to be full screen if you hit “open in a tab.” It’s made up of 12 different shots because even my wide-angle lens couldn’t take it all in.

Some petroglyphs stood out at Boca Negra Canyon, like this clearly visible Yucca Seed, which was seen in several different locations.

Not only was the plant a source of food, but its leaves were used in weaving baskets, and it was a part of some religious ceremonies.

Perhaps the most fascinating petroglyph we saw, though I tended to overlook it at first thinking it might have been a form of vandalism, turns out to be this Parrot, which was an important bird in the area even though they are only native to Mexico. Some tribes in the area even have Parrot Cults. Who woulda thunk it?

Naturally, the petroglyphs that aren’t shown or identified in my books remain the most interesting, and mysterious.  Do you think this is some kind of lizard or iguana?  Don’t the ears make it seem cat-like?  Is it holding that rattle-shaped object in front of it?

Another intriguing petroglyph was this trio.  Were they originally drawn at the same time, or was there some reason later artists added to the grouping.  The three certainly look like different styles to me and the bird looks like it was incised on the top of another, earlier figure.