Some Petroglyphs & Ancient Ruins of Comb Ridge, Part 1.

Sunday, 14^th January_Monday, 15^th January, 2018; Butler Wash, near Bluff, Utah.

C1654

“Sunset Skies Study #2”

(Canyonlands National Park, Utah)

Oil Study on Centurian Oil Primed Panel

5” x 7”

Click here to make this Your Own

The second of two sunset skies studies I did while in Canyonlands National Park.

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

Butler Wash Road extends for 21 miles below the eastern slopes of Comb Ridge about 5 miles west of Bluff, Utah, and I am camped at the trailhead for the Crane Petroglyph Panel, two miles up from the southern entrance.  Thus I have not moved very far today.  The trail to the panel is indistinct across the slabs of rock, there being no cairns that I could see, but the occasional footprints that I found in the sandy spaces all lead towards the left-hand Canyon one sees from the trailhead.  I thought I was on the on another trail, but I met a couple from Grand Junction, CO, that pointed out the petroglyph to me, which I observed through my binoculars high on the cliffs above.  You can scramble up a ledge to get a closer look, but I wanted to find the trail for the Double Stack Ruin.

The Crane Petroglyph.

Oasis on the Slickrock.

That trailhead is a further 1.8 miles north and is marked by cairns across the slabs of rock you encounter, once you have negotiated three deep channels of Butler Wash.  Once across the slabs (about 250 yards), the trail descends into the canyon that eventually leads to the ruin, after meandering through the undergrowth on the canyon floor for a little over half a mile.  On the way the Canyon divides, and the left-hand fork is the one to take.  The Double Stack Ruin lies in an alcove in the north Canyon wall facing to the south.

The Granary, halfway up the cliff,
marked by its tiny triangular shadow.

Overview of Double Stack Ruin;
the Lower Ruin is behind the left two Junipers
and is in the shadow.  Note the triangle shadow
of the Granary at the extreme right.

It gets its name from the fact that one part of it (probably a granary), perches on a shelf of rock about 40 or 50 feet above the Canyon floor, and the main buildings of the ruin lie perhaps 25 yards further on, just above the floor.  There look to be 2 or 3 living spaces, and the others appear to be storage units.  When I think of a granary, I tend to think of a silo filled with grain, but I suspect that these storage spaces were not filled that way, but the foodstuffs stored were in baskets and Pots.  On the other hand it could be conceivable that some were filled with loose cobs of corn.  My thinking of the use of baskets and pottery jars would help to keep the mice at bay.  The granary up on the high shelf is approached along an ascending shelf of rock, which must have been a bit easier to negotiate a thousand years ago.  There might be some climbers today that might be able to scamper along that ledge, but I would have to see it before I would believe it.  I wonder if they sent one or two guys up there and the raised or lowered the storage pots by rope to fill it.

View of the Lower Ruin from below the Granary.

Closer.

When you enter the Lower ruin precinct there is a decent sized tree trunk embedded at each end within the masonry, at about waist high.  I was wondering what that might be for, when I spotted the tops of pilasters forming a circle, and I realized it must be a Kiva, and the tree trunk was the main roof beam, the lower part of the Kiva Being filled with collapsed rubble.

The Lower Ruin, with the Kiva’s Roof Tree.

Another view of the Roof Tree.

More of the Lower Ruin.

The access ledge to the Granary.

I wouldn’t want to try it.

On the trail to the ruin, at two different spots I passed two pole wickiups, of indeterminate age.  They could be anywhere from a few years to perhaps scores of years.  Just the poles remained in teepee like shape, but all the weather proofing materials of grasses and duff had long since disappeared.  Here are a couple of photos of similar structures in Larry Dean Olson’s, “Outdoor Survival Skills.”  It was interesting to see this sort of shelter in the flesh, as I have only seen them in pictures; kind of like finding an old trappers cabin, in the Northwoods, or the mountains.  And so … to camp, which is on a peninsula angling out into the wash, and as I said at the beginning, the trail to the Crane Petroglyph (also known as ‘Big Bird’ panel), begins here.

Wickiup.

The Pigments used in the painting:

Imprimatura: Rublev Ercolano Red;

No Drawing

Pigments: W&N Cerulean, Cobalt & Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmiums Yellow Pale and Orange;

Rublev: Ercolano Red, Purple Ochre, Lead White #2.

Found … Recapture Pocket.

Friday, 12^th January_Sunday, 14^th January, 2018; Recapture Pocket, Utah.

C1653

“Sunset Skies Study #1”

(Canyonlands National Park, Utah)

Oil Study on Centurian Oil Primed Panel

5” x 7”

Click here to make this Your Own

The first of two sunset skies studies I did while in Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

Back in October 2013 (the 14^th to be exact), was my first night in the deserts of the Southwest.  I had come down from the San Juan Mountains, in Colorado, where I had been waiting for the government shutdown to end, so I could visit some of the National Parks, on my way back to Oregon, where I had to be by the end of that month for an exhibition.  Time was getting short, so I had to move, and passing by a closed Mesa Verde, and drove into southeastern Utah.  I was close to Recapture Pocket near Bluff, Utah, and although I thought I was in part of it, I was not.  I was about a mile or so to the east of it, on the wrong side of the wash, and though I had a very pleasant night, with a quarter Moon lighting the night.  The painting (seen here), was done the next morning, and as it happens, Recapture Pocket is below the high ground on the horizon.  If only I had known.  As I negotiated the rough and sandy track back out from my campsite, I met a small SUV, coming in.  He was also looking for Recapture Pocket, and was from Reno, Nevada.  I told him it might be further back and up a wash I had seen, but couldn’t be sure … turns out I misdirected him.

In Recapture Pocket.

Armed with a little more information, than last time, I managed to come straight to it yesterday (as I write this), about an hour before sundown.  Today I strolled through mushrooms and goblins of stone taking photographs … all day.  With the changing light, as the Sun crossed the sky, photo-ops kept appearing, even when I’d already been through a section earlier.  It warmed up into the low fifties, feeling even warmer in the Sun, but even at 15:00 there could be found patches of last night’s frost in shady spots.  It’s a lesson in geologic time here as you can see the various stages of the erosion of these fantastic formations, from full fledged dikes, pillars and mushrooms, to the lumped remnant of the softer rock about knee high with the mushroom capstone lying close by, or even still upon it.  There are also formations like several columns in a row, resembling Egyptian columns, rather than Roman Arches, but some of these rows stood like a broken Roman aqueduct, such as I have seen in a painting by Corot, from his time spent in Rome as a young man; but of course with Egyptian columns.

Egyptian Aqueduct?

As I wandered around, I wondered what it is about this place that kept me on an all day photo-recon in what is, after all, a quite limited area.  And at first glance it is reminiscent of an old abandoned quarry, or a stony gravel pit, albeit with weird formations.  It does not have the grandeur of the fins of Arches NP, or the Needles of Canyonlands NP, but that is just it; Recapture Pocket is a more personal space … a more human scale, and for all that, more accessible.  By the way, I still haven’t found out why it is called Recapture Pocket.

Mushroom Remnant.

The vegetation is sparse, but there is life here; rabbits … I saw their tracks; probably coyotes, and the odd Raven and birds of prey … no doubt rodents as well.  I came across a possible rabbit snatch, or maybe an attempt.  There were two claw marks in the sand, and a rabbit track just in front.  These were like a bird of prey had missed his rabbit, leaving a pair of talon tracks in the sand, but since there was only one set of four rabbit paw prints, perhaps the raptor got him on the way up as he recovered from his miss.  There were no other tracks in the area.  The rabbit tracks were quite deep, as though he was getting traction after spotting the incoming bird.  Perhaps he escaped, as I did notice in my own tracks that the sand changed hardness from one area to the next, sometimes leaving a deep track and the next a light impression.  With a rabbit after the first startled imprint, the following footsteps might not have left an impression; but I lean towards the successful hunt on the upwards recovery … I’ll never know.

Kill Site, or did the Rabbit getaway?

The Pigments used in the painting:

Imprimatura: Rublev Ercolano Red;

No Drawing

Pigments: W&N Cerulean, Cobalt & Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmiums Yellow Pale and Orange;

Rublev: Ercolano Red, Purple Ochre, Lead White #2.

The Needles & Environs.

Friday, 05^th January_Thursday, 11^th January, 2018; 

The Needles, Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

C1652

“Early Morning Desert Frost”

(Utah)

Oil Sketch on Pannelli Telati fine Cotton Panel

5” x 7”

Click here to make this your Own

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

Needles

The Needles sector of Canyonlands National Park is as interesting in its own way as Arches NP, with its own collection of geological formations of fins, pillars, giant stone mushrooms and toadstools, and even the odd arch.  Whereas the Island in the Sky main interest for the average visitor lies in the views from the various overlooks, to really appreciate the Needles it takes some hiking.  I only tasted the possibilities, as my first, Friday, I didn’t get there until the afternoon (overcast), and on the Sunday, I retraced some of Friday’s steps to get sunny photos.  I did take a partial hike towards the Needles themselves, to get a feel for the trail; it is definitely an all day affair, for sometime in the future.  The Needles themselves are only seen from distant viewpoints, requiring either several mile hikes or jeep quality 4-wheel drive vehicles to get close and in amongst those formations.  I might have taken the hiking option, but the next three days, we’re foggy and overcast. 

I came away on Thursday the 11^th, a pristine day, taking my time stopping for many photo ops along the way.  I probed down the Lockhart Road for a few miles, the road I had been camping on close to its beginning, crossing Indian Creek in doing so.  I scouted the road on the west side of North Cottonwood Canyon for nine miles and had lunch there.  Scenically, this area outside of the Needles sector, is quite striking and highly deserving of exploration in its own right.  The painting above (Early Morning Desert Frost), is from my campsite, and of the Needles Overlook.  My former campsite is up there on the extreme right cliff edge.

E.T.

As I said, Sunday the 7^th was a first class day at the Needles, cloudless and relatively warm for a January day.  Photo-recon was the order of the day.  The stars were bright and seemingly myriad that night, so it was with surprise that I awoke to overcast and thick fog on the Monday.  Processing photos took up several hours, and then a couple hours were spent touching up two recent Oil Sketches, and blocking in the new one, above.

That evening the cloud which had lifted somewhat later in the afternoon, lowered again.  Way out on the Lockhart Road, somewhere below the Needles Overlook there appeared a dim hazy light as of distant beams of headlights still hidden from direct view, in the folds of the land.  I wasn’t sure that I had really seen it, as for awhile I could not spot anything further.  By and by, however, a brighter beam appeared seemingly closer and again disappearing, as though a car following a twisting road.  I kept expecting it to finally crest the low hill and roll down the nearby road and past my campsite, secluded by a low rocky ridge.  It never did.  Instead for forty minutes the beams appeared and disappeared, sometimes so strong that I was sure that any moment headlights would break over the ridge a mile distant, only to disappear again and moments later the beams would reappear dimly much further away.  At times 8 or 10 minutes went by with no beams at all.  Then a final bright finale when I thought for sure headlights would soon be visible, and then nothing.  And that was it … nothing further occurred by the time I turned in an hour later.  The Lockhart Road is gravel and extends off through the wild for miles, and is twisty as it negotiates the canyons of Indian Creek, but not convoluted enough to explain the strange light show I had observed.  What was that guy doing out there … or was it E.T.?  I’ll never know.  The next morning I was up and out of the truck when still dark, when a vehicle, headlights and all came down the road from the direction of the previous night’s mystery.  Was that the source of last night’s light … or was it E.T.???  I’ll never know.

On Thursday the 11^th, after posting my last 2 Blog Postings from the Monticello, Utah Library, I found a campsite in the National Forest up Devil’s Canyon, amongst the Ponderosas … I have not seen Ponderosa Pines since coming south out of Dinosaur National Monument, when I camped up on the Uncompahgre Plateau above Unaweep Canyon, back in mid-October.

The Pigments used in the painting:

Imprimatura: W&N Venetian Red;

Drawing: W&N Ultramarine Deep, Venetian Red & Rublev Purple Ochre;

Pigments: W&N Cerulran, Cobalt & Ultramarine Deep Blues, Cadmiums Orange, Red & Yellow Pale;

Rublev: Ercolano Red, Purple Ochre, Blue Ridge Yellow Ochre, Orange Molybdate, Ceruse, Lead White #2.

Finally … the Needles.

Friday, 5^th January_Sunday, 7^th January, 2018; The Needles, Canyonlands, Utah.

C1651

“Snowmelt”

(Canyonlands, Utah)

Oil Sketch on Centurian Oil Primed Panel

5” x 7”

SOLD

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.) 

Firs

After three nights in my clifftop camp I meandered on down to the Needles sector of Canyonlands National Park; meander being the word as my next campsite was less than ten miles from my previous, as the Raven flies, but was over sixty by road.  On the way down I explored a rough track near Jail Rock, following it to its end three miles deep into a canyon.  It was a sweet spot for some future campsite.  Upon nearing the end of the desperate track, in an alcove in the south wall of the canyon, several taller trees were spotted, and the a few more nearby.  I studied them through my binoculars, thinking at first they might be Ponderosa Pines, but they looked more like Lodgepoles, but I finally decided that they must be firs of some kind.  What you must understand is that the only trees I have seen hereabouts, since arriving in the Moab area, have been Pinion Pines and Junipers.  These trees must have a little microclimate going for them, and I suspect that their closest relatives lie some 15 to 20 miles south in the Abajo Mountains.

Ravens

Onwards into the Needles, to the end of the Scenic Drive.  Here starts the trail to the overlook of the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers.  It’s a long trek which I was not prepared to do, but a few photos were taken of the formations and canyons, before returning to my truck.  Two Ravens were still rest atop my Thule carrier, and as I approached one of them crapped on the Thule and dropped down to the roof and then down onto the cover tarp on my trailer-hitch platform … Ravens have very sharp claws, as witnessed by the two rents shredded into the tarpaulin, as that one landed there and tried to get a purchase on the wobbly surface.  These two beggars were just that, a testament to the many visitors who do not follow the Park rules to not feed the wildlife.  As I got in and started the engine, one of them even landed on my wing-mirror in a last attempt to elicit a snack, until I began to drive off.  Two days later I was on this road again, stopping at various short trails, such as that at the picnic area, then Potholes Point, and finally at the end of the road.  In each of the places I parked a pair of opportunistic Ravens would appear.  I suspected that they might be the same pair at each spot; the road was winding and although the driving distance from my first stop to the last was about 3 miles, as the Raven flies it was much shorter.  At road’s end, as they stood on the ground ear the driver’s seat looking up at me, I told them that if they were outside the Park boundaries I might flip them a snack, but inside the Park I would abide by the rules, and then off I drove.  About half a mile up the hill I stopped in a lay-by to take a photo, and as I looked back down the road I spotted them flying across country towards the Potholes Point trail.  As I drove past that trailhead, there they were, so my suspicions were correct … that pair covers that stretch of road.  There was only another car or two during my time on these short trails, so they have learned that the car leaving one trailhead will soon be showing up at the next.  Ravens … smart birds.

South towards the Needles.

Friday, 29^th December_Tuesday, 2^nd January, 2018; South of Moab, Utah.

C1650

“Canyonlands Snow”

(Utah)

Oil Sketch on Centurian Oil Primed Panel

5” x 7”

Click here to make this your Own

(Take Note: for those of you who have signed up to be notified by email of new postings to this blog, you have been receiving not just a notification, but an actual copy of the new blog posting as the email.  As this does not show the images of the paintings in the best possible light, you should click on the title of the latest blog posting at the top of the post, and not the title of the painting itself; this will open up the actual blog itself, and you may then enjoy the paintings at their best.)

Libraries are few and far between in these parts … so much for the delay in getting this post out.

Oil change in Moab and finally heading south, but not so far, as it was late in the day.  I revisited the Dinosaur track way I had helped to excavate back in October, as I wanted a few more reference photos of the landscape.  The road in is a difficult one, so I parked at the first washed and hiked the last mile in, following a pair of two or three day old coyote tracks all the way, and arriving within seconds after the lowering Sun went in behind the late afternoon clouds.  It came out again, but the closer ridges were now in shadow; I had wanted them in the golden light of evening.  As I hiked back to the truck the Sun set and a waxing gibbons Moon hung above the La Sal Mountains to the east.  In the gloaming I found a campsite a couple miles in from the highway. 

The next day was warming and was getting up to just under 50°F, so I took advantage of that and stripped down to the waist and gave myself a much needed haircut, beard trim and shaved, where necessary, and trimmed my moustache.  The Sun on my body felt warmer than the ambient air temperature actually was.  Anyone visiting that campsite will be wondering what animal left those chunks of fur in the dust!  Winter is a difficult time to find the right temperature to do a self inflicted haircut, so I’m happy that everything aligned just right … January and February might prove difficult.

 

I had Internet access where I was so the last day of the year was spent as a lazy day clearing emails and doing online research.  And that evening the Moon rose full, over the La Sals, the Man in the Moon, directly upright, looking to the left.  An odd thing about this camp was that, save for a couple of ravens, there was no wildlife observed.  There were tracks of deer and rabbits, and even a hopping bird, in the snow, but only the ravens during the three days I was there.

New Years day was spent finishing the above Oil Sketch I had begun up on Island in the Sky, and on the 2^nd I headed for the Needles, but was sidetracked to the Needles Overlook.  Three miles from there I found a great spot to camp, right on the clifftop with distant views of the Needles, Indian Creek Canyon, and Junction  Butte at Island in the Sky, and of course beyond them all the Henry Mountains to the southwest.  I expected no lights anywhere, but as evening grew darker, there was one dim light to the west, almost as dim as a 5^th or 6^th magnitude star.  Once the Moon arose, I could only find it with my binoculars.  The next morning by using map and binoculars, I worked out that it must have been someone at the White Crack Campground at the southern point of the a White Rim Trail, over in the Island  in the Sky section of Canyonlands NP.  Evidently that is quite a back road, being a hundred miles of dirt road for high clearance, 4-wheel drive vehicles.  I believe that a Jeep is not necessary, as one would want when going to the Maze section of Canyonlands.  I was tempted, but the icy conditions when I was on the Island in the Sky, made my decision for me; besides, I would have had to go to Moab for petrol first.  But someone was over there, during my first night in my clifftop camp.