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 Utah's canyon trekking,deck chair packing desert explorer who dreams of visiting Canada someday
3988 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2007 : 5:53 PM
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Hey, the weekend is soon approaching!  I'm heading out tomorrow for a couple of destinations. First, to look for more ancient Indian dwelling/presence. Then, where my nose takes me.
Last weekend, I went for a drive up to a very interesting valley to view the petroglyphs in Southern Utah called Parowan Gap. This is a 15 mile short jaunt off of exit 62 Enoch/Cedar City, Utah. The road to the gap is paved, as well. However, there are lots of side roads and lots of scrambling to be had. The main petroglyph area, however does not allow scrambling.
This place is believed to hold calendars that tell of the gap's unique location with a narrow slit that has the sun doing some alignment with petroglyphs and such on the first day of summer.
On that day, hundreds of folks line the canyon and several experts are there to celebrate the event with "the ancient ones"
This is Louey! He will be your tour guide. As Louey speaks of his home and shows you the secrects of past generations I will be taking a break and listening to KASABIAN....yes! see ya in a bit.
uhhh....Louey?
Welcome to the edge of the GREAT BASIN! Whoah! Was that a HAWK?
Sorry, nervous to be um..."exposed" for this long of a time.
Before I get started, I would like to introduce you to the better half....
I don't mean my tail, either...
Ya thought I was kiddin' about my tail, didn't ya?
Woah! was that a hawk?
Well, I guess I am safe from hawks as long as this fat, lazy dude in the deck chair sits nearby...hehe shhhh...
The "gap" as we "locals" who still make our homes here like to call it is unlike anything else in this flat, Great Basin expanse just west of me. In fact, the next decent outcropping for a lizard to roam isn't for 22 miles. You can drive right up to this place, too.
Check out how the ancient ones Fremont and Paiute used to look for, measure, and gauge the sun's activity in the sky. Maybe the moon, too? Hey, why should the SUN get all the credit? But, we lizards
LOVE the sun...can't help it...hehe
It's barely mid May and the sun is still working it's way up the southern point. Imagine my excitement when it hits the longest day of the lizard year? Well, Hey! Check out the calendars, ancient
TRIP REPORTS, and such on the rocks. The beauty of it is that your guess is as good as mine or the "experts" as to what they all mean.
So, have at it! Whoah! was that a Hawk? !!!
      
Thanks, Louey! What an amazing place! It is almost impossible to not transport oneself back in to centuries past where this village valley was bustling with life and traveling hunting parties. The presence is awesome. One thing I note is that they all SHARED the space on the rocks pretty good. No one had a grand vision of carving a super human giant that took up the whole rock. I wonder, today, if someone wouldn't want to make a ten foot petroglyph to preserve or mark their legacy. sometimes, the sublime, gentle, faded, hard to see impressions are the ones that speak volumes.
If you are ever in Cedar City, just ask around about Parowan Gap Petroglyphs; a short ride from the center of activity.
I hope you like the pictures. Cheers! |
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Courtenay, British Columbia
Canada
78 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2007 : 6:38 PM
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| Nice pictures. Cute lizard. |
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Utah's canyon trekking,deck chair packing desert explorer who dreams of visiting Canada someday
3988 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2007 : 7:24 PM
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Thanks, I.T.  |
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Trail blazin', backcountry bushwackin', pine huntin', photo takin', long winded story teller
3838 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2007 : 11:19 AM
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I think Louey is a better story teller than you Jerry. 
Cool pics of those petroglyphs. So what time is it where the sun is showing peeking into the gap? ? ... 0 o'clock... ?
Watch out fer them thar hawks Louey. |
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Utah's canyon trekking,deck chair packing desert explorer who dreams of visiting Canada someday
3988 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2007 : 09:50 AM
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| Thanks! Probably around 5:00 pm (ish)? During Solstice it is supposed to be really cool! I think the sun actually hits the V in the gap and some petroglyphs may be calendars? There is usually a group of people there each year and a sort of mini-celebration/local news and such. |
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Popkum, BC
Canada
5887 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2007 : 10:56 AM
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Great pictures RM, Louey can grow back a tail.
Happy trails,
Lynn |
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Utah's canyon trekking,deck chair packing desert explorer who dreams of visiting Canada someday
3988 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2007 : 8:54 PM
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Louey was pretty cool! He just sat there on the rocks as I did. There actually WAS a hawk circling the meadow to the west. 
Finally, I almost touched him and he bolted off. He's on my wallpaper right now. Well, he's not actually climbing on my wallpaper...Though, that would be cool! |
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Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13441 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2007 : 11:44 PM
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Neat shots of the Petroglyphs, interesting to imagine what and how they were used in the past.
Regards, |
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Utah's canyon trekking,deck chair packing desert explorer who dreams of visiting Canada someday
3988 Posts |
Posted - 05/20/2007 : 5:40 PM
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Thanks, Karvitk!  Those ancient people must have been so in tune with the ecosystem to know where, when, and how to survive the seasons. Amazing! |
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Parowan Gap petroglyphs/ Utah!
