Utah Rock Art

Linda and I explored southeastern Utah last month, including eleven sites with Native American petroglyphs and pictographs. Here are a few of the hundreds of photos I took.

Petroglyphs are chipped in the rock, as seen in the images above:

Top - Rattlesnake attack on a large boulder near Moab.
Center left - Kokopelli at Shay Canyon.
Center right - More recent images at Newspaper Rock.
Bottom left - Birthing scene on the same boulder as # 1.
Bottom right - Anthropomorphs at Capitol Reef National Park.


The images on the left are pictographs, which  are painted on the rocks, and since paint is likely to be washed away over the centuries, they are much rarer than petroglyphs.


Top - Sego Canyon, Barrier Canyon style anthropomorphs.
Center - Sego Canyon, more recent Ute style
Bottom - Buckhorn Wash, Barrier Canyon style


Rock art should never be touched.  The oil on our hands will degrade them in time.  Vandalism is a terrible problem, and there are big penalties for anyone caught defacing ancient rock art.  For that reason, many sites are not publicized.


Linda and I have posted more rock art photos and information from this trip on our web site.


http://www.hisandhersphoto.com/Heritage/hhrockartut.htm     -  last three images
http://www.hisandhersphoto.com/Heritage/hhrockartut2.htm   -  first twelve images

Lundy Canyon, California

Lundy Canyon is in the Eastern Sierra region in Mono County, California.  I was there October 6th with Stephen Johnson and Bruce Gregory on our annual fall camping trip, looking for fall color.

The canyon is in a magnificent mountain setting where beaver ponds have been built on Mill Creek in the west end.  The area was named for W. J. Lundy who operated a sawmill that supplied much of the timber for Bodie, which is now a famous ghost town.  The mining town of Lundy was here once, but there is no trace of it now, and a resort is located in its place.

The reflections of the aspens and mountains are magnificent.  The problem is, that fall color in the Eastern Sierra is well publicized on web sites, TV, and blogs, so there are crowds to deal with.  I'm not used to that here in Idaho.  When we drove to a trail head at the end of the dirt road, there were trucks and jeeps parked in every available little space between the trees.

With patience, we could avoid the tourists, and I liked these rippled aspen reflections in another beaver pond.  This image was flipped to provide a base for the scene.

Lundy Lake is in the eastern end of Lundy Canyon.  There was once a small natural lake here, but a dam raised it 37 feet in 1911 for a hydroelectric project.  Today it provides a colorful backdrop for fall photography.

This was an excellent year for fall color in the Eastern Sierra, and especially in Lundy Canyon.  Once again, our camping trip was an unforgettable experience.

Silver City, Idaho

This was a great summer with three trips around the west and little time to update this blog.  So, once in awhile I plan to add a post to share an experience from this last summer.

I visited Silver City, Idaho for the third time last July, while on my annual camping trip with Bruce Gregory and Stephen Johnson.  We camped at Jordan Valley, Oregon and took the road in from the west.  It is a little longer drive from there, but the road is much better than the road from the north.

Silver City has been described as Idaho's best ghost town, but the truth is, it is gradually being restored.  Many of the old buildings are now in great shape and are being used as summer homes.  The massive Idaho Hotel, shown above, has been partially restored and is open for business.


There is still plenty to see in Silver City, including the "world's tallest outhouse."  By walking the dirt streets you can find lots of interesting details to photograph, such as fire hydrants, old mining equipment, a cemetery, and this old fashioned door latch.  The city dates back to the 1860's, and has a wide variety of architecture.

I think the most beautifully restored building is the Stoddard house, seen here as a ghostly reflection in a school window.  I invite you to look at the new Silver City gallery on my web site, below, where you can see the buildings as they are now and as they appeared a few years ago.  The change is remarkable.
http://www.hisandhersphoto.com/ghost/hhsilver.htm