Petroglyphs

A month or so ago we found petroglyphs on a geocaching trip. After that we heard a rumor about another set of them in our valley, so we went hunting them this weekend.

On Saturday we walked along the road where we could see the hillside and plot out possible locations in the right area. There were two sets of bluffs that *might* hold these ancient rock paintings. On Sunday afternoon we headed north on the railway tracks until we came to a cairn. Then we angled down.

We found ourselves on the wrong side of a swamp, but we could just make out the red splotches on the rocks opposite us. See right in the center of the photo? (If you click on the photo, you’ll get the big version!) But we couldn’t get to them without getting a soaking, and in late November (even a sunny day!) I wasn’t keen on that.

So we retraced our steps, found a place we could climb back up to the tracks–STEEP!!!–and followed them through the rock cut and found another trail (fairly easy one) down again on the other side. The ground was a little squoodgy here too, but not under water. We made our way back along the bottom of the cliff, then Jim climbed up to take a few shots. Though I could see the splotches from down below, I couldn’t make out the shapes. Jim was calling out, oh, bugs!

Look, there’s a dog or a wolf or something!

And a sun…

So of course I had to climb up and have a look for myself! It was a much easier climb than the ones from last month. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to fall and die this time, anyway. (Yeah I’m chicken and afraid of heights. So be it.)

Then it was a long walk back to the truck, and we got home just at dark. But what a cool day!