Grand Staircase

[IntrepidXJ]

Saturday & Sunday, July 16-17, 2011

This past weekend Amanda and I headed down to the Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument to visit some ruins and rock art that I have wanted to get to for a while. The weather was pretty nice all weekend, in the upper 80′s during the hottest part of the day, and there were enough clouds in the sky to block the sunlight occasionally to help keep things feeling a little cooler.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6027/5948425917_73e50e82f5.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5948425917/)
Hundred Handprints (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5948425917/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

Our first stop was at the Hundred Handprints panel near the Escalante River. Unlike the last cave I visited that claimed to have 100 handprints, this one delivered!

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6131/5952167705_abbf2c866e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5952167705/)
Hunter Panel (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5952167705/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

An interesting petroglyph panel overlooking the Escalante River.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6015/5955907103_a607c7c9f8.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5955907103/)
Escalante Hunter (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5955907103/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

A closer look at the above panel.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6021/5952913816_1b99336323.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5952913816/)
Confluence Site (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5952913816/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

A severely damaged petroglyph site.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6001/5952899114_81a88e225c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5952899114/)
Escalante Vandalism (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5952899114/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

Closer look at the damage.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6023/5952189033_7ab1d32541.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5952189033/)
Confluence Sheep (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5952189033/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

A lone sheep that luckily was not damaged.

Our next stop was visiting a few small alcoves that contained a whole bunch of small pictographs known as the Weavers Caves because of the many needle-like paintings found within.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6004/5956514784_cf5faa8dc0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5956514784/)
Weavers Designs 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5956514784/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

Very fine and detailed pictographs unlike anything I have seen in the area before.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6133/5956673280_d805949530.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5956673280/)
Weavers Designs 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5956673280/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6007/5959464694_6e2b238252.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5959464694/)
Weavers Sheep (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5959464694/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

One of the few figures that wasn’t abstract. It kind of looks like it may have been a bighorn sheep.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6147/5956525294_388feb7479.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5956525294/)
Faint Creature (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5956525294/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

The only anthropomorphic-like figure I found in the Weavers Caves.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6122/5952228941_d853990c15.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5952228941/)
Needles (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5952228941/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

Needle-like paintings.

[IntrepidXJ]

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6144/5958916323_4edc7dc360.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5958916323/)
Tiny Sun (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5958916323/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

If you look closely, there is a small sun-like painting in the panel.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6014/5948696812_5fc3e2e0e0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5948696812/)
Amanda's Find (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5948696812/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

On our way back from the Weavers Caves, Amanda spotted this arrowhead on the ground…..I had walked right over it!

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6131/5948486271_0087aac65c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5948486271/)
Circle of Life (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5948486271/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

This panel was high on my list to find this weekend and it did not disappoint!

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6010/5953111968_6ab9685b33.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5953111968/)
Flute Player (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5953111968/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

A flute player next to the ‘Circle of Life’

Soon we headed up onto the Kaiparowits Plateau (Fiftymile Mountain, Smokey Mountain) to visit a few ruins and find a campsite for the night.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6132/5948086957_a86fcb5eef.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5948086957/)
Alvey Pictographs (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5948086957/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

Pictographs found along the way.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6145/5953063966_958a602d2d.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5953063966/)
Collet Top Granary Arch (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5953063966/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

A very cool arch and ruin that I have wanted to visit for quite a while. A very cool site, but I think the morning would be a better time for photos this time of the year…

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6007/5950470552_7479d8a6f3.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5950470552/)
Double Decker Granary (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5950470552/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

Here’s another small but interesting ruin we visited. This one was very cool because the floor between the top and bottom granaries was still completely intact.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6024/5959438594_87d13fe605.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5959438594/)
Hidden Granary (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5959438594/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

A small hidden granary we stopped by on our way back down towards Escalante on Sunday.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6023/5959419706_7bc46a7d98.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5959419706/)
Hells Backbone (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5959419706/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

After topping off the fuel tank in Escalante we planned on headed to Boulder via the Hells Backbone Road.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6021/5958864489_c7df8069c0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5958864489/)
Box Death Hollow (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5958864489/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

Great views over Box Death Hollow from up at Hells Backbone.

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6122/5959418884_ab4ccf77c4.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5959418884/)
Road Closed (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rlngstrt/5959418884/) by IntrepidXJ (http://www.flickr.com/people/rlngstrt/), on Flickr

I guess I should have checked the road conditions…..shortly after crossing Hells Backbone we found out the road was closed. Oops. Instead of heading back to Escalante we took the Posey Lake Road to Highway 24 in Bicknell before heading home.

[Brian in SLC]

Great photo's!!

[darthjenni]

You found all the best places. We have yet to find the Weavers Caves. Darn, we will just have to go back :)

[uintahiker]

Very Cool!