Rock Art & Bubbling Springs

[IntrepidXJ]

Saturday & Sunday, April 2-3, 2011

This last weekend I was invited to go camping near Green River with some friends from the Salt Lake area, so I decided to get out and take my first camping trip of the year since it has finally started to warm up a bit. On my way to meet up with them Saturday morning, I took a quick detour into the Book Cliffs to continue searching for the pictograph I had started to look for the previous weekend but had run out of time. Lucky for me, I was able to find it this time.


Book Cliffs Owl by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr


Perched Owl by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

While out searching for the owl, I also came across this pictograph on a large boulder in the same canyon.


Horned Shield by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After the quick detour I continued on and met up with my friends off of the Ruby Ranch Road. I quickly setup camp and then we were off. They wanted to check out the Hidden Canyon area, so I led the way and we completed most of the 3D Trail. Along the way we stopped at the Tusher Tunnel, where I spent a little time searching for some rock art I heard might be near. I didn’t find the petroglyph I had seen a photo of, but I did find a faint Barrier Canyon Style pictograph near the exit of the tunnel. Unfortunately, many idiots feel the need to write their graffiti all over the sandstone near the tunnel and have over-written the pictograph.


Vandalized at Tusher Tunnel by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

If you look closely at the above photo you can see a bunch of faded red dots that appear to have decorated the torso of the large figure.

After finishing up the 3D Trail by visiting the Hidden Valley Overlook and Bartlett Overlook, we looped back to camp around Tombstone Rock and across Ten Mile Wash. It was still a bit early, so I took off on my own to find some ‘bubbling springs’ that my friend Marty had told me about. They were about 6 miles from our camp, and I had no trouble locating them.

The highly mineralized water of the first bubbling spring created a colorful lightning bolt on the ground in the wash.


Bubbling Spring by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr


Liquid Lightning by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

The following photo shows the scenery near the second bubbling spring I came across. This one wasn’t quite as photogenic as the first, but the surrounding landscape shows that this wash has really earned it’s name: Salt Wash


Winter Wonderland by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

While the temperature all night never dropped below 50 degrees, which was nice, the wind blew hard all night! I didn’t sleep very well, as the went kept making a lot of noise. I ended up getting out of my tent around 7am and noticed a large dark storm cloud rolling in, so I quickly broke down camp so I didn’t have to do it in the rain. After talking with my friends and watching the weather, they decided to call it a day and start heading back up to SLC after breakfast. I was just about to head home, too, when I decided at the last minute to head towards Green River and search for a few petroglyph panels in Gray Canyon.

My first stop was the Nefertiti Petroglyph Panel near Nefertiti Rock along the Green River.


Nefertiti Elk by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr


Nefertiti Petroglyphs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Next I found the petroglyphs near the Price River Junction. By the time I reached them, the sky had cleared up a little bit and I could see blue!


Price River Junction Petroglyphs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr


Price River Anthropomorph by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr


The Mailbox by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Then I headed back to Green River to top off my gas tank before heading home. Even though the wind sucked, I still managed to have a good weekend camping with some friends.

[mattandersao]

Those "bubbling spring" pictures are awesome!

[zzyzx]

... beautiful pics, thx!

[accadacca]

Cool looking owl.

[erinthehappyhiker]

Looks like you found some really great rock art.