Just a short drive east from the Paria River Road on State Route 89 then south through the right break in the gaurdrail and through a gate to the edge of the wash.
You can tell the wash walk isn’t too difficult by Bill’s shoe choice, don’t mind the farmer’s tan, but then we didn’t walk very far to find the Catstair Canyon rock art.
The sunny faces of Daises lined the way with Sasha in the lead sniffing some great scents.
The canyon narrowed and around the first bend Bill informed me he always has difficulty finding this rock art panel and usually goes beyond it then sees it coming back.
By then I’m following him and Sasha up a slope and scree pile adjacent to a sheer cliff of patina sandstone.
When they stop I continue to the top with nothing for my efforts but a butt slide back down. While gracefully negotiating the return I hear what sounds like the opening of an ammo can and wonder just what Bill may have found. Maybe a geocache? Not a total loss on my part seeing the lovely layers of stone. And the cross canyon view which tells me I want to hike here again.
So they found a log in an ammo box seemingly put near the panel for visitors to leave their comments.
And the symbols were at the base of the slope I’d just climbed so we had walked past them.
A mix of pictographs and petroglyphs with pencil embellishment. BLM archeologists dated some of the figures to be 6000 years old
What a great walk and fab photos for us to follow you with. Well done Diane
Thanks Diane.
I can see why one would miss the panel. Beautiful.
I love the pictographs, the narrow canyon and that lovely ribbon of rock. You captured them all beautifully. Such a fantastic area for hiking. Thanks for taking me.
Wish you’d been along.
Another beautiful place for future hikes!
My Escalante list is getting quite long.
Wow! 6,000 years, great find! I love the daisy faces. 😉
What a great spot, I love to find rock art, I’m always intrigued by what it might mean. But, then again, maybe it’s an ancient version of ‘pick up some milk on the way home from work dear!’ Who knows?
Sometimes I can read a story from the rock art but who knows if it’s the same story as the author.
Beautiful rock and such a nice treat to know someone who can share the rock art. Love the log in the box and hope it had a pen so you could add a note. We used to find those quite often in the Turtle Mtns, usually old and current mining claims. Some of the notes were great glimpses of different seasons and circumstances.
We did leave a note in the log along with many visitors from overseas happy to have seen the indigenous rock art but unhappy about the modern additions.
What a great hike Gaelyn. Love your explorations. Seems you’re enjoying yourself and your new camper.
I’m really enjoying all the places Bill shares, along with his company. The camper is convenient and hopefully will continue to be in the fall and winter after my season is over. Maybe I’ll talk bill into a trip to Anza-Borrego this winter.
Interesting read with visitors leaving notes instead of graffiti.
Wonder if having the log there reduces the amount of graffiti on the rock.