The Map Perhaps

High on the rock face above the Birthing Rock Tom finds a two panel drawing that appears to be a map. The first panel is a wavy line which usually represents water but in this case, straightens up, then makes a hard left to the second panel, extends itself, dresses up like a wolf howling then turns downwards with small lines branching outward.

Home

Each time Tom finds Rock Art he's always curious as to where those that drew might have lived. In this case the answer seems to come a few hundred feet above the Birthing Rock. Stairs appear to have been cut going into the dwellings.

Birthing Rock

This is the birthing rock, named because of the figure giving birth in the upper left hand corner of the bottom picture. It has been said above the Birthing Rock somewhere is a Rock Art map.

The Chasm

From inside the chasm on the way to the Gooseneck.

The Gooseneck

Ten miles or so south, the river makes a hard turn just below Dead Horse Point. Tom spends part of Monday trying to get out to the far point of the Gooseneck. There are two chasms to cross to get there. By the time Tom finds his way out of the second chasm he's out of daylight and has to turn back. There will be another day.

The River Abandoned Oil Well

Between Pot Ash boat ramp and Base Camp on the opposite side of the river lie the remains of an abandoned oil well site. On Friday afternoon Tom visits the site.

Courthouse Wash Rock Art

Courthouse Wash at the intersection of the Colorado River and Moab is host to the long ghostly tapered figures of Barrier Canyon style Rock Art. The painted white shields are likely Anasazi or Ute. Petroglyphs, images pecked, abraded on stone, or incised are Ute. This is considered a significant site with four cultures represented. Archaic, ancestral Puebloan, Fremont, and historic Ute. In 1980 vandals made an attempt to completely remove the entire panel scouring it with common cleanser. The National Park Service removed the cleanser but much of the underlying art was non recoverable.