Yours truly in front of the signature element at the Halo Site, Saturday, October 18, 2014.

2014 Rock Art Rendeous: Visiting the Crown Jewels of the Trans Pecos

The weekend of October 17-19, 2014, I attended the Rock Art Rendezvous hosted by the Rock Art Foundation of San Antonio.  This was my first Rendezvous, and it was well attended —  I met a lot of very nice people during the weekend.  I signed up for three field trips:  The White Shaman Site, The Halo Site, and the Curly Tail Panther Site.  Many consider these three sites among the rock art “Crown Jewels” of the Trans Pecos Region.   I drove to Comstock Friday afternoon, October 17, 2014.  After checking into the Comstock Motel, I drove over to the property owned by the Rock Art Foundation (known as the White Shaman Preserve) which is on the Pecos River near the Highway 90 bridge.  The Foundation purchased this property to protect the White Shaman Site, which is on the premises.  The property doesn’t have much in the way of improvements, but the campground serves as the headquarters for the Rendezvous, which is held each fall.  I checked in with the Rock Art Foundation folks and enjoyed visiting with other attendees while I waited for the late afternoon tour to the White Shaman Site.  I was also signed up for a field trip to the Halo Site on Saturday morning, and a trip to the Curly Tail Panther Site on Sunday morning.  Saturday evening I attended a social and bar-b-que at the Preserve and enjoyed the good food and fellowship around the camp fire.  It was a very fine weekend, and my first experience with organized rock art activities.  Below you will find brief accounts of each of the field trips I went on.  I hope you enjoy these accounts, as well as the galleries I have posted for each of the sites.

My Visit to The White Shaman Site, Friday, October 17, 2014...

Our small group met up and headed out for the White Shaman Site about 5:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon.  It is a moderately difficult little hike —  the first part climbs gently down, while the last part involves a fairly steep walk up to the site.  As you begin to get close to the site you can see some very faint red anthropomorphic pictographs on the wall to the right.  The Alcove is fairly small, and sports a number of bedrock mortars in the area in front of the White Shaman Pictograph.  The location overlooks the Pecos River and is stunning.  It is easy to understand that this was a sacred and powerful place for the people that used this space many years ago.  The sunlight was not ideal for photographing the site, but I did my best.

View of the Pecos River and Bridge from the trail just below the shelter that houses the White Shaman Panel.
Joe Labadie shared his expertise with our small group. Here he is pointing out the signature element, the White Shaman.
A magnificent work of art! Sorry about the sun!
The area above the signature element.
The area below the signature element.
Detail of the White Shaman element.
Another detail shot...the far right portion of the panel.
Weathering is taking its toll on this unique figure.
Note the shallow grinding feature on the shelf in front of the panel.

Click here to see the full White Shaman Gallery

My Visit to The Halo Site, Saturday, October 18, 2014...

We headed out for the Halo Site from the White Shaman Preserve on Saturday morning, October 18, 2014.  The site is located on a private ranch and we had received permission from the landowner to visit.  Once we parked, we negotiated a bit of a climb down into the canyon where a short hike brought us to the shallow shelter that contains the rock art site.  The signature element is a anthropomorphic figure that appears to be adorned with a Halo.  This is a pretty large site, and there are lots of other interesting elements to enjoy.  I hope you enjoy my photos of this special place!

The climb down into the canyon is very steep and requires a rope to negotiate.
Looking up at the canyon access point from the trail beneath.
Approaching the shallow alcove that contains the Halo Panel.
The portion of the panel that contains the signature element.
A little closer view of this portion of the panel.
Detail of the Halo that gives the site its name.
Another of the many very interesting figures at this site.
The detailed art work at this site is nothing short of amazing.
All lined up and ready to go...
A final shot gives an idea of the size of the alcove at Halo.

Click here to see the full Halo Gallery

My Visit to The Curly Tail Panther Site, Sunday, October 19, 2014...

On Sunday morning, October 19, 2014, I joined a small group and we headed for the Devil’s River to visit a special place known as the Curly Tail Panther Site.  When I signed up for this field trip, the Rock Art Foundation volunteer in charge of the sign up lists cautioned that this hike was not for the faint of heart or those afraid of heights.  The site is set high above the river and the landscape is absolutely stunning.  The final part of the trail to the site involves traversing a very narrow ledge that slants toward the river far below — definitely not for the faint of heart.  A couple of people in our group chose to admire the site from afar rather than risk walking the ledge.  The site is magnificent, and the size of the primary element is amazing.  Unfortunately, natural processes are taking their toll on this treasure, but it was still amazing.  Hope you enjoy my photos of the magnificent place!

The trail to the site is quite rugged, and quite scenic.
The final ledge walk to the site is challenging!
The Curly Tail Panther Site. I took this with a zoom lens while standing on a rock ledge that protrudes out over the river.
As you can see in this closer view, the left hand side of the panther has been damaged by natural processes.
I included this shot that shows two of my fellow hikers to show the size of the signature element at the site.
Detail of the anthropomorph to the right of the Curly Tail Panther.
One final picture of the main attraction.
This rock ledge protruding out in the river...
...provided Native American Randy Granger a great stage from which to serenade the site as we left.

Click here for the full Curly Tail Panther Gallery

After finishing up with the group and our visit to Curly Tail Panther, I headed home.  I stopped in Comstock to take a picture of my brand spanking new (still had dealer plates on it) 2014 FJ Cruiser, Ultimate Trail Teams Edition.  This was my first trip with the vehicle and I was very proud of it.  I outfitted her with customized plates that read “KAKU” and over the next several years she and I had many memorable trips together.  So I post this last photo in memory of my dear friend “KAKU” (who now lives in Colorado!).