ONE OF SEVERAL VERY INTERESTING PETROGLYPH PANELS AT BLUFF DUNES THAT CAROL PATTERSON WAS KIND ENOUGH TO ESCORT ME TO ON THE MORNING OF SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2022.

Going With The Flow —  Spring 2022 Rock Art Trip (Part 4)

Prologue…

For quite some time I have entertained the notion that someday I would take a raft trip down the San Juan River and see some of the rock art and archaeology along that corridor, including sites south of the river on Navajo Reservation land.  Although I had been to the Bluff Area many times, I just never got around to looking into a raft trip.  That changed in early 2022 when I started poking around on the internet trying to figure out the best outfit to take an archaeology based trip with on the San Juan River.  As I recall, I googled San Juan River Raft Trip and petroglyphs and up popped the website of Tsé Kooh Outfitters, and the specifics on their “Water and Rocks” trip scheduled for late April of 2022.  When I read “Join Tsé Kooh Outfitters and recognized archeologist, rock art specialist and author Carol Patterson…” it looked to me like this is just the trip that I had been looking for.  Of course, I knew Carol Patterson by reputation and had read some of her work, so I was certainly excited about the possibility of going on this trip.  I contacted Cody Little, owner of Tsé Kooh and in short order signed up for the trip.  Cody indicated that in addition to Carol Patterson there would be other archaeologists on the trip and that some of them were going to be doing some research into the acoustical characteristics and anomalies of some of the sites that we would be visiting.  He also stated that he had permits to hike up Chinle Wash on the Navajo Reservation and I found that prospect quite intriguing. 

With the Tsé Kooh rafting trip set as the crown jewel of the trip, I began to fill in the details of the time I would be spending on the way up and back to the Four Corners/Bluff area.  There were a number of sites that I wanted to visit along the way so I began planning in earnest.  In short order, I had the trip pretty much planned and reservations and arrangements in place.  What follows is my account of this trip.  I have divided my blog into four parts, as follows:  1. Getting There; 2) A Few Days in Bluff; 3) Water and Rocks Rafting Trip; and 4) The Trip Home.  I hope you get a sense of the many wonderful people and places I experienced on this trip through my words and photographs.  So, without further fanfare, here we go!

 

Part 4 — The Trip Home

SATURDAY, APRIL 230, 2022 —  BLUFF DUNES & TULAROSA CREEK

Originally I had planned to stick around Bluff and the Four Corners area for about five days after the rafting trip was over.  That changed when my daughter Liz and her husband David invited us to spend several days with them at a resort in Round Rock, Texas the end of the first week in May, 2022.  On the last day of our rafting trip, Carol Patterson was kind enough to offer to take me to the Dunes Site before I began my drive home the next day.  So I met Carol at her home at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning and we spent the next several hours exploring the Dunes Site.  It was a real treat, especially the insights and expert commentary that Carol provided.  Here are a few of the photos I took that morning.  For a more complete gallery of photos from this site, look here. 

THIS SMALL PANEL WAS THE FIRST ONE WE SAW. IT HAS AN INTERESTING MIX OF ELEMENTS.
THIS STYLE OF ANTHROPOMORPH (WITH HANGING HANDS AND FEET) WAS COMMON IN THE AREA.
THIS IS A PART OF A LARGE PANEL THAT CONTAINED MANY VERY INTERESTING ELEMENTS.
THIS PANEL IS DOMINATED BY THE LARGE ANTHROPOMORPH IN THE UPPER CENTER OF THE PANEL. SO MUCH TO SEE HERE!
OUTSTANDING EXECUTION ON THIS PANEL.
CAROL, AT THE DUNES SITE.
ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL AND INTRIGUING PANEL AT THE DUNES SITE.
YOURS TRULY AT THE DUNES SITE ON SATURDAY MORNING, APRIL 30, 2022.
LOTS OF FLUTE PLAYERS AT THE DUNES SITE.
CAROL POINTING OUT A PAIR OF BACK-TO-BACK FLUTE PLAYERS AT THE LAST PANEL WE VISITED.

I left Bluff, Utah shortly after noon on Saturday, April 30, 2022.  I decided to head to Shiprock, New Mexico, then due South.  I wanted to visit a petroglyph site on the Tularosa River near Reserve, New Mexico.  After about six hours on the road, I finally made it to the trailhead.  The signage at the site indicated it was a three mile round trip hike so I figured I had just enough time to make the hike and return to my car before dark.  I was pleasantly surprised at the quantity and quality of petroglyphs at this site.  It was a beautiful evening and a wonderful landscape to spend it in!  If you you would like to see a more complete gallery of the photos I took at the Tularosa Petroglyph Site, look here.  

IINFORMATIONAL SIGNAGE AT THE TRAILHEAD TO THE TULAROSA PETROGLYPH SITE NEAR RESERVE, NEW MEXICO.
THE FIRST PART OF THE HIKE CLIMBS UP A RIDGE WHERE YOU FIND YOURSELF OVERLOOKING THE TULAROSA RIVER FAR BELOW. IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL EVENING FOR A HIKE!
I KNEW I WAS GETTING CLOSE TO THE PETROGLPH SITE WHEN I SAW THE OLD RANGER CABIN AND THE STEEL FOOT BRIDGE THAT USED TO CROSS THE RIVER.
THE CLIFF FACE NEAR THE TULAROSA RIVER THAT CONTAINS THE PETROGLYPHS.
YOURS TRULY AT THE TULAROSA PETROGLYPH SITE.
THIS TULAROSA PANEL HAD NICE SPACING AND AN INTERESTING ASSORTMENT OF ELEMENTS.
THIS PANEL IS A LITTLE BUSIER.
MORE INTERESTING PETROGLYPHS AT TULAROSA.
THIS PANEL FEATURES SOME NICE GEOMETRICS.
I WOULD CONSIDER THIS THE SIGNATURE PANEL AT THE TULAROSA SITE.
THIS BEAUTIFUL SUNSET GREETED ME AS I RETURNED TO MY CAR AT THE TRAILHEAD. AT ALMOST 6,400', IT WAS A CRISP EVENING!

After my visit to the Tularosa Site, I was looking forward to a comfortable bed for the night so I stopped in Silver City.   I stopped at 4 motels and each was fully booked–  seems there was some type of law enforcement convention in town.  So I continued my trip home and ended up stopping twice during the night to catch a couple of catnaps in my car.  I made one final stop on this trip in Junction, Texas.  I treated myself to brisket and cucumber salad at Lum’s BarBQue and stretched my legs with about an hour of bird watching at South Llano River State Park.  

MY LUNCH AT LUM'S BAR-B-Q IN JUNCTION.
I WAS DELIGHTED TO SEE A NUMBER OF PAINTED BUNTINGS AT SLRSP. IT IS ALWAYS A GOOD DAY WHEN YOU GET TO VISIT WITH PAINTED BUNTINGS.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON MY TRIP AND A “THANK YOU” VIDEO TO MY WIFE DOROTHY…

As I finished up my “Going With The Flow” trip, I was overcome with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.   I am so grateful that I have the good health and the financial resources to make trips like this.  I am grateful for the wonderful people and the beautiful landscapes that God seems to put in my path.  And I am most grateful for the love and support of my wife Dorothy.  Without her unselfish and generous spirit, these trips I take would not be possible.  So, I close with a little video I made for Dorothy from the top of the ridge overlooking the Tularosa River in Central New Mexico…