Petrified!  A Fall 2022 Rock Art Trip, Part 2

I finished up my last hike in Petrified Forest late in the afternoon of Friday, October 21, 2022.  I headed east on IH-40 to Flagstaff, where I spent the night.  I was up early the next morning to begin the second part of my Fall 2022 Rock Art Trip.  Here we go!

Saturday, October 22, 2022 —  Loy Canyon, Bear Claw Cave, and Woo Ranch

A Magnificent Morning In Loy Canyon

Several years ago, I had seen a photo of a pictograph in Loy Canyon, and I made up my mind to see the site someday.  Well, that someday was today!  I left my motel in Flagstaff very early and headed south to the Sedona area on Highway 89A.   After leaving the paved highway, and about ten miles on dirt road, I was at the Loy Canyon Trailhead a little after 8:00 a.m. that morning.  It was a beautiful day, clear and chilly.  The hike up to the Loy Canyon site was beautiful as well.  

Once I was in the general area of the site, I crossed a dry creek and climbed up to a ledge and the shallow alcoves where the pictographs were located.  I was very surprised at the size of the site — it was much larger than I anticipated.  It was also much more diverse than I expected — several different styles and ages, and both petroglyphs and pictographs.  I spent several hours exploring and photographing the site and really enjoyed myself.  Below are a few of the photos I took that morning.  For a complete gallery of my Loy Canyon photos, look here. 

As I made my way down the ledge heading away from the main panels, most of the pictographs were either white or black.  Very few contained both black and white together, like the large figures at the main panels.  Some of these single-color panels were quite nice!

A Quick Stop at Palatki

I could have stayed at the Loy Canyon Site all day, but, after several hours, it was time to hike back to my car.  On the drive to the Loy Canyon trailhead, I realized that I was only a few miles from the Palatki Site, so I decided to swing by there and see if I could visit the Bear Alcove, which had been closed on my 2019 visit to the site.  I revisited the ruin and the main pictograph alcove.  The Ranger was kind enough to take me around the corner to the Bear Alcove, which he called The Bear Claw Alcove.  It turned out I hadn’t really missed much!

To see the Palatki Gallery, which has the pictures I took of the main alcove back in 2019, look here.  I will add the few pictures that I took at the Bear Claw to this gallery as well.  Here are a couple of the photos I took.

Wandering Around at Woo Ranch

After I finished up at Palatki, I headed to Woo Ranch.  I had some general directions and had no trouble finding the ranch.  Once there, I began to search for the pictograph site, and, in no time at all, I had located it.  This little site had some very nice pictographs!  Below are a few of the photos I took at Woo Ranch.  For a complete gallery of the photos I took that afternoon, look here. 

After finishing up at Woo Ranch, I headed south to Phoenix, where I checked into my motel well after dark.  Although I had requested a ground floor room, the room I was assigned required climbing two full flights of stairs, and two half-flights.  I was one tired old man by the time I had hauled my body and my luggage up to my room.  Fortunately, at the front desk, I had picked up a take-out menu from a Chinese restaurant when I checked in, so I ordered some cashew chicken and some crab wontons and had them delivered to my room.  My supper got there so quick it almost seemed like magic, and, in my recollection, it was the best Chinese food I have ever had.  I was asleep before my head hit the pillow!

Sunday, October 23, 2022 — The Hieroglyphic Trail, Taliesin West, and On To Cave Creek Ranch

A Magical Morning at Hieroglyphic Canyon

Bright and early Sunday morning, I packed up and headed toward Gold Canyon and the Superstition Wilderness Area in far west Phoenix, to hike the Hieroglyphic Trail.   The sun was coming up just as I hit the trail, and it was a beautiful, although somewhat eerie, morning.  What else could I expect in the Superstition Mountains?

The hike to the petroglyph site was a little longer and more strenuous than I thought it would be.  But once I made it into the canyon, I was rewarded with a beautiful little site.  There were a number of very nice panels overlooking a small tinaja that was filled with water.  Here are a few of the photos I took that morning.  For a complete gallery of my photos from this site, look here.  

The Ghost of Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West

Once I made it back to my car at the trailhead parking lot,  I hustled over to Taliesin West, where I had a reservation for the 10:30 a.m. tour.  I can’t remember where I first heard about this site, but I knew that Frank Lloyd Wright (FLW) had supposedly incorporated several petroglyph boulders into the design of the place back in 1938, and they remain where he put them to this day.   On page 340 of THE FELLOWSHIP, The Untold Story of Frank Lloyd Wright & The Taliesin Fellowship, authors Roger Friedland and Harold Zellman, discuss the petroglyph boulders.  Here is an excerpt from that page:

“In the boulders they surveyed for use in the buildings, the apprentices found petroglyphs, some consisting of mysterious circular patterns, etched there by the Hohokans (sic) centuries before.  Wright had the apprentices relocate the carvings to carefully selected locations around the emerging compound.  He made sure that the petroglyphs were placed in the same compass orientations as those in which they had been found.  ‘When the Indians come back 2000 years from now to claim their land’ he told the Fellowship, ‘they will note we had respect for their orientation.’  The entire complex, in fact, paid respect to the ancient culture, aligned along an axis pointing to distant landmarks that the Wrights understood held spiritual power for its first inhabitants.”

I was very excited to visit Taliesin West and see the petroglyph boulders that Frank Lloyd Wright had strategically placed around the compound.  I have been a fan of Frank Lloyd Wright and his designs for most of my adult life.  Getting to see the place he built in the desert for his unique Fellowship of apprentice architects to live, work, and learn, was such a treat.  At the end of this blog section is a link to an excellent paper written by archaeologist Aaron W. Wright, PhD, and published in The Journal of The Southwest in 2020.  The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, realizing the importance of the petroglyphs at Taliesin West, engaged Dr. Wright to research the petroglyphs and publish his findings.  The result of his work and scholarship is worth reading.  As you will see, much of the information in this section of my blog comes from this paper.

According to a survey referenced in Dr. Wright’s paper, there are 18 boulders containing 64 petroglyphs on the property at Taliesin West.  Nine of these boulders remain in place near the base of Taliesin Mountain, while nine were moved to the compound where most are still prominently displayed.  I was not allowed to search for the boulders that remain in place near the base of Taliesin Mountain (I asked!), but I was able to see and experience most of the ones within the Taliesin West compound proper.  Below are some of my photos of the petroglyph boulders I saw during my tour.  They are presented in the order that I saw them on my tour.   The others that I did not see are located in areas of the compound where tour participants are not allowed to  go, such as the archival area.  In my comments, I identify the boulders in my pictures using the numbers assigned to them in Dr. Wright’s paper. To see a complete gallery of my Taliesin West petroglyph photos, look here.  I have also prepared a gallery of the photos I took of the various structures, rooms, grounds, and various other unusual or interesting items at Taliesin West.  To see this additional gallery, look here.

The Boulder at Whitman Square (Wright Boulder 5)

The first petroglyphs I saw at Taliesin West were at Whitman Square, located at the northern end of the entry court, in front of the gift shop.  Walt Whitman’s writings and poetry had big influence on FLW, and he placed this petroglyph boulder on a slab of concrete inscribed with a stanza of one of Whitman’s poems.  And, if you still haven’t had your fill of Frank Lloyd Wright and Taliesin West, check out this blog post that highlights some of the interesting art I enjoyed while there. 

The Boulder Near FLW’s Office & Studio (Wright Boulder 6)

This small boulder is positioned at the entrance to Taliesin West near FLW’s office and studio and welcomes visitors to the compound.  This boulder is famous because it contains a small element known as a  double square spiral.  FLW was very fond of this small petroglyph, and used it to design the “Whirling Arrow”, the official logo of Taliesin West.  

Two Boulders Halfway Between FLW’s Office and the Main Drafting Room  (Wright Boulders 2 & 3)

Dr. Wright has an extensive discussion in his paper about the orientation and placement of these two boulders, which are cemented together, then cemented to a pedestal.  These boulders are beautiful and bear some impressive petroglyphs. 

The Large Boulder By The Pool  (Wright Boulder 1)

This large boulder sits on a pedestal on what FLW called “Indian Rock Terrace” above the large pool.  It is one of two large boulders that were set in place early in the construction of Taliesin West, before many of the buildings were finished.  This boulder has three panels and was positioned to be very visible from the large drafting room where the apprentices worked. 

Boulder In The Reflecting Pool Outside The Kiva Room  (Wright Boulder 4)

This small boulder sits in a small reflecting pool on a walkway near the Kiva Room.  This boulder is actually the top of a much larger boulder that still sits in place on the mountain side behind the compound (Boulder 10).  

I am very happy that, when I planned my trip, I included Taliesin West and made a reservation for a tour ahead of time.   My visit to this special place was one of the highlights of this little trip.  Next time you are in the Phoenix area, do yourself a favor and go see Taliesin West in person!

After my tour ended, I browsed the bookstore and gift shop, and picked up a couple of gifts and a biography of Frank Lloyd Wright.  It was time to hit the road and head for Cave Creek Ranch, where I would spend the night.  It was after dark by the time I reached the ranch, and, once again, I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow!

Monday, October 24, 2022 —  Cave Creek Ranch and The Trip Home

While planning this trip, I decided to begin my trip home by driving to the Portal, Arizona area from Phoenix, after finishing up my Taliesin West tour.  After checking out several possible places to stay, I settled on Cave Creek Ranch.  One of the reasons I picked this accommodation was the reference on their website to having access to a trail that accessed a cave with pictographs. So my plan was to arrive Sunday evening, then get up early the next morning for a little birdwatching and a hike to the pictographs.  That is exactly what I did.  First, a few photos of my lodging at the ranch.  

A Little Birding at  the Cave Creek Ranch Feeders

After a good night’s sleep, I packed and headed over to the main ranch house and the bird feeders.  Although it was quite early, there were a number of birders already there and a surprising amount of activity at the feeders.  Some of that activity included deer and javelina.  There were a lot of Acorn Woodpeckers, along with a few sparrows, songbirds, and dove, as well as a few of the other usual suspects for that area.  I didn’t see many hummingbirds, but I did see a Blue-throated Mountain-gem, which was a new bird for me!

The Cave Creek Pictograph Sites

After about 45 minutes of bird watching, it was time to hit the trail and see if I could make it to the cave high up on the mountain that was home to some pictographs.  The ranch gave me some directions that turned out to be spot-on.  

It took me about an hour to hike up to the cave, and I spent about another hour exploring and photographing the cave.  I was very careful entering the cave because the gentleman at the ranch headquarters who gave me the directions cautioned me that the area around the cave was known for having an abundance of rattlesnakes.  I didn’t see any, but I took care to make a lot of noise by tapping on rocks with my monopod as I climbed down into the cave.  The pictographs were well protected and well preserved by their location on the cave wall and the ceiling.  They were not spectacular but were interesting, and I am glad I took the time to visit them.  Below are a few of the pictures I took at the cave.  For a more complete gallery of the pictographs I took at this site, look here.  

I finished up at the cave and enjoyed the hike back down to the ranch.  It went much quicker, because it was all downhill and I didn’t have to do any route finding.  I got to my car, loaded up, and said goodbye to Cave Creek Ranch.  I hope to bring Dorothy back here some day, I think she would enjoy some laid back bird watching at Cave Creek Ranch!

I  had one more quick stop to make before I officially hit the road to head home.  When the gentleman at the ranch gave me the directions to the pictograph cave, I asked him if he knew of any other sites in the canyon that I might visit.  He told me about a small site located in an alcove a short distance from a paved road.  So I headed over and saw that little site.  It wasn’t far and wasn’t a very large site to explore, so it took me less than an hour to visit and photograph.  Here are a few photos I took.  For more photos of this little site, look here.  

My trip home was uneventful.  After leaving Cave Creek Canyon on the early afternoon of Monday, October 24, 2022, I drove north to IH-10, turned east, and began the long slog home.  I spent the night in Sonora, Texas, arriving there about 11:00 p.m. that night.  I was up early the next morning, still heading east toward home.  When I got to Junction, I stopped at South Llano River State Park to stretch my legs and check out a couple of the bird blinds.  I didn’t run across anything unusual but enjoyed seeing this Inca Dove.  From Junction, I drove to McQueeney, and was glad to be home, safe, and somewhat sound.  

Epilogue

As I mentioned in the Prologue to Part 1 of this blog, the main purpose of this little trip was to roam around the desert with the hopes that it would take my mind off of my recent cancer diagnosis.  When I met with my doctor on September 26, 2022, he requested permission to send some of the cancerous tissue to Decipher Biosciences in California for genomic testing.  He said that before he recommended a treatment plan for my cancer, he wanted to make every effort to determine how aggressive the cancer was, and the genomic testing would help him do that.  I agreed to the further testing and we made an appointment on November 21, 2022, to discuss the results.   On the third day of this trip (Monday, October 17, 2022), my doctor’s office called and said that the results of the genomic test were in and that the doctor wanted to see me “as soon as possible”, and suggested Monday, October 24, 2022.  I explained that I would still be out of town so we set the appointment for Monday, October 31, 2022.  On that day Dorothy and I drove to Austin and met with my doctor.  I will spare you all the exotic details of the genomic testing results, but the bottom line was that my doctor felt very confident that my cancer was not a very aggressive one, and that he would not be recommending surgery or a course of radiation treatments at this time.  We agreed on a treatment plan of “active surveillance”, consisting of periodic blood tests, MRIs, biopsies, and examinations.  I was relieved.  When his office had called and said he wanted to see me as “soon as possible”, I was expecting the worse.  So my time and travels in the desert gave me plenty of opportunities to ponder my cancer diagnosis, and to prepare for what lay ahead.  As I hiked, I began to focus on all the good things in my life, past and present.  A sense of gratitude built slowly, but surely, and by the end of this trip I was confident that things were going to work out exactly as they were supposed to.  And they will.

As always, I am grateful I am able to maintain a degree of fitness that allows me to test my physical limits on trips like this one.  I am grateful for our financial resources, which enable me to take these trips.  I am also grateful that my mind is still clear enough that I can plan, prepare for, and enjoy these trips.  And, I am most grateful for the love and support of my wife Dorothy.  I feel guilty when I return from a trip without a gift for her.  And when I do, I can tell that she is usually not excited by the gift I have chosen.  We are both difficult to buy gifts for.  If we want something, we buy it.  On the first day of this trip, while I was eating lunch at Rejino’s BBQ north of Lubbock, I had to use the bathroom.  They directed me to the gift shop next door.  The men’s room was occupied, so while  I waited I looked around the shop.  I came across a sweatshirt that had “Gratitude” on the front, and these words on the back:  “Above all, even on days that bring challenges, there is always, always, always something to be grateful for.  Express out loud your gratitude for your people.  Hug them hard and often.  Be thankful  for every day, everyone, and every little thing.”  I bought this sweatshirt for Dorothy, and several times during this trip I pulled it out and meditated on these words, and they helped quiet and ease my mind.

So, as I write the ending to this blog, I am grateful for all the blessings in my life, especially the beautiful soul sitting in the next room wearing her new sweatshirt…