The Big Crane Panel

My First Visit To The Big Crane Panel, June of 2018…

At the tail end of our early Summer of 2018 rock art trip, Billy Ward and I made a stop in Bluff, Utah, before heading home.  We wanted to say hi to our friend Vaughn Hadenfeldt of Far Out Expeditions, and, while in the area, try to locate the Big Crane Panel.  I had heard the Big Crane was difficult to locate, but I was confident we could find the right canyon and locate the panel.  It was a brilliant morning as we headed out to Butler Wash and the trailhead.  We were able to locate the canyon we wanted, but, after several hours of searching, were unable to locate the panel.  It was frustrating, because we climbed up and searched every ledge in the canyon.  As we hiked out of the canyon, I took pictures of each and every canyon wall along our path.  A couple of weeks later, while reviewing these photos (I call it “Arm-chair Archaeology”), I was able to locate the Big Crane panel.  We had walked right past it several times, without being able to see it.  In retrospect, several factors contributed to our failure.  First, the panel was much closer to the entrance of the canyon than we thought….while we searched this area, we really didn’t think the panel was there.  Second, the panel was located in a shaded area of dark patina, while we were looking at the area from the bright sunlight which, reflecting off the white sandstone of the canyon floor, made it very difficult to see the panel.  Third, we made the cardinal sin of not bringing binoculars.  And, finally, we should have asked Vaughn to give us a hint, but he probably wouldn’t have told us anyway!  Here are some photos of our adventure that day…..