Tag: Native America

Utah – March 2026 – Part 7

From our base camp, we made a number of drives along 4 wheel drive roadways, portions of which were easy, some of which were “moderate”, involving driving in washes, alongside cliffs, drop offs and over boulders.

One of the these 4 wheel trails is called “Black Dragon”. We started this drive from our base camp and exited between portions of the San Rafael Reef onto I70. The Black Dragon names comes from a Native American Pictograph, which this trail goes past near the I-70 exit/entrance.

Panorama at Black Dragon Viewpoint

This panorama was shot from Black Dragon Viewpoint along I-70. A portion of Black Dragon trail is visible (a narrow band of light color) at the base (approximately in the center of the image) of the geological feature in the distance.

Black Dragon

Note the chalk outlines added by someone, joining several pictographs to make them take on the appearance of a dragon. This is a defacement of the original Native American artwork.

The pictographs on this panel were done by ancients called the Barrier Canyon culture. There are petroglyphs on nearby rocks done by the Fremont culture of Native Americans.

Native American Artwork Panel

Please note that the petroglyphs on these rocks are subtle when viewed with the naked eye. I have greatly enhanced these images to bring out the subtle artwork. So, if you visit this are, do not expect to see panels that look like those in these images.

You will also note that modern day visitors have added graffiti to these panels. Please refrain from defacing this delicate and fading artwork left to us by the ancients dwelling here long before modern day people arrived here.

Native American Art Panel 1

I made numerous images of different portions of the panel, to bring out the details sufficiently for viewers of this post to visualize the artwork.

Native American Art Panel 2
Native American Art Panel 3
Native American Art Panel 4
Native American Art Panel 5
Native American Art Panel 6
Native American Art Panel 7
Native American Art Panel 8
Native American Art Panel 9
Native American Art Panel 10

And again I remind readers that I’ve overlapped and zoomed in on various portions of the panel (and used extreme editing) to make the art more easy to visualize.

Thanks for following,

Ken

 

 

 

Bandelier National Monument, March 2021, Part 4 – Tsankawi 2

This is a continuation of a previous post with photographs from the ancient Native American site, Tsankawi, a part of the Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico.

Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021.  Tsankawi Trail Fragment.

Up above the main continuous trail through Tsankawi, I spotted a portion of a trail that was obviously out of place.  This part apparently broke away from its original location and lodged here many years ago.

Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021.  Contemplation 2.

The depth of this portion of the trail is impressive.  The pathways are narrow, which suggests that the people that made these were not large people.

Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021.  Deep, Narrow and Steep.

It took a little effort to navigate some portions of these ancient paths, especially when carrying a daypack and DSLR.

Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021.  Curves and Dead End.

Interestingly, this portion of the trail had dual pathways, but one was a dead end.  Was this two lane path created by having one foot on one side and the other foot on the other side of the trail?  Each side is too narrow for having both feet within the narrow channel.

Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021.  Evidence of a dwelling, Shelter or storage area.

There were numerous indications of dwellings, shelters or storage areas along the pathways of Tsankawi.  Some areas were off limits for visitors, so we did not get to see everything here.

Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021.  Photographing the interior of a cave.

The entrance to this cave (above) seems to have a torso with head shape.

Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021.  Tsankawi Cave.
Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021.  Tsankawi Caves.

There were numerous caves in some areas.  Notice the foot and/or hand holds in the rocks around these caves.

Tsankawi, Bandelier NM, March 2021.  Tsankawi View.

A desert view from the main trail around the Tsankawi area.

This wraps up the best photos that I managed to get in this amazing place.  Perhaps someday I will get back again, when conditions are more favorable for photography.

Until next time,

Ken