Day Four in Utah

On our Fourth day in Utah we had an outfitter hired to take us out onto the Paria Plateau.  I had arranged for Paria Outpost to take us out onto the plateau; the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, to explore some of the archaeological sites, as well as the White Pocket.  The Outpost assigned their resident archaeological expert Brent, to take us out for the day.

We headed out in the morning, down the House Rock Valley Road, over the state line into Arizona, and east into the Coyote Buttes area.  We made a brief stop to admire some cactus blossoms along side the sand road into the area.

Our first stop of the day was at a petroglyph site called the Traversing Man Panel.  We had to hike a short distance from the trail, up a slope, to the base of a sandstone face.  This was a spectacular panel with some large petroglyphs, dating back to the 1200's.  We spend some time here absorbing the history of the place and making some photographs...

We continued on a short distance to the west.  After a brief stop for lunch, we walked over to a second site called the Corn Cob Cave.  This was immediately adjacent to the White Pocket.  This sheltered area showed evidence of years of fires in the charred stains on the ceiling of the cave.  There were also stone flakes from the manufacture of tools, and corn cobs nearly a thousand years old, buried in the sand.  There was a small petroglpyh panel on a vertical sandstone face immediately beside the cave.

From here we walked a short distance over to the White Pocket.  There were numerous other groups of hikers out for the day as well, most with hired guides.  We wandered around for a while and enjoyed the remarkable scenery.  Brent was an exceptional guide.  He knew the area very well, and had a personal interest in archaeology.  Being a grandfather himself, he had a great understanding of the needs and interests of our girls.  As they began to get a little bored with what we adults were interested in, Brent took the girls over to a place he called the "Lizard Diner".  This was a spot where lizards tended to congregate on a sloped rock face, catching insects that were flying by.  The girls soon were engrossed in attempting to capture the lizards that frequented this spot.  To their credit they eventually captured a few to hold on to and admire, before they were convinced to release them...

As the afternoon wore on, we eventually left the White Pocket and continued on.  Brent took us to a third petroglyph site, this one known as the Maze Panel.  It was another short walk from where we parked the vehicle to this spectacular site.  This one was particularly remarkable because it was so extensive, and so free of graffiti.  We spent quite a bit of time here, again enjoying the history of the place, and making yet more photographs.

By this time it was getting to be late in the day.  We had already kept Brent out a couple of hours longer than he was accustomed too.  We appreciated his consideration and dedication, and he seemed to appreciate our interest in the archaeology.  This day convinced us that we needed to get back out and see more of this spectacular area.  Before the day came to a close we booked a second day, later in the week, when Brent could take us out again.