Tag Archives: Serrano Pictographs

“Blasted Bursts” Pictographs

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This is a spectacularly large rock shelter, but unfortunately it is extensively vandalized and damaged by illegal camp fires. On top of that, the graffiti that used to be there was cleaned up by power washing the shelter! Yikes, that couldn’t have been good for the pictographs.

Despite all this damage … if you take the time to look closely, you can still find the remnants of some pictographs on the walls. The number of elements is very low for the size of the shelter, and mostly consists of burst elements. This shelter probably made a very good living area during the summer months. Maybe that is why it wasn’t covered in a whole lot of pictographs.

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“Perilous Portal” Pictographs

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Oh boy! Let me tell you about this one.

Typically, you’ll find me documenting any site I visit in some detail, complete with DStretch enhancements, overview pictures, detailed pictures to show how the elements occur relative to each other, the whole works … I really do put effort into trying to bring back some good pictures to show. Sometimes I’m dog tired from a long cross-country scramble but I still manage to pull it together. Other times ( and this site is one of them ) well, other times … I don’t quite get there. Continue reading →

“Sojourner’s Solace” Pictographs

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Early one morning we were headed out along a well-travelled route that we’ve followed for the start of many adventures. This time, we noticed that we could clamber our way over into a small, semi-hidden little valley. When we did that, we found a cluster of boulders with a small habitation site tucked in among them.

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“Sky Portal” Pictographs

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Last I checked, we’ve visited around 40 sites in Joshua Tree National Park. Some of these, exposed to the elements, are more weathered than others. Others, like the “Diamond Solstice” site, are open to the sky but well-sheltered by an overhang and face away from the prevailing wind, so the pictographs are still pretty vivid. And some, like the “Hidden Cave” or “Sunny Side Up” sites, have the pictographs completely enclosed and protected from the elements, so they are still very, very vibrant.

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“Faraway Find” Pictographs

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Over the winter we found a small site with some unusual imagery out in Joshua Tree. Some of the elements are reminiscent of the pictographs at Counsel Rocks, which lies many miles to the north. This site seems like it was part of a habitation site at some point because there is a pretty big patch of midden a short distance away, but I didn’t find any grinding slicks adjacent to it.

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“Slick City” Habitation and Petroglyph Site

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Sometimes you come across a site that is almost stupefying in its sheer abundance – petroglyphs on every rock, for a quarter mile or more. These sites are thrilling to find, but they are difficult to document. I have a few like that sitting on the back burner, where every time I open the photo folder I think “I can’t really not show any of these 200 photos I picked from the 500 I took, they’re all good photos showing interesting elements … but who would want to sit through a blog post the length of a football field?”

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“Spoke and Tail” Pictographs

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Parts of Joshua Tree National Park can be bewildering and dangerous if you’re not used to navigating overland, or not careful when you do wander.

For example, the Wonderland of Rocks has a reputation for being bewildering, and it can be if you are new to traveling overland, or have a bad sense of direction. Of course, it is potentially dangerous if you go alone, but the danger is not so much in getting lost as it is in slipping and falling while scrambling!

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“Hidden Handprints” or “Handprint Cave” Pictographs – The Gallery

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In the first part of this entry, The Foyer, I described how we found this site, and what we saw in the first part of it.

After we had rested a bit and restored some food and water to our tired bodies I started documenting the second part of the site. My companion wandered outside to examine the little “patio” area outside the second entrance and look for any more pictographs close by.

I, on the other hand, found that the second panel was at such an angle, curving above my head and along the side of the tunnel, that I did my best work sprawled on my back on the dirt floor of the shelter, looking upward at the pictographs stretching above me.

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“Hidden Handprints” or “Handprint Cave” Pictographs – The Foyer

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We’ve been to some pretty amazing sites in Joshua Tree National Park, and it is hard to pick a favorite. Some are awe-inspiring because their pictographs are tucked away out of the reach of the elements and still as pristine as the day they were painted, however many years ago. Others have evocative imagery or a strong sense of place and of the people that made them. And others simply defy description: isolated, extensive, awe-inspiring.

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“Black Bear” Pictographs

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How do I find sites? A question with many answers! Sometimes, we are simply out exploring and we stumble on a site we had no inkling of until we happened across it. Sometimes, it is a well-known site that we visit because we’ve heard of it. And sometimes, I hear a rumor and we set out to see what we can find.

This site was one of those “heard a rumor” sites. But even worse, it was one of those “multiple visits to the area and still nothing” sites! One warm spring morning, armed with newfound knowledge and determination, we set out to our target location to look at every boulder from every angle, because it had to be somewhere.

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