The Alcove Rock Art Site in Horseshoe Canyon of Canyonlands is about 0:10 minutes of hiking past the Horseshoe Shelter site. The Alcove site is the third of four rock art sites along the trail and is before the famous Great Gallery site.
Standing on the sandy wash surface, the two panels here might be hard to see from the distance. There is a marked entrance to the alcove on the left side.
The panel in the center of the alcove is somewhat obscured by a pile of rocks and seems to include some images that are red on the red color of the stone. The viewing area is on the jumbled pile of stones.
The bottom parts of these images are almost buried by the accumulated debris and the slant of the alcove wall makes viewing them somewhat awkward.
There is a second panel in the alcove at the right end. This group is high and visible but they are fading.
It is about 0:30 minutes of hiking further to arrive at the Great Gallery. There is a distant view across the creek and a shady place to sit and view closer. Just before arriving there is a relatively lush riparian area segment of trail.
The most eye catching group is outlined in a small alcove on the left. The relative size of the figures seems to give the impression of depth. The tallest figure has been measured at eight feet, but they don’t look that large.
One of the groups of images has a flute player. There are flute players at rock art sites throughout the region from several different cultural groups. Most of the tall images don’t show any arms, but they give the impression of having their arms folded in front of their chests, as if waiting for some response from the viewers.
One of the images to the right side has his eyes pecked into the rock. I only noticed one figure with that feature. There are two ammo boxes in the viewing area with a comment log and a lengthy document with information on rock art. This document is available on line at the Canyonlands Park web site.
During my early May hike, two volunteer rangers were making the hike every day for two weeks, providing some help and interpretation to other hikers. When I arrived at the Great Gallery I was alone there for about 0:30 minutes until they arrived. I visited the Great Gallery for about 0:50 minutes.
My return hike took 2:00 hours and the total hike took 5:00 hours for the 6.5 miles. I carried and drank 4 liters of water on a day that was 52 F degrees at 9:00 AM and 68 F at my 2:00 PM finish.
1 comment:
Went there 3 years ago, one of the best hikes I've ever done. But it sure was tough. I think its the sugar sand that makes it so tough. IT really saps a persons strength walking in that soft sand. Would be sweet to hike right after a big rain. How often does that happen? couple times a decade LOL.
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