November 1 Last Day in Moab

Dinosaur track

Only 29 days til we start heading for home. Wow, can’t believe we’ve been on the road almost 2 months. Tomorrow we leave Moab for Arizona, where we’ll spend this last month.

Petroglyphs

Once again we were in no hurry to leave today, but I did remember to pack a lunch. Today’s trek was viewing rock art. We picked up an auto tour of area rock art AKA petroglyphs and pictographs. In this area they are mostly petroglyphs, which means they are etched or scratched on the surface of a rock. Pictographs are painted on using various mineral pigments. The rock art in this area dates back to 5,500 BC. We didn’t find the rock art at our first stop. I think it’s because we didn’t climb to the top of the hill. Bill was getting impatient and didn’t really want to do the climbing.

Swallow nest

Rock Climber

The next stop, well several stops, was on route 279 which is a Utah Scenic Byway that runs along the Colorado River. In addition to stopping several times to see the petroglyphs, we got to see a slab with dinosaur tracks belonging to a three-toed allosaurus. Some of the art was way up and we had to use the zoom on the camera or binoculars and some was right along the road where we could just walk up to it. We also watched a guy doing rock scaling. We could see the hooks in many places along the road up on the steep sides and there was a guy and girl assisting another guy climb. I think he was an instructor as he was explaining everything as he went up.

More petroglyphs

The map instructions took us back into town and behind the Burger King so we were surprised when we ended up back in the same canyon, but on the other side of the river. There were 4 sites to view on that side but 2 were on gravel roads and Bill wasn’t too excited about going on them so we found the other 2. One was only a small panel right on the road and the other was at the mouth of Moon Flower Canyon. This was a rather large one and was fenced off. That doesn’t seem to keep idiots from vandalizing though. Really makes me mad that people are so self centered that they have to carve or write their names on everything and spoil it for the rest of time. At this panel was kinda a crack in the rock to the left of the fence with thick three limbs in place like a ladder going up and you could see more petroyglyphs and that’s a way the ancient Indians got away from wild animals. Of course I had to climb up a bit, just to see if I could! It was time for lunch at this stop so we ate our sandwiches, celery and pudding cups.

Moab Man

On our way back through Moab for the last time, we stopped and fueled up for our trip tomorrow. The last rock art that we were going to was only a couple of miles from our RV park and down the road we turn on so we saved it for last. It was another big panel about 30 feet high and 90 feet across. This one is the home of the “Moab Man”, It’s a very large human looking petroglyph with hair and large upper body. This panel had elk, sheep, dogs, and what is called reindeer and a sled. It’s truly amazing that these have lasted for thousands of years.

We got home mid afternoon so Bill started prepping for leaving tomorrow. I had gotten some heavy washcloths to pin to the sides of the seats to keep Molly from ruining the seats with scratching. Took me a while to get them on with screw in pins. I vacuumed and did a last load of wash for a few days, then used more of the stolen apples to make a small pie for later in the evening. Dinner was grilled hot links, salad and we shared a baked potato. I mapped out our trip home from Tucson so while we’re driving tomorrow Bill can start calling and make reservations. I listed 2 places for each night so hopefully he can get it all set on one day.

Time to read my few pages for the night.