JohnRich 4 #1 April 13, 2005 A few weeks ago I posted some photos of ancient Indian petroglyphs I've visited recently in west Texas. Petroglyphs are images carved into rock. I've received some positive comments and interest on that subject. I've also been visiting a lot of pictograph sites for the last couple of years. Pictographs are images painted onto rock surfaces. So since a few people liked the petroglyph stuff, I figured I'd try posting some pictograph photos too, and see what kind of interest it generates. So here goes. Photo descriptions follow. This site is called Cedar Springs, on private property, about 40 miles west of Del Rio, Texas, near the Mexico border. 1) DR3_4WD_2: The drive into the Cedar Springs site is by four-wheel drive, high ground clearance vehicles only. Even my Chevy Blazer bottomed out in a couple of places. The trail in several places is a narrow ledge of rock, as seen here. On one side is a wall of rock rising up to cliffs, and on the other side is a 20-foot drop into the Devil's River. In a few places, there is water seeping across the rock ledge, making it slippery. Ack! Drive very carefully... 2) DR3_Cave_1: These are referred to as "caves", but in fact, they are actually just rock overhangs, where eons of water flow has carved out the rock along a cliff, creating a shelter. The Indians used these for homes. This cave doesn't look like much as you approach it, hiking up the creek bed. But wait until you see what is inside! 3) DR3_Picto_CS_24: Here I am inside the cave, posing in front of one wall chock full of mysterious images, large and small. More photos to follow. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Acensky 0 #2 April 13, 2005 Very Cool Thanks for sharing HeatherGarbage bags do not make good parachutes. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
flyangel2 2 #3 April 14, 2005 Looks like great fun.May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 135 #4 April 14, 2005 QuoteA few weeks ago I posted some photos of ancient Indian petroglyphs I've visited recently in west Texas. . Where is West Texas ?? Sorry, just had to.... scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #5 April 14, 2005 Wow! Everything really is bigger in Texas. In Southern Africa the San People (Bushman) recorded events in a similar way, by painting them on the rocks of their caves. In contrast to your picture, however, the pictures are small, with humans being dipicted as about the size of one's hand, usually hunting down and killing something. In the attached pic the Eland are clear. The San are visible as 4 thin, stick like figures, running at the top of the pic. tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
piisfish 135 #6 April 14, 2005 QuoteEverything really is bigger in Texas. In contrast to your picture, however, the pictures are small, with humans being dipicted as about the size of one's hand, What you don't know is that JohnRich is about the size of a normal human's hand... Which makes the Texan paintings the same size as the South African paintings... scissors beat paper, paper beat rock, rock beat wingsuit - KarlM Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
masterrig 1 #7 April 14, 2005 QuoteQuoteEverything really is bigger in Texas. In contrast to your picture, however, the pictures are small, with humans being dipicted as about the size of one's hand, What you don't know is that JohnRich is about the size of a normal human's hand... Which makes the Texan paintings the same size as the South African paintings... ____________________________- That there's funny! Chuck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #8 April 14, 2005 QuoteIn Southern Africa the San People (Bushman) recorded events in a similar way... In the attached pic... Nice! Those look like very sophisticated paintings, with shading and a three-dimensional look. The paintings from west Texas are much more crude and simple - they date back from about 2,000 years ago, up to about 140 years ago. I wish someone had bothered to ask them what their paintings meant, before they killed them all off. Some of these paintings are huge, up to eight feet tall or wide. Others are done with tiny little figures only three or four inches in height. The artists that view these comment upon the level of detail, and how very fine brushes would have been needed. And their brushes were made from the fibers of plants. Here are some more: 1) Whatzit? A two-headed monster? 3) A bug of some sort. 5) Whatzit? Another bug, leaving a trail behind him in the dirt? Note that a chip of rock is missing from the top, taking away a piece of the picture. 7) Whatzit? 9) Whatzit? This is generally in the form they used for a human figure, but with antlers. And he's holding something in his stubby little right arm. You'll notice that a lot of these are unidentifiable from the perspective of our modern life. We have no way to understand them, because we don't know what their customs and beliefs were. And we can hardly even imagine what their life was like as hunter-gatherers, living from day to day, only on what they can kill and harvest from nature. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites shropshire 0 #9 April 14, 2005 Hi John - thanks for sharing ... is there anywhere where we can read more about these old paintings? How old are they, what do they mean etc.. Do you have a web site? Regards, (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #10 April 14, 2005 Quoteis there anywhere where we can read more about these old paintings? How old are they, what do they mean etc.. Good question. Human occupation in the area goes back 15,000 years. The paintings have been dated as far back as 4,000 years, but I think most run about 2,000 years old, or newer. That's from the time of Christ on the other side of the planet! There is a book by a man named Forest Kirkland, who visited most of these sites in the 1930's, and painted them for posterity. Those paintings have since been published in a book called "The Rock Art of Texas Indians", which has tons of good info in it. I'm not sure where to find it, but I know this Texas state park sells it: Seminole Canyon State Park I'm a member of the Rock Art Organization which has a web site. They work to protect and preserve these sites, and lead guided tours onto the private land to see them, working with the land owners for permission. They own one site themselves, and are currently negotiating to buy a second site. There are some serious studies done by archeologists, many by the Sul Ross University, which studies ancient sites in west Texas. There are many others I've yet to get my hands on. And they don't make it easy - a lot of info is kept "secret", because they don't want plunderers to find out where things are. Some land owners just plain refuse to allow anyone in, even if they are just bringing cameras, and willing to pay some money for the privilege. One big site was deeded to a University, who hordes it for themselves, and doesn't let anyone else in to see it. You have to be a doctorate student in archeology or something to get to that one, called Rattlesnake Canyon. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #11 April 14, 2005 More photos: #10) Whatzit? #12) My personal favorite! This is called a "white shaman". And this shaman seems to have a bird sitting on his outstretched arm. White paint is not seen too often. Red is the most common color used, followed by black, yellow and white. One of the interesting things about this figure is that there are duplicates in several other caves in the area, separated by about 50 miles. It's not likely that different bands of Indians came up with the same exact figure like this. So it could be that one man was traveling around, and painting this whereever he visited with other bands. Or maybe as the bands traveled and traded with each other, someone would see the image, and take the memory home to his own cave, and reproduce it. #13) I don't know what this is, but it has three arrows sticking into it. #16) Whatzit? A prickly cactus? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Tonto 1 #12 April 15, 2005 More to you than just guns, eh? If you google "Bushman Painting" you'll get quite a lot of stuff on African Rock art. http://www.drakensberg-tourism.com/bushman-rock-art.html "When Europeans first encountered rock art of the San people, or Bushmen, in southern Africa some 350 years ago, they considered it primitive and crude, like the people who made it. They were just Bushman paintings, two-dimensional accounts of hunting and fighting and daily life. Twentieth-century scholars had much more respect for the aesthetics of the paintings often finely detailed and exquisitely colored but many also viewed them largely as narrative accounts of hunter-gatherer life. A closer look in recent years has yielded another picture altogether. For the San, rock paintings were not just representations of life; they were also repositories of it. When shamans painted an eland, they didn't just pay homage to a sacred animal; they also harnessed its essence. They put paint to rock and opened portals to the spirit world." Some of these people remain with their culture intact, although these days their home is the Kalahari desert as opposed to the Drakensberg. (Dragonsmountains) tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites shropshire 0 #13 April 15, 2005 Thanks again. very interesting. regards, (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #14 April 15, 2005 More: 17) I fancy this one as a depiction of a cloud, with rain, lightening and thunder. Pure speculation though. 19) A dead spider? 21) Whatzit? A Spanish cannon? 22) The antler people? "Stick 'em up!" 23) A chubby bambi, superimposed on top of an older image. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #15 April 15, 2005 QuoteMore to you than just guns, eh? Quite a bit more. I'm sorry to disappoint anyone out there who had a right-wing gun redneck image of me. 'Tain't true! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #16 April 15, 2005 How about a few desert plants? 1) Lechuguilla: beware of these! I'm sure that's a Spanish name, and I don't know what it means, but it should stand for something like "leg-stabbers", because that's what they do. They have barbs on the edges of the leaves, and the points are so sharp that they can (and do) penetrate denim trousars. Ouch! This was supposed to be a food source for the Indians, although I haven't tried them yet myself. And when you beat the pulp out with rocks, the fibers are used to weave strands, from which mats and sandals were woven. 2) The Mountain Laurel appears as everything from a small bush to a medium-sized tree. It has large seed pods, like giant green beans, with bright red seeds inside. But best of all, is the purplish-blue blossoms - they smell just like a grape Nehi soda, right after you've popped the lid off, put it to your lips, and had grape fizz go up your nose. 3) A yucca in full bloom, at sunset, with a slightly fogged camera lens. I like the contrast with the flash-lit plant, and the dark mountain background. And the flowers are edible. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites NickDG 23 #17 April 15, 2005 This photo (in high contrast) was taken when we called every back country cliff "Freedom Canyon." You decide, but that looks like a pilot chute to me . . . NickD BASE 194 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #18 April 19, 2005 While we were in the Indian pictograph cave sight, things started to get really interesting. We had a rare desert thunderstorm which started dumping a lot of rain. Since we crossed a dry creek bed in our vehicles to get to the site, we were worried about a gully-washer trapping us behind high water. So we made a beeline for the trucks, and started driving out. One van got stuck in mud, and while I towed it out with my 4WD, our window of opportunity on the creek closed. Half the vehicles made it across. Half didn't. We were trapped! Picture Flood_6 shows the creekbed which we drove across on the way in, with just a small amount of standing water. No problem! Picture Flood_3 shows the view of our trapped vehicles, behind the now-raging floodwater, as seen from a cave shelter half-way up on the cliff. To make matters worse, the water level in the river was rising, and threatening to flood the ledge of rock upon which our trucks were located. Picture Flood_1 is a close-up of the same creek crossing seen in picture Flood_6, with the raging torrent of water. Trapped with me were two other adults, two boys about age 10, and a dozen teenagers from AmeriCorps, ages 18-19. I was the only one who was self-sufficient for camping out. We waited about three hours hoping for the rain and water to subside, but it didn't. I entertained myself trying to come up with a plan for keeping 16 people warm, dry and fed, with my meager camping gear brought along just for me. Ha! (I could almost do it!) As sunset approached, a plan was hatched. First, drive the trucks back uphill to higher ground away from the river. Then the folks would hike up the side of the creek, to the top of the hill, where the water hasn't collected into fast current yet, cross the creek at that point, and then hike back down the other side. There they would join up with the vehicles that got across before the flood, and be taken out to a motel for the night. It worked! Everyone made it out. I stayed behind, since I was planning on a primitive campout that night anyway. I got to enjoy the solitude of a desert campout, and the rare spectacle of desert waterfalls (last two photos). By the next morning, the flood water was gone. I waited for the others to return for their vehicles, and then we all drove out with no further problems. Phew! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites smiles 0 #19 April 19, 2005 awesome, incredibly interesting... Until close friends decided to head to Peru and climb ancient Inca trail (ruins of Machu Picchu) I didn't have too much interest...wondered why they would want to go there?? Must say I have taken interest now, and have learned so much history I didn't find that interesting when in school. Some pics at this site: http://www.crystalinks.com/incaruins.html They stayed in Cuzco, flew over the Nazca Lines to view them....the most outstanding group of geoglyphs in the world. Etched in the surface of the desert pampa sand about 300 hundred figures made of straight lines, geometric shapes and pictures of animals and birds - and their patterns are only clearly visible from the air???? Also they travelled to Easter Island....one of the most isolated islands in the world but 1200 years ago a double-hulled canoe filled with seafarers from a distant culture landed upon its shores. (Inca must of visited Easter Island?) http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/Easter_Island/ It is unclear why the Easter Islanders turned to statue construction on such a massive scale, the soft volcanic tuff was perfect material for statue carving. Wow, the pictures & video they brought home are outstanding and still so much mystery to uncover on this earth!! They brought home a blanket woven in Peru for me and of course a black bottle of Pisco, shaped like statue of Moai.....I luv Pisco now! Just cannot believe that we were not visited by UFO's at time periods of our history....that gave a punch of extra intelligence to our civilizations development!! My son is heading down to Coachella Valley next week with his friends (Coachella concert in the desert)....I asked him to bring me back a Hopi katsina doll. I am so interested in the benevolent spirit beings, rainmakers from the Gods-- pic attached SMileseustress. : a positive form of stress having a beneficial effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional well-being. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #20 April 20, 2005 QuoteMachu Picchu... Nazca Lines... Easter Island... Oh man, color me jealous. As soon as I win the lottery, I'll be doing all those scenes, and more! Who's going with me? Here are a few photos of another site I've visited recently. This is located on cliffs above the Devil's River in southwest Texas. The Devil's River flows south into the Rio Grande, which makes the border with Mexico. This site is about 20 miles north of the Rio Grande. The destination is the shallow tan-colored cave in the top-center of the 1st photo. To get to it, you have to hike sideways along a ledge of rock debris, about 200 feet up the cliff from the river. At one point, it gets rather narrow and the pucker-factor goes way up. A slip here would spell doom. Look inside the shadow of that cave, and you can see some red paint on the back wall... Photo two is the Kodak moment of me with the "curly-tail panther" for which this cave is named. It looks like he's attacking me, but not to worry - I'm protected by the shaman on the other side! Part of the rock face has fallen off taking some of the panther's tail away. This had to have happened during the Indian times, because the new rock exposed underneath has additional paintings done on it. I wonder why they didn't re-create the missing tail section? No one knows for sure what that thing is above the panther's back. It sort of looks like a snake, but that doesn't explain the many parallel vertical lines, both straight and wiggly, radiating upward from the snake's back... These paintings are supposed to be about 1,500 years old. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Gene03 0 #21 April 20, 2005 Lechuguilla: Must be spanish for Aloe Vera with an attitude.“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him. Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #22 April 20, 2005 QuoteLechuguilla: Must be spanish for Aloe Vera with an attitude. Oh, that's a good line. Can I steal it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Gene03 0 #23 April 21, 2005 QuoteQuoteLechuguilla: Must be spanish for Aloe Vera with an attitude. Oh, that's a good line. Can I steal it? Not a problem, Feel free.“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him. Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites marcandalysse 0 #24 April 21, 2005 thanks for posting all those pics. as you know from one of your previous threads, i am really into these ancient cultures' art and etc. glad you have a chance to experience them, floods and all! very cool! wish i was in that part of the country now! it is interesting though, we tend to think that 1000 year old petroglyphs, nazca lines, etc are 'ancient history', because those civilizations aren't around anymore and didn't leave written records. Yet in places like India or Egypt, Greece and Israel, exist temples with art and writing from 2500-5000 years ago. marc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites JohnRich 4 #25 April 21, 2005 Yep, American History is just a drop in the bucket compared to what most civilizations have been through. It makes you feel kind of small... Photo "Picto10": These figures were in the Curly-Tail Panther cave, and were only about four inches high. Very odd looking. The two on the right look like musical notes, and the three on the left appear to be human torsos from the waist up, with snake tails. Photo "Snake": You gotta watch out for these... Photo "Cliff12": What scenary! The water level here is now higher than it has been in over a decade. Normally, the river down there is just a narrow stream. Photo "Fossils": Lots of fossils to be found around this area too. The canyons are carved out of rock down to about 15 million years ago. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites Prev 1 2 Next Page 1 of 2 Join the conversation You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible. Reply to this topic... × Pasted as rich text. 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JohnRich 4 #8 April 14, 2005 QuoteIn Southern Africa the San People (Bushman) recorded events in a similar way... In the attached pic... Nice! Those look like very sophisticated paintings, with shading and a three-dimensional look. The paintings from west Texas are much more crude and simple - they date back from about 2,000 years ago, up to about 140 years ago. I wish someone had bothered to ask them what their paintings meant, before they killed them all off. Some of these paintings are huge, up to eight feet tall or wide. Others are done with tiny little figures only three or four inches in height. The artists that view these comment upon the level of detail, and how very fine brushes would have been needed. And their brushes were made from the fibers of plants. Here are some more: 1) Whatzit? A two-headed monster? 3) A bug of some sort. 5) Whatzit? Another bug, leaving a trail behind him in the dirt? Note that a chip of rock is missing from the top, taking away a piece of the picture. 7) Whatzit? 9) Whatzit? This is generally in the form they used for a human figure, but with antlers. And he's holding something in his stubby little right arm. You'll notice that a lot of these are unidentifiable from the perspective of our modern life. We have no way to understand them, because we don't know what their customs and beliefs were. And we can hardly even imagine what their life was like as hunter-gatherers, living from day to day, only on what they can kill and harvest from nature. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #9 April 14, 2005 Hi John - thanks for sharing ... is there anywhere where we can read more about these old paintings? How old are they, what do they mean etc.. Do you have a web site? Regards, (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #10 April 14, 2005 Quoteis there anywhere where we can read more about these old paintings? How old are they, what do they mean etc.. Good question. Human occupation in the area goes back 15,000 years. The paintings have been dated as far back as 4,000 years, but I think most run about 2,000 years old, or newer. That's from the time of Christ on the other side of the planet! There is a book by a man named Forest Kirkland, who visited most of these sites in the 1930's, and painted them for posterity. Those paintings have since been published in a book called "The Rock Art of Texas Indians", which has tons of good info in it. I'm not sure where to find it, but I know this Texas state park sells it: Seminole Canyon State Park I'm a member of the Rock Art Organization which has a web site. They work to protect and preserve these sites, and lead guided tours onto the private land to see them, working with the land owners for permission. They own one site themselves, and are currently negotiating to buy a second site. There are some serious studies done by archeologists, many by the Sul Ross University, which studies ancient sites in west Texas. There are many others I've yet to get my hands on. And they don't make it easy - a lot of info is kept "secret", because they don't want plunderers to find out where things are. Some land owners just plain refuse to allow anyone in, even if they are just bringing cameras, and willing to pay some money for the privilege. One big site was deeded to a University, who hordes it for themselves, and doesn't let anyone else in to see it. You have to be a doctorate student in archeology or something to get to that one, called Rattlesnake Canyon. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #11 April 14, 2005 More photos: #10) Whatzit? #12) My personal favorite! This is called a "white shaman". And this shaman seems to have a bird sitting on his outstretched arm. White paint is not seen too often. Red is the most common color used, followed by black, yellow and white. One of the interesting things about this figure is that there are duplicates in several other caves in the area, separated by about 50 miles. It's not likely that different bands of Indians came up with the same exact figure like this. So it could be that one man was traveling around, and painting this whereever he visited with other bands. Or maybe as the bands traveled and traded with each other, someone would see the image, and take the memory home to his own cave, and reproduce it. #13) I don't know what this is, but it has three arrows sticking into it. #16) Whatzit? A prickly cactus? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonto 1 #12 April 15, 2005 More to you than just guns, eh? If you google "Bushman Painting" you'll get quite a lot of stuff on African Rock art. http://www.drakensberg-tourism.com/bushman-rock-art.html "When Europeans first encountered rock art of the San people, or Bushmen, in southern Africa some 350 years ago, they considered it primitive and crude, like the people who made it. They were just Bushman paintings, two-dimensional accounts of hunting and fighting and daily life. Twentieth-century scholars had much more respect for the aesthetics of the paintings often finely detailed and exquisitely colored but many also viewed them largely as narrative accounts of hunter-gatherer life. A closer look in recent years has yielded another picture altogether. For the San, rock paintings were not just representations of life; they were also repositories of it. When shamans painted an eland, they didn't just pay homage to a sacred animal; they also harnessed its essence. They put paint to rock and opened portals to the spirit world." Some of these people remain with their culture intact, although these days their home is the Kalahari desert as opposed to the Drakensberg. (Dragonsmountains) tIt's the year of the Pig. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
shropshire 0 #13 April 15, 2005 Thanks again. very interesting. regards, (.)Y(.) Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #14 April 15, 2005 More: 17) I fancy this one as a depiction of a cloud, with rain, lightening and thunder. Pure speculation though. 19) A dead spider? 21) Whatzit? A Spanish cannon? 22) The antler people? "Stick 'em up!" 23) A chubby bambi, superimposed on top of an older image. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #15 April 15, 2005 QuoteMore to you than just guns, eh? Quite a bit more. I'm sorry to disappoint anyone out there who had a right-wing gun redneck image of me. 'Tain't true! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #16 April 15, 2005 How about a few desert plants? 1) Lechuguilla: beware of these! I'm sure that's a Spanish name, and I don't know what it means, but it should stand for something like "leg-stabbers", because that's what they do. They have barbs on the edges of the leaves, and the points are so sharp that they can (and do) penetrate denim trousars. Ouch! This was supposed to be a food source for the Indians, although I haven't tried them yet myself. And when you beat the pulp out with rocks, the fibers are used to weave strands, from which mats and sandals were woven. 2) The Mountain Laurel appears as everything from a small bush to a medium-sized tree. It has large seed pods, like giant green beans, with bright red seeds inside. But best of all, is the purplish-blue blossoms - they smell just like a grape Nehi soda, right after you've popped the lid off, put it to your lips, and had grape fizz go up your nose. 3) A yucca in full bloom, at sunset, with a slightly fogged camera lens. I like the contrast with the flash-lit plant, and the dark mountain background. And the flowers are edible. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NickDG 23 #17 April 15, 2005 This photo (in high contrast) was taken when we called every back country cliff "Freedom Canyon." You decide, but that looks like a pilot chute to me . . . NickD BASE 194 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #18 April 19, 2005 While we were in the Indian pictograph cave sight, things started to get really interesting. We had a rare desert thunderstorm which started dumping a lot of rain. Since we crossed a dry creek bed in our vehicles to get to the site, we were worried about a gully-washer trapping us behind high water. So we made a beeline for the trucks, and started driving out. One van got stuck in mud, and while I towed it out with my 4WD, our window of opportunity on the creek closed. Half the vehicles made it across. Half didn't. We were trapped! Picture Flood_6 shows the creekbed which we drove across on the way in, with just a small amount of standing water. No problem! Picture Flood_3 shows the view of our trapped vehicles, behind the now-raging floodwater, as seen from a cave shelter half-way up on the cliff. To make matters worse, the water level in the river was rising, and threatening to flood the ledge of rock upon which our trucks were located. Picture Flood_1 is a close-up of the same creek crossing seen in picture Flood_6, with the raging torrent of water. Trapped with me were two other adults, two boys about age 10, and a dozen teenagers from AmeriCorps, ages 18-19. I was the only one who was self-sufficient for camping out. We waited about three hours hoping for the rain and water to subside, but it didn't. I entertained myself trying to come up with a plan for keeping 16 people warm, dry and fed, with my meager camping gear brought along just for me. Ha! (I could almost do it!) As sunset approached, a plan was hatched. First, drive the trucks back uphill to higher ground away from the river. Then the folks would hike up the side of the creek, to the top of the hill, where the water hasn't collected into fast current yet, cross the creek at that point, and then hike back down the other side. There they would join up with the vehicles that got across before the flood, and be taken out to a motel for the night. It worked! Everyone made it out. I stayed behind, since I was planning on a primitive campout that night anyway. I got to enjoy the solitude of a desert campout, and the rare spectacle of desert waterfalls (last two photos). By the next morning, the flood water was gone. I waited for the others to return for their vehicles, and then we all drove out with no further problems. Phew! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
smiles 0 #19 April 19, 2005 awesome, incredibly interesting... Until close friends decided to head to Peru and climb ancient Inca trail (ruins of Machu Picchu) I didn't have too much interest...wondered why they would want to go there?? Must say I have taken interest now, and have learned so much history I didn't find that interesting when in school. Some pics at this site: http://www.crystalinks.com/incaruins.html They stayed in Cuzco, flew over the Nazca Lines to view them....the most outstanding group of geoglyphs in the world. Etched in the surface of the desert pampa sand about 300 hundred figures made of straight lines, geometric shapes and pictures of animals and birds - and their patterns are only clearly visible from the air???? Also they travelled to Easter Island....one of the most isolated islands in the world but 1200 years ago a double-hulled canoe filled with seafarers from a distant culture landed upon its shores. (Inca must of visited Easter Island?) http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/Easter_Island/ It is unclear why the Easter Islanders turned to statue construction on such a massive scale, the soft volcanic tuff was perfect material for statue carving. Wow, the pictures & video they brought home are outstanding and still so much mystery to uncover on this earth!! They brought home a blanket woven in Peru for me and of course a black bottle of Pisco, shaped like statue of Moai.....I luv Pisco now! Just cannot believe that we were not visited by UFO's at time periods of our history....that gave a punch of extra intelligence to our civilizations development!! My son is heading down to Coachella Valley next week with his friends (Coachella concert in the desert)....I asked him to bring me back a Hopi katsina doll. I am so interested in the benevolent spirit beings, rainmakers from the Gods-- pic attached SMileseustress. : a positive form of stress having a beneficial effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional well-being. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #20 April 20, 2005 QuoteMachu Picchu... Nazca Lines... Easter Island... Oh man, color me jealous. As soon as I win the lottery, I'll be doing all those scenes, and more! Who's going with me? Here are a few photos of another site I've visited recently. This is located on cliffs above the Devil's River in southwest Texas. The Devil's River flows south into the Rio Grande, which makes the border with Mexico. This site is about 20 miles north of the Rio Grande. The destination is the shallow tan-colored cave in the top-center of the 1st photo. To get to it, you have to hike sideways along a ledge of rock debris, about 200 feet up the cliff from the river. At one point, it gets rather narrow and the pucker-factor goes way up. A slip here would spell doom. Look inside the shadow of that cave, and you can see some red paint on the back wall... Photo two is the Kodak moment of me with the "curly-tail panther" for which this cave is named. It looks like he's attacking me, but not to worry - I'm protected by the shaman on the other side! Part of the rock face has fallen off taking some of the panther's tail away. This had to have happened during the Indian times, because the new rock exposed underneath has additional paintings done on it. I wonder why they didn't re-create the missing tail section? No one knows for sure what that thing is above the panther's back. It sort of looks like a snake, but that doesn't explain the many parallel vertical lines, both straight and wiggly, radiating upward from the snake's back... These paintings are supposed to be about 1,500 years old. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gene03 0 #21 April 20, 2005 Lechuguilla: Must be spanish for Aloe Vera with an attitude.“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him. Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #22 April 20, 2005 QuoteLechuguilla: Must be spanish for Aloe Vera with an attitude. Oh, that's a good line. Can I steal it? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gene03 0 #23 April 21, 2005 QuoteQuoteLechuguilla: Must be spanish for Aloe Vera with an attitude. Oh, that's a good line. Can I steal it? Not a problem, Feel free.“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him. Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
marcandalysse 0 #24 April 21, 2005 thanks for posting all those pics. as you know from one of your previous threads, i am really into these ancient cultures' art and etc. glad you have a chance to experience them, floods and all! very cool! wish i was in that part of the country now! it is interesting though, we tend to think that 1000 year old petroglyphs, nazca lines, etc are 'ancient history', because those civilizations aren't around anymore and didn't leave written records. Yet in places like India or Egypt, Greece and Israel, exist temples with art and writing from 2500-5000 years ago. marc Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JohnRich 4 #25 April 21, 2005 Yep, American History is just a drop in the bucket compared to what most civilizations have been through. It makes you feel kind of small... Photo "Picto10": These figures were in the Curly-Tail Panther cave, and were only about four inches high. Very odd looking. The two on the right look like musical notes, and the three on the left appear to be human torsos from the waist up, with snake tails. Photo "Snake": You gotta watch out for these... Photo "Cliff12": What scenary! The water level here is now higher than it has been in over a decade. Normally, the river down there is just a narrow stream. Photo "Fossils": Lots of fossils to be found around this area too. The canyons are carved out of rock down to about 15 million years ago. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
