I crossed the Rockies and arrived in Moab, Utah!

It sure was good to get back to this part of the world and meet up with Jim Blazik again. Jim is another former email-only contact with whom I've had the sincere pleasure getting to know over the last year. Thanks to his considerable knowledge of the area I have learned a lot about the Barrier Canyon Style and its relationship with the landscape. His expertise as an Interpretive Ranger at Arches National Park also recently garnered him the 1999 J. J. Rumberg Award from the National Park Service. We talked it up late into the evening.

The flu is almost gone. One day out in the Utah canyons might kick it for good.

San Juan Co., Utah

Today's first site was very interesting, more so from a distance. This is one of those sites that one has to be looking for to see despite its clear visibility from a nearby road. I'm not sure what to make of the images.

The second site was absolutely wonderful! Over a dozen Barrier Canyon Style anthropomorphs remain visible but I learned that only in the last few years a lot of deterioration has occurred. This is a shame at any site but especially here considering the outstanding art.

The thunderstorms that were moving through the area caught up with us while we were photographing the site, actually we had to wait through two separate downpours. It was great to put the cameras away and just hang out while the rain came down. A pool of water collected at the west end of the rockshelter. We took advantage of the next break in the rain to scramble back to Jim's truck.

Later that evening my friends from Virginia, Chuck and Leah, showed up in Moab.

Grand Co., Utah

I took Chuck and Leah to a Barrier Canyon Style panel in Grand County. We took the easy route in—about a three mile hike. This was their first rock art panel and my first time at this site. Photographs—even Craig Law's—can't quite do the panel justice. The faint yellow arc over one of the primary anthropomorphs is even difficult to see at the site. To the left of the main panel is another group of very faint figures. These are typical "Ancestor Figure" types, different from the ones in the main panel.

We took the shorter yet more difficult trail out of the canyon. It required a bit of scrambling but we made it. Chuck and Leah had never seen me climb more than a flight of steps back in Richmond and they expressed their surprise at seeing me trot out of the canyon. It was worth a cheesy photo.

I rented a Jeep at my old standby, Farabee's, and headed out of Moab.

The next few days were spent on research that will not be disseminated on this web site. I am including a few photographs of some of the less sensitive sites.

I arrived in Ferron early enough on the 7th to meet with an old friend. He is something of a local guru on finding rock art sites in the area. We caught up on old times then I took off for the Molen Reef. I found a super little spot on BLM land to pitch my tent. I faded off to sleep after taking in the star-filled skies over the San Rafael desert.

Emery Co., site 1

A few days ago I met up with Dr. James Farmer and Dr. Howard Risatti from Virginia Commonwealth University, and two of Dr. Farmer's friends from Texas, Jack and Linda. This was Dr. Risatti's first time out here with us. The other folks are friends with whom I've done "the Barrier Canyon Thing" a few times before. It is always fun, not to mention educational, but having Dr. Risatti along should prove to be quite a rewarding experience. He and Dr. Farmer were on my Thesis Defense Committee as reader and advisor, respectively. They will more than likely fill the same role for my Dissertation Defense.

We made plans to meet in Emery County after going our separate ways for a day. Since I didn't have to meet them until 10 AM. I decided to find a panel that eluded me last year. Within an hour of sunrise I was at the site and shooting the super panels. I can't believe I didn't find it last year.

The panels are on a rock face that is inaccessible due to a fast running creek. Thanks to drawings Blazik gave me I was able to notice details that would have otherwise probably escaped notice. Due to my appointment with the others I didn't have time to make detailed notes or drawings.

I met the "crew" in Ferron where we loaded up to find a panel that had eluded them for some time. This one also gave me trouble last year, but with the help of a friend I got to the panel. Probably due to the fact that I we didn't use the standard Jeep trail last year I could not make my way back to the site this time. This was the second bust in a row with these guys and I deserved every joke they made at my expense. The worst part was that this fiasco was captured on video tape. After hours of futile Jeeping I gave up the lead to Dr. Farmer and we headed off to another canyon so they could introduce me to a site. Again, a site I failed to find last year due to a washed out road and impending rain.

We parked at the same wash out that stopped me last year and headed up canyon. The jokes continued and were thankfully broken by the first panel we encountered. Despite being high on a cliff the figures were highly visible from the canyon floor. These were not the Barrier Canyon Style figures we were heading for but worth a few frames nonetheless.

After a couple more minor sites (non-BCS that is, simply my own biased subjectivity) we came to the head of the canyon and the Barrier Canyon Style panel. The composition is small but intriguing. There are two primary anthropomorphs, one with the recurring Tlaloc-like "bug eyes" and one that, for lack of a better description, looks like it has dreadlocks.

We spent quite a while speculating on the iconography. This is what I was waiting for, the chance to share thoughts with Dr. Risatti about the Barrier Canyon Style while actually standing at a site. It was also quite educational to sit back and listen to Dr. Farmer and Dr. Risatti trade thoughts. While all the academic philosophizing was going on I tried to replicate a shot of the panel that Blazik had taken and shared with me. In addition to being something of my rock art mentor Blazik has also increased my knowledge of photography considerably.

Since I tend to move pretty fast when I travel alone I convinced the group to give me another shot at finding the first panel we had looked for. I headed out of the canyon well ahead of the group with plans to meet them at the bottom of the trail after snooping around one more time. This time I drove almost directly to the site. I met up with the group with a smile bigger than a Texas T-bone. Everyone but Jack piled into my Jeep and I took them to the panel I drove much slower this time due to my valuable cargo—my Dissertation Advisor and my Dissertation Reader.

Everyone was blown away by the panel. The minute zoomorphs are less than an inch long but were executed with amazing detail. One bird has feathers on its wings that could only have been executed with single hair or fiber brush. The primary anthropomorph is probably the finest example of a therianthropic figure in the Barrier Canyon Style. The narrative qualities of the composition are undeniable, with lines of sheep climbing up and down between the larger figures.

We headed back to the campground where we celebrated the successful day. There were still a few wise-cracks about my sense of direction, but they shared some of their vittles with me nonetheless. These guys travel in style when the locations permit. After a few days of beef jerky and trail mix the hot meal they gave me was almost heaven (heaven being the shower I was finally able to take—ahh, the simple pleasures of civilization!)