This message is from: pedfjo...@aol.com In a message dated 9/27/2009 3:57:36 AM Mountain Daylight Time, owner-fjordhorse-dig...@angus.mystery.com writes:
> > Lisa, your trip report is very interesting, a fun read. You shared a > little > bit of American history with your friend's sheep ranch visit and the old > buildings they have. It doesn't sound like the climate's too great there > though. I'm looking forward to part 3. > > > > Linda and list, Our weather is great here Linda ! 4 nice seperate seasons. A blast of hot in the Aug. Sep. months, a big chill in Jan and Feb. Otherwise beautiful long springs and fall, which we are enjoying right now. Warm days, cold nights. Its supposed to drop almost 30+ degrees between Tues and Wed. this week, so for sure we are headed up to get firewood on Tues. Part 3. Another trip up to the ranch in Straight Canyon, this time to spend the night. Laura went riding on one of the ranch horses, Colton and had a good ride dispite the hills and creeks they jumped. A far cry from her WI flat, but Laura is a brave rider. Spent the night chit chatting and star gazing at the Milky Way and a zillion stars with a fire in the wood stove. We headed out with Catherine the next morning for the jaunt down North Fork Road to the back gate of Zion National Park. This entrance brings you to the upper part of the park and as you travel down to the valley floor, the climate and terraine changes are amazing. You go from huge sandstone " checkerboard " mesa's and desert look to deep water filled valleys, dripping moss and tropical flowers and wildlife. Before the first tunnel there is a spot that we stopped and hiked down some slick rock to a dry creek bed. Being a total petroglyph nut, it is one of my favorite spots on earth. I had a great friend ( Celia died a few years ago now ) who turned me onto all of the rock art in the area, and we used to make day trips out of finding known and unknown ( the best ones ) glyphs around where we live. We also did some artwork, just for fun, entered a judged contest, then had a booth at the Native American Art Festival with some of our rock art stones, gourds, pottery, jewelry ect. Did so well that we started showing some of our pieces in local gallerys and shops. Once, while in Springdale, just outside of Zion NP, we were visiting the crystal shop there. Celia mentioned to the owner that we had sold some stuff in the Manzanita Trading Co. with our rock art designs.The crazy lady crystal shop owner started telling us about the huge panels of petroglyphs inside of Zion. NO WAY. It is pretty well known that the park was not visited much by the ancient Anasazi or Fremont people. It is thought that they only entered the park on special occasions, and the Hopi and Navajo people now, think it was because it was " too beautiful for man, and must be for their ceremonys " only, sort of like today. Regardless, there are no glyphs mentioned in 99 % of my rock art book collection and only in passing in 2 others. Even Casiltons 2 huge volumes of every squiggle in the State does not detail it. The NPS rangers will look at you like you are stupid, none of the shuttle drivers will talk about it......shhhhhhh ! Big no no. Well.... SO. I listened with only 1/2 of an ear to her rantings about directions to see these 2 panels of rock art. Oh yeah, ok, see ya crazy crystal lady, whatever. Only after some prodding by my friend, did we try and find it the following spring. Not sure why I remembered so well her explanations about " park where there is a pull out with a tiny sign, " NO BUS's " ....hike down to the creek bed, Rurn RIGHT, keep going back under the highway. Go through a tunnel, stay RIGHT when it forks......climb over the fallen log.....look to the LEFT, Heavy brush....blah blah. " Guess what ? The crazy crystal lady was right. 2 amazing panels of petroglyphs are located at the bottom of a huge red rock below eye level behind some scrub oak and maples. There are shamen, big horn sheep followed by rare dogs, space age looking weird things with feelers, snakes, humpback men with backpacks on.....lots of unusual etchings on 2 large panels. Laura, Catherine and I spent about an hour looking at the glyphs, taking pictures. The leaves were just thinking about changing and spots of red and orange were starting to peek. Back into the lower part of the park, Catherine saw black rain clouds, so headed back to her ranch. Laura and I hiked a bit down the River Walk towards the Narrows. Very few people left in the park after Labor day and esp. at 7-8 PM, made it seem almost a private tour. We hit a few of the book and gift shops inside of the park, and watched deer grazing on the lawn of the old Lodge there. Wild turkeys were all over and as the sun sets early inside of Zion, and the light bounces off of the huge red cliffs, making it a beautiful way to end the day. Of course, as we drove out of the park on the main entrance this time, we had to stop at " Oscars " for the worlds best Blue Cheese Bacon Burger and sweet potatoe frys. No time for the IMAX movie, " Treasure Of The Gods " about Zion, or even to visit another favorite spot of mine, the Grafon Cemetary just outside of Rockville. Remember the movie, " Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid " ? Filmed there, it is the old pioneer town of Grafton with its unreal views of Zion. The old social hall and church there are one of the most painted and photographed places in the old West, but you have to know where to turn off the road to find it. We like to keep these spots secret here, hee hee, but with over 2 million people visiting Zion NP every year, I can see why they dont want mainstream visitors ( or vandalism ) to visit the unprotected site. The cemetary there is filled with old adobe gravestones, tiny marble baby graves, interesting pioneers and assorted characters. Lots of men with their wife(s) <g> lined up next to them. 2 little girls who died together, best friends, together in a single grave. " Cedar Pete " an Indian who had befriended the settlers and helped do trading, healing, and mending alot of fences along the way, is buried there, along with his pony who they killed and placed alongside. My book on Grafton shows a photograph with over 200 Native American riders on their horses lineing the hill tops when they buried him in a white mans cemetary, unheard of before then. They traveled as far away as SLC to attend this important Indians funeral. A rickety pine fence surrounds a tall white marble marker with 3 sides having ornate writing. " KILLED BY INDIANS " it says, the Berry party, 2 brothers and one of their wifes, only in their early 20's, overtaken in their wagon not far from Grafton, by local Navajo, who robbed and killed them and pushed the wagon over a cliff, 1860 something. Anyway. Another visit for another day. Part 4 for the very bored later. Lisa Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f