127 Hours

[Berzerker]

Thats the story of some dude who got stuck and had to cut off his arm to get free from a boulder. They made a movie about it

Anyway, it all happened in Canyonlands, Utah. I spent a month out there back in the 80s. There's some strange stuff out there. I mean, spiritually, spooky, weird stuff.

and I wasn't on any drugs either

I see the trailers and I'm thanking my lucky stars I didn't end like him, or worse.

[DanS]

I remember that story.

What kind of strange stuff?

[Berzerker]

there were a bunch of things, stuff in and around Moab too. Rock carvings, etc... But the coolest site I found was just NW of Horseshoe Canyon and west of the north park entrance. It was a flat rock (maybe 40 sq ft) with tiny "circular" ridges running all over the place - I swear it looked like a planetarium with the orbital paths of dozens or even hundreds of objects.

On the south end an oblong rock about 18 ft long and 5-6 ft wide rose up about 3-4 ft and these ridges ran over it with a bunch of em lining up with an astronomical sighting hole in the rock pointing just above the SE horizon. Two parallel grooves ran over the rock due north/south and when I looked beyond the rock to the south with binoculars I could see the terrain change color, or something. Hard to explain, but the two grooves seemed to extend across the valley floor as shrubs etc inline with the grooves were slightly different from the surrounding features. There was also a pictograph on the ground, a turquoise human head that looked like it was being decapitated at the jaw line. Made me think of the creation myths about Heaven and Earth coming from the splitting of a skull.

When I first parked there and stepped out of my truck rattlers went off all around me. I dont know where they got their food but it sounded like I was surrounded by dozens. I zeroed in on one and found a baby rattler on top of a rock sunning himself, he took a couple swipes at me before I backed off. I got paranoid, I got this image in my head of a bigger one sneaking around the base of the rock while I was playing with the small one on top. I spent a few days at that site... Newspaper Rock was very cool too...

[OneFootInTheGrave]

interesting story

[MRT144]

Thats the story of some dude who got stuck and had to cut off his arm to get free from a boulder. They made a movie about it

Anyway, it all happened in Canyonlands, Utah. I spent a month out there back in the 80s. There's some strange stuff out there. I mean, spiritually, spooky, weird stuff.

and I wasn't on any drugs either

I see the trailers and I'm thanking my lucky stars I didn't end like him, or worse.

Were you extremely dehydrated?

[Aeson]

It's definitely easy to get heat-exhaustion out there. But there are a lot of interesting rock formations which can look very unnatural even when it's cooler. Then you get the whole dead civilization and no one around vibe. Makes for an eerie feel.

[Berzerker]

dehydrated, nah, I had plenty of water

but after a while I may have been suffering from a mental state similar to that which afflicts some "pilgrims" to the Holy Land - but I wasn't a true believer so I cant say I was caught up in some religious fervor. It actually wasn't that hot out there, the altitude was 4,000+ ft and I was there in late August and September during the monsoon season. Now that freaked me out, I was considering a trip to the Maze part of the park and I was approaching it from the NW (The Horseshoe Canyon side) when a thunderstorm hit. I just parked and went to sleep because the lightning was the most intense I've ever seen. But I was in and around areas that had been occupied by civilizations, specifically the Fremont culture (northern neighbors of the Anasazi) famous for a certain style of rock art. On the road down from the town of Green River I saw a giant white bird painted on a rock face, a rock outcropping that strongly resembled the head of a buffalo (like a buffalo nickel), and plenty of small rock enclosures the Indians used to keep grains away from rats etc.

Now heres the weird part, several months before I decided to make this trip I had a drug induced dream in which I was looking at a 3-4 ft tall "birdman" stone figure staring toward the SE - that was it, just some chunk of stone that looked like a short man with wings folded onto his back staring mutely at the sky. When I made my first trip southward from Green River running parallel to the river by the same name, I saw the birdman from the road. I pulled over to take a closer look and thats how I eventually found the site I described in my last post. Now, I cant say this rock outcrop (it did look carved though) was much of a birdman upon closer inspection, but it was enough to catch my attention.

[C0ckney]

cool stories berz

[OzzyKP]

I totally want to go now.

[Berzerker]

thx... about halfway between Green River (town) and Horseshoe Canyon I hit a flat littered with what turned out to be obsidian, I just saw desert speckled with black spots until I got out of my truck. While I was looking around - and this is where 127 Hours really strikes home - I came across a vertical cave entrance blocked by a large boulder. I sat there for a couple minutes thinking about trying to wiggle myself by the boulder to do some exploring when I heard a hissing sound. It wasn't a snake, this hissing sound was gas coming from the cave below me. I left at that point Hell, come to think of it I didn't need to get stuck in some cave, if my truck broke down I was a good 60-70 miles from any sign of civilization. Yikes...

I did come across a horse out there about 40 miles south of Green River. It was just after crossing the Muddy River (or Muddy something) and it was surprisingly tame, and old. He came right up and let me touch him, and then I spent a few minutes figuring out if I should try to get him to civilization, or not. They might just make him dogfood So I left him, or I mean he left me to go swimming in the Muddy tributary of the Green River. Horseshoe Canyon is famous for a peculiar rock art panel... It took me quite a while to make the walk down into the Canyon but I had to go, I had a book on N American geology with a picture of the panel (I dont know why) and they call it "The Maize Scene", albeit the name is a modern interpretation based on who knows what.

If you ever get the chance, I suggest a stop by "Island in the Sky". Photos (I'm sure google has it) just cant do it justice. Its just west of Moab and its a triangular (?) shaped rock formation at the NE corner of the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. Its a fantastic sight, I dont know how high it is but it overlooks a vast area eroded away by the 2 rivers. Just a straight drop for maybe 2,000 ft, or 4,000. A great place for jumping off with a hang glider or human wing outfit, probably illegal though. Of course Moab is famous as the biking capital of the world - rock biking or whatever they call it, and Arches Natl Park. Damn, I'm still kicking myself for not spending a few days up there. But they wanted $8-10 a day and I was on a shoestring budget. The opening scene from Indiana Jones was filmed there...

oh yeah, there were these little plants (or fungi, or something) about the size of a small bowl that live for centuries and the Rangers get very mad if they catch you disturbing them in any way (I got that from a docu I saw in the years since my trip). The only time I saw Rangers was at tourist sites like Island in the Sky or Newspaper Rock. I did talk to one Ranger about the site I found near the birdman but I got the impression the park's archaeology team already had a itload of sites to work so I didn't press the matter. After all, I didn't want them screwing up the site. I do plan on going back there before I die just to stand behind those 2 grooves on that oblong rock with binoculars. That blew my mind... I even asked a Natl Guardsman from a helicopter unit if he had ever seen "lines" on the ground out near Horseshoe Canyon but nada, nothing unusual.

Hmm...looks like the Maize Scene is called the Great Gallery... Dont know where I got Maize from. I'd post pics and maps etc but the last time I tried posting a pic I picked up a nasty virus that sent my browser all over the place - even when I wasn't using the damn thing. I generally oppose the dp, but for these ahole hackers I'll make an exception