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I posted this over at cfc too
I'd like to take you on a journey, one I may not be able to continue but for the more adventuresome out there, the mystery awaits... As I-70 runs through eastern Utah northwest of Moab there lies a small town called Green River named for the nearby river.
The Green and Colorado Rivers meet further south about 70 miles in Canyonlands Nat'l Park southwest of Moab... Its a desolate yet beautiful land, twisting canyons inspired the naming of this section of the park called "The Maze" for its labyrinth-like structures of red rock lined canyons - dont go there without telling others, and go prepared. I wasn't prepared almost 30 years ago, but I lucked out.
Actually I turned back from entering the Maze, I came to a very long, very steep dirt and rock road and as I started down it with my Toyota pick up, I quickly realized my 2 wheel drive vehicle would not make it out and I'd be stranded - and dead. So I put it in reverse and after depositing a little rubber on the rock I fortunately pulled back away from my impending demise.
I wanted to visit the Maze but being denied by the harsh terrain and that enormous incline I turned around heading back north past the ranger's station to my other destination which I had passed by on the way down from Green River - Horseshoe Canyon and some the country's finest rock art - The Great Gallery. I had this dream of visiting the place for years, the rock art was featured on the back of a book I had on North American geology. I think the book was titled "Making of the Continent", I probably have it lying around here somewhere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Canyon_(Utah)
I did eventually see the Great Gallery, but the mystery I discovered was located to its north within walking distance of the dirt road leading to Green River. I pulled off the road into the sand that had been piled up by the grader and as I got out of my truck a horny toad I had disturbed was peaking out at me. I apologized for running him over, but he seemed to take it all in stride, the sand cushioned the blow for him.
I dont know why I chose that spot, just dumb luck I guess. As I started to explore I could hear rattlesnakes everywhere, the rattling seemed to come at me from every direction but up. I walked down from the road and came upon a strange rock formation. It was maybe 4 ft high and elongated kinda like the top half of a football about 15-20 ft long.
I noticed a series of ridges in the rock and the surrounding floor, they were lines and they ran everywhere in circular formations, but they seemed to focus on this rock and a bunch of these raised ridges measuring in millimeters met at a hole that was punched or drilled thru the top of the rock. As I peered thru the hole it was aimed just above the horizon to the southeast.
I concluded this was not happenstance, I was looking thru a sight hole someone made long ago for observing the rising of some celestial object. This naturally got my attention, so I began wandering about the site. I soon found on the rock floor a depiction of a 'human' skull in turquoise. The mouth was open wide giving the impression of a split between it and the rest of the skull.
This confirmed for me people had been there and they were responsible for the strange lines and sight hole in the rock formation. I still have pictures of the site somewhere, I showed the skull to an archaeologist at the University of Kansas. He asked me what I thought of it and I told him it was the skull of creation
- a common theme in mythology is the splitting of a being or head to form heaven and earth and that was the impression I got looking at it.
Anyway, I said hello to a baby rattler that was making a fuss at my presence and I continued exploring. Oh yeah, now I remember why I pulled off the road. A bit further down (south) the road heading to the rangers' station and another road leading to the west (actually I should have come in that way, its closer than driving south from Green River) I saw from the road a 'birdman'.
Looked like a carving in stone of a man with wings looking up above the horizon. That was unusual enough to pique my interest so my exploration actually began there. On the way down from Green River I did see just to the west a large depiction of a white bird on a rock wall. Course I got out to investigate, it made me think of the various Indian legends of the great bird occupying a conspicuous role in mythology.
Back to the rock... and the mystery. Running north-south over the rock were two parallel ruts. They were maybe 2-3 inches deep and were located a few feet 'west' of the sight hole and about 2 ft apart from each other. Unfortunately I'm not a trained astronomer much less archaeo-astronomer so I didn't try to line up the sight hole with any obvious objects like the winter solstice, but my guestimate is the hole lined up maybe 50-60 degrees south of an east-west line.
Now here's the mystery - I got out my binoculars and observed the land to the south beyond the rock and what I couldn't see with the naked eye popped out at me immediately. The terrain was different, the two ruts continued on all the way to the horizon. Not the ruts themselves, but the vegetation was different. I could see parallel lines running maybe a 1/2 mile to a mile south heading for Horseshoe Canyon and the Great Gallery.
When I say the vegetation was different, its hard to explain or describe. But the color changed, what was green became interrupted by a lighter color, then some more green, and then another lighter patch. But they were lines, it was not some blurring or blending of colors - they were damn near just as noteworthy as the ruts themselves.
But I couldn't see it without the binoculars... It was as if the terrain had been changed so profoundly plants and shrubs changed color to align themselves with the ruts. What in the hell was I looking at? Was the soil permanently modified from a time long ago, perhaps even 9,000 years? I wish I had notified park archaeologists, the site is definitely deserving of excavation with help from an archaeo-astronomer.
I do hope to return before I pass on from this world... And aside from the animals I'm left taking care of, not much is holding me back now. Its at the top of my bucket list... And I got 4 wheel drive this time! Eh, I didn't need it back then to find this mystery, its only ~50 yards from the only road in the area maybe a mile or so past the entrance to Horseshoe Canyon.
Moab is a strange place, its a haven for bikers, not the motorized ones. People go there to ride bikes all over the rock. Now maybe the visually stunning land was making me hallucinate, but I could see rock carvings galore. The birdman, a giant bison (?) head, somebody even carved a home out of the rock (hole in the rock?) more recently just south of Moab. And of course the natl parks, Island in the Sky overlooking the confluence of Green and Colorado Rivers, Arches Natl Monument (yeah, Indiana Jones).
If anyone is interested in finding this rock I can probably provide a bit more detail, as I recall I passed by the road that branches off to the entrance to Horseshoe Canyon heading south. The road I was on meets another one coming in from the west and 24 maybe 2-5 miles past the site and the ranger's station is a few more miles south of that junction. I'd guess the rock is about a mile or so from the parking area for hikers making the descent into the canyon and the Great Gallery.
I'd like to take you on a journey, one I may not be able to continue but for the more adventuresome out there, the mystery awaits... As I-70 runs through eastern Utah northwest of Moab there lies a small town called Green River named for the nearby river.
The Green and Colorado Rivers meet further south about 70 miles in Canyonlands Nat'l Park southwest of Moab... Its a desolate yet beautiful land, twisting canyons inspired the naming of this section of the park called "The Maze" for its labyrinth-like structures of red rock lined canyons - dont go there without telling others, and go prepared. I wasn't prepared almost 30 years ago, but I lucked out.
Actually I turned back from entering the Maze, I came to a very long, very steep dirt and rock road and as I started down it with my Toyota pick up, I quickly realized my 2 wheel drive vehicle would not make it out and I'd be stranded - and dead. So I put it in reverse and after depositing a little rubber on the rock I fortunately pulled back away from my impending demise.
I wanted to visit the Maze but being denied by the harsh terrain and that enormous incline I turned around heading back north past the ranger's station to my other destination which I had passed by on the way down from Green River - Horseshoe Canyon and some the country's finest rock art - The Great Gallery. I had this dream of visiting the place for years, the rock art was featured on the back of a book I had on North American geology. I think the book was titled "Making of the Continent", I probably have it lying around here somewhere.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Canyon_(Utah)
I did eventually see the Great Gallery, but the mystery I discovered was located to its north within walking distance of the dirt road leading to Green River. I pulled off the road into the sand that had been piled up by the grader and as I got out of my truck a horny toad I had disturbed was peaking out at me. I apologized for running him over, but he seemed to take it all in stride, the sand cushioned the blow for him.
I dont know why I chose that spot, just dumb luck I guess. As I started to explore I could hear rattlesnakes everywhere, the rattling seemed to come at me from every direction but up. I walked down from the road and came upon a strange rock formation. It was maybe 4 ft high and elongated kinda like the top half of a football about 15-20 ft long.
I noticed a series of ridges in the rock and the surrounding floor, they were lines and they ran everywhere in circular formations, but they seemed to focus on this rock and a bunch of these raised ridges measuring in millimeters met at a hole that was punched or drilled thru the top of the rock. As I peered thru the hole it was aimed just above the horizon to the southeast.
I concluded this was not happenstance, I was looking thru a sight hole someone made long ago for observing the rising of some celestial object. This naturally got my attention, so I began wandering about the site. I soon found on the rock floor a depiction of a 'human' skull in turquoise. The mouth was open wide giving the impression of a split between it and the rest of the skull.
This confirmed for me people had been there and they were responsible for the strange lines and sight hole in the rock formation. I still have pictures of the site somewhere, I showed the skull to an archaeologist at the University of Kansas. He asked me what I thought of it and I told him it was the skull of creation
- a common theme in mythology is the splitting of a being or head to form heaven and earth and that was the impression I got looking at it.Anyway, I said hello to a baby rattler that was making a fuss at my presence and I continued exploring. Oh yeah, now I remember why I pulled off the road. A bit further down (south) the road heading to the rangers' station and another road leading to the west (actually I should have come in that way, its closer than driving south from Green River) I saw from the road a 'birdman'.
Looked like a carving in stone of a man with wings looking up above the horizon. That was unusual enough to pique my interest so my exploration actually began there. On the way down from Green River I did see just to the west a large depiction of a white bird on a rock wall. Course I got out to investigate, it made me think of the various Indian legends of the great bird occupying a conspicuous role in mythology.
Back to the rock... and the mystery. Running north-south over the rock were two parallel ruts. They were maybe 2-3 inches deep and were located a few feet 'west' of the sight hole and about 2 ft apart from each other. Unfortunately I'm not a trained astronomer much less archaeo-astronomer so I didn't try to line up the sight hole with any obvious objects like the winter solstice, but my guestimate is the hole lined up maybe 50-60 degrees south of an east-west line.
Now here's the mystery - I got out my binoculars and observed the land to the south beyond the rock and what I couldn't see with the naked eye popped out at me immediately. The terrain was different, the two ruts continued on all the way to the horizon. Not the ruts themselves, but the vegetation was different. I could see parallel lines running maybe a 1/2 mile to a mile south heading for Horseshoe Canyon and the Great Gallery.
When I say the vegetation was different, its hard to explain or describe. But the color changed, what was green became interrupted by a lighter color, then some more green, and then another lighter patch. But they were lines, it was not some blurring or blending of colors - they were damn near just as noteworthy as the ruts themselves.
But I couldn't see it without the binoculars... It was as if the terrain had been changed so profoundly plants and shrubs changed color to align themselves with the ruts. What in the hell was I looking at? Was the soil permanently modified from a time long ago, perhaps even 9,000 years? I wish I had notified park archaeologists, the site is definitely deserving of excavation with help from an archaeo-astronomer.
I do hope to return before I pass on from this world... And aside from the animals I'm left taking care of, not much is holding me back now. Its at the top of my bucket list... And I got 4 wheel drive this time! Eh, I didn't need it back then to find this mystery, its only ~50 yards from the only road in the area maybe a mile or so past the entrance to Horseshoe Canyon.
Moab is a strange place, its a haven for bikers, not the motorized ones. People go there to ride bikes all over the rock. Now maybe the visually stunning land was making me hallucinate, but I could see rock carvings galore. The birdman, a giant bison (?) head, somebody even carved a home out of the rock (hole in the rock?) more recently just south of Moab. And of course the natl parks, Island in the Sky overlooking the confluence of Green and Colorado Rivers, Arches Natl Monument (yeah, Indiana Jones).
If anyone is interested in finding this rock I can probably provide a bit more detail, as I recall I passed by the road that branches off to the entrance to Horseshoe Canyon heading south. The road I was on meets another one coming in from the west and 24 maybe 2-5 miles past the site and the ranger's station is a few more miles south of that junction. I'd guess the rock is about a mile or so from the parking area for hikers making the descent into the canyon and the Great Gallery.