After spending the previous day in Nine Mile Canyon and seeing some high-up rock art from a distance, I returned to climb high above the canyon floor to get a closer look. First, I stopped to look for a petroglyph site that Celia had told me about the day before. There’s a “First Site” in upper Nine Mile Canyon that is so-named for being the first rock art site one encounters when traveling downstream from the head of Nine Mile Creek, but there’s in fact a much-farther-upstream site. Thanks to Celia’s directions I was able to find that site.
“First Site”
I parked my Jeep below the ruins and rock art that we’d seen the day before, and it would remain there most of the rest of the day. I had named the waypoint in my GPS “Awesome!” based just on what could be seen from the road, and it turned out to be much more so up close. There was so much to see in the immediate area that I spent most of the day climbing higher and higher and finding rock art all along the way. At first I saw a few very small petroglyphs and an arrowhead which was the first I’d seen anywhere in Nine Mile.
Unusual wildlife in Nine Mile Canyon
My Grand Cherokee visible through a hole in the wall of a ruin
A panel of small petroglyphs
Tiny sheep petroglyph with my hand for scale
Ooh, a pretty rock! The first I’ve seen in Nine Mile.
Next I encountered the first of several upside-down figures. I can’t help but think the figures represent something, but I’d stop short of guessing what that might be. Another prevalent theme in the area was dots and zig-zag and wavy lines.
Faint upside-down-man (left) and a guy with something strange going on between his legs
Large sheep and associated lines and dots
Wandering line
Small sheep and long squiggly line
Tiny petroglyph
Partially pecked-in sheep
Pecked line and scratched elk
One more common theme was anthropomorphs with antlers or antennae, the first of which was one of the most interesting petroglyphs I’ve seen. It appeared to be a figure with antlers, but one hand was pecked solid, and it appeared to be standing on a tree-like element with a snake-like figure between the legs. Very odd. I climbed higher and found many more surprises–it seemed unusual to find so much rock art so high above the canyon floor.
Anthropomorph with antlers
Wha…?
Anthropomorph and other random petroglyphs
Transverse and square waves
Sheep and dots
Upside-down horned snake
Large (about 6’x6′) panel of diagonal lines and zig-zags
Another upside-down guy
The next interesting petroglyph I encountered was a large grid, almost in the shape of a human figure, but not quite. Next to it was a large, inverted representation of an arrowhead. I stopped for lunch, then climbed yet higher and found a smattering of random petroglyphs, but no more large, cohesive panels.
Large grid and other interesting petroglyphs
Long zig-zag line and a strange sheep
One-horned guy
Running sheep
Antennae man
Big sheep
Shield guy
Curly-tailed sheep
High-up petroglyphs
The sun was almost behind the high canyon walls when I returned via a circuitous route down through the ledges and back to the Jeep. During the drive home I saw many deer, some of which crossed the road in front of me and were kind enough to pose on the hillside next to the road for some photos.
1×2 buck deer
4-point buck
Photo Gallery: Nine Mile Canyon VII: Awesome!