On our second full day in southwestern Utah, some of our group headed to Moquith Mountain to see the rock art in South Fork of Indian Canyon and Hell Dive Canyon. We took two Jeeps, my “SWELL” WJ and Ken’s “BACON8R” JK. Along the way Kenny played in the sand just outside Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. The road to South Fork of Indian Canyon wasn’t too difficult. The hike below the canyon rim to the pictographs was along a constructed trail that I would imagine was originally a stock trail. A deep alcove held a lot of pictographs, mostly human-like figures with head and ear adornments, all in various shades of red, yellow, and white.
Ken playing in the sand
Parking spot above the South Fork of Indian Canyon
South Fork of Indian Canyon
Constructed trail
Pictograph alcove
Wall covered in pictographs
South Fork of Indian Canyon pictographs
South Fork of Indian Canyon pictographs
South Fork of Indian Canyon pictographs
South Fork of Indian Canyon pictographs
South Fork of Indian Canyon pictographs
South Fork of Indian Canyon pictographs
South Fork of Indian Canyon pictographs
South Fork of Indian Canyon pictographs
Next, we attempted to take a shortcut to Hell Dive Canyon by descending into Water Canyon. While trying to climb up the other side of Water Canyon, we reached a snow-covered ledge that my Jeep couldn’t make it up, so we had to retrace our route and take the long way around the canyon. On the ridge that descends toward Hell Dive, I dropped down a couple of steep hills that I was worried about climbing back up. The road was rough and the going was slow, so we decided to leave my Jeep and pile everyone into Kenny’s Jeep so we could make better time. The pictographs in Hell Dive Canyon were similar in many ways to that we’d seen in the South Fork. There was a lot of green pigment in Hell Dive, along with some baby’s footprint pictographs, a thunderbird, and a Kokopelli figure. There were many boulder metates too, some of which were nearly vertical, though the boulder may have been moved after the first set of metates were made.
Inspecting a ledge in Water Canyon
Tall, snowy ledge on the climb out of Water Canyon
Inside the BACON8R
Hell Dive Canyon pictographs
Hell Dive Canyon pictographs
Hell Dive Canyon pictographs
Hell Dive Canyon pictographs
Hell Dive Canyon pictographs
Hell Dive Canyon pictographs
Boulder metates
Boulder metates
Boulder metates
Hell Dive Canyon pictographs
BACON8R
Hell Dive Canyon
We drove back up the ridge and retrieved my Jeep, and luckily I was able to make it back up the steep sections without needing help from Ken’s winch. We returned back to town and dined and drank with our friends for one last night before Traci and I had to return home the next day.
Photo Gallery: Moquith Mountain