Jorgenson and Pleasant Creek Flats

May 30-31, 2020

After hiking at Paradise Flats all day, Chris and I found ourselves near Park’s Pasture on the east side of Boulder Mountain for the night. It’s one of my favorite places to camp, having spent six nights there over the past four years. After settling down at camp, Chris talked to his fiancée Dollie on the phone and we learned about the riots in Salt Lake City just a couple of blocks from their home near the state capitol. Luckily she wasn’t in any danger as long as she hunkered down in their apartment, so while we felt helpless there really wasn’t any need to go rushing home.

Camp spot near Park’s Pasture
Camp spot near Park's Pasture

Chris talking to Dollie, learning about the riots near their home in SLC
Chris talking to Dollie, learning about the riots near their home in SLC


On Sunday Chris and I drove a short distance down the road and hiked along all the cliffs at Jorgenson Flat. I’d heard about some great rock art there and at Pleasant Creek Flats, but we were sorely disappointed after a full day’s worth of exploring the area. We walked along all the cliffs on the south and east sides of Jorgenson Flat and didn’t really find that much of interest. There were a couple of potsherds, some mediocre petroglyphs and pictographs, and a single inscription.

Fence on Jorgenson Flat
Fence on Jorgenson Flat

Happy birthday!
Happy birthday!

Potsherds
Potsherds

Cliffs
Cliffs

Jorgenson Flat
Jorgenson Flat

Bird shit
Bird shit

Chris examining some cliffs
Chris examining some cliffs

Broken point
Broken point

Jorgenson Flat petroglyphs
Jorgenson Flat petroglyphs

Jorgenson Flat petroglyphs
Jorgenson Flat petroglyphs

Corral against some cliffs
Corral against some cliffs

Dead deer
Dead deer

Sam F. Allen
Sam F. Allen

Pictograph lines
Pictograph lines

Barrel below an overhang
Barrel below an overhang

Shaped stone
Shaped stone

Faded pictographs
Faded pictographs


Next we drove farther down the road and hiked along an old road that crosses Pleasant Creek and climbs up to Pleasant Creek Flats. After crossing the creek we found a lichen-covered rock with “BR HES 164” carved into it. I later found out that it was a bearing rock for a land survey, and we ran across two others during the hike. We hiked along all of the cliff bands along the north side of Pleasant Creek Flats and found many inscriptions, a little bit of rock art, and several alcoves with metates inside. The petroglyphs were pretty good but still not what I had been led to believe was there, so I suppose there’s something I missed.

Old road leading into Pleasant Creek
Old road leading into Pleasant Creek

BR (Bearing Rock) H.E.S. 164
BR (Bearing Rock) H.E.S. 164

Pleasant Creek crossing
Pleasant Creek crossing

Pleasant Creek Flats
Pleasant Creek Flats

Overhang with many inscriptions
Overhang with many inscriptions

Austin Hiskey, May 24, 1936
Austin Hiskey, May 24, 1936

Robert Allen, May 29, 1950, Teasdale
Robert Allen, May 29, 1950, Teasdale

Elmer Thompson, May 27, 1938
Elmer Thompson, May 27, 1938

Broken metate
Broken metate

Carving of a bull
Carving of a bull

Pleasant Creek Flats petroglyphs
Pleasant Creek Flats petroglyphs

Pleasant Creek Flats petroglyphs
Pleasant Creek Flats petroglyphs

Fake petroglyphs
Fake petroglyphs

BR (Bearing Rock) H.E.S. ???
BR (Bearing Rock) H.E.S. ???

1 BR (Bearing Rock) H.E.S. 191
1 BR (Bearing Rock) H.E.S. 191

Chris checking out some petroglyphs
Chris checking out some petroglyphs

Glen Canyon Linear style petroglyphs
Glen Canyon Linear style petroglyphs

Glen Canyon Linear style petroglyphs
Glen Canyon Linear style petroglyphs

Yet another alcove
Yet another alcove

View out of an alcove
View out of an alcove

Broken metate
Broken metate

Broken metate
Broken metate

Metate
Metate

Pleasant Creek Flats
Pleasant Creek Flats

Metate
Metate

Metate
Metate

Alcove
Alcove


As Chris and I reached the north side of Pleasant Creek Flats and exhausted all the possible rock art locations, we headed back across the flat and got absolutely dumped on with rain. I had my rain jacket in my pack so we stopped to shelter under a large juniper while I donned it, but Chris wasn’t as prepared and ended up getting soaked. I never got my camera out again during the downpour, and after we reached the Jeep we just high-tailed it toward home. We never did see any of the supposedly great rock art we were expecting, but I wouldn’t say the day was wasted. We saw some things that few people do and got a little exercise in as well.

Walking across Pleasant Creek Flats before a big rainstorm
Walking across Pleasant Creek Flats before a big rainstorm


Photo Gallery: Jorgenson and Pleasant Creek Flats

9 thoughts on “Jorgenson and Pleasant Creek Flats

  1. Thanks again Dennis! Perhaps of interest, Austin Hiskey was my Dad’s “older” cousin. Dad, as a young boy, idolized Austin in every way, but especially for his cowboy skills. The story goes that while young (teenager) Austin was riding a bucking horse he ruptured his appendix. He died as a result. My father honored his memory his whole life. H (Harold) Hiskey passed away last year in his 90’s.

    Austin shared his name on the quakie trees behind the Wildcat RS, in a prolific manner, on the east end of the Boulder.

    Elmer Thompson was a sheepherder for Emery King. His name is inscribed on the rocks adjacent to the “The Blind Trail” to the Henry’s.

    Thanks, again.

    1. That’s some great info, thanks Lyman. I always enjoy knowing more about the people whose marks I find out there.

    1. No, at least I don’t think so. A friend told me about a couple of rock art sites in the area but nothing I found matched her descriptions. I went back twice after this trip and still didn’t find any notable rock art.

        1. Ahh, yes, I did go there. Here’s my photo from below the same alcove. That was the last alcove I visited on that trip, and there wasn’t much inside except for several broken metates and some charcoal writings, none of which really looked prehistoric.

          1. The photo link doesn’t work. I just get a minus sign in a circle. According to the report there is some RA but it might be hard to see. There is a pic in the Morss report that is chalked. They evidently found quite a lot of clay figures there. Was the cave in that long cliff area N of Pleasant Creek Flat?

          2. I think the link should be fixed now. Yep, that’s the right location–we walked the length of that entire cliff.

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