After a lackluster day in Tenmile Country, I wanted to hike into Eagle Park in the far northern section of Arches National Park. I didn’t know ahead of time what I would find there but I figured, based on earlier experience in nearby Devil’s Garden, that the prospects of seeing inscriptions and rock art were better here. I started hiking not far from where I’d camped the night before–I actually planned on driving closer but the road was rough and steep and I still haven’t fixed the 4WD in my truck, but I didn’t mind a little extra road walking. The first mile or so took me over a pinyon- and juniper-covered ridge separating Long Valley from Eagle Park. Just outside the Arches boundary I encountered an alcove that had some small boulders with grinding surfaces and a piece of broken metate, but I didn’t see any other artifacts.
View from my parking spot
Tree covered ridge north of Eagle Park
Alcove
Grinding surface on a boulder
Inside the alcove
Another grinding surface
Broken metate
Inside the alcove
I crossed over into the park and hiked into a narrow valley that quickly broadened. I spotted a natural arch that I could barely see through from my perspective but it seemed to have a decent span. The cliff faces had a lot of patina, and hence potential for somebody to write something on them. I found a few pieces of trash that I packed out, and ran into a 1924 inscription by Moises Martinez. The writing looked familiar, and it wasn’t until later in the day when I got back into cell service that I discovered I’d seen a different inscription 11 years earlier in Devil’s Garden that he made three days before this one in Eagle Park. I kept hiking along the cliffs, following the contours of the fins and boulders, and found a couple more inscriptions from about the same era.
Hiking in a wash
Fractured cliffs
Jumble of boulders
A sea of stickery plants
Natural arch
Close-up of the arch
Hydration reservoir that somebody left behind
February 3, 1924, Moises Martinez, Mora, New Mexico (and a turkey or peacock?)
More trash to pack out
Approaching some sandstone fins
Spires
Cow bones
Leaning boulders
The La Sals in the distance
Leaning boulder
+++ Domingo 1938
N. Martinez, Mallo (Mayo?) 23, 1921
The next stretch was more of the same–in and out of the passageways between fins. One such passage was wider at the bottom than at the top and it felt like a big underground room. I was surprised not to find any writings on the walls inside–it would have made for a good shelter in any season.
Tunnel between two fins
Old road through Eagle Park
Fins and spires
Shed deer antler
Slickrock ramp
Eagle Park panorama
Grotto between fins
Grotto between fins
Edge of Eagle Park
Huge pinyon pine
Leaning slab
I reached a long wall with a lot of patina on it. First I saw a faint petroglyph, then behind a couple of trees were many more good ones. Most of them were in partial shade and partial sun and I had to use my hat as a shade in order to get decent photos. Almost all of the glyphs were bighorn sheep of different shapes and sizes. There was another bird glyph made by Moises Martinez as well.
Long wall of patina
Faint petroglyph
Petroglyph wall covered by a tree
Fat-bodied bighorn
Back-to-back bighorns
Faceless bighorn
Biggest bighorn
Shaggy bighorn
More bighorns
Kissing bighorns
Bighorns, canine, snake
Peacock or turkey?
Bird on the wall
After checking out a couple more fissures between the fins I was out of real estate–there were no more cliffs to explore without adding many more miles to the hike. It was a mostly flat and featureless hike back to the truck. I briefly followed an old road to a drill hole, then turned north. At the edge of the park there were T-posts laid out all along the boundary. I suppose the NPS plans on returning to actually erect the fence someday. I still had one more day left on this trip and I drove north into the Book Cliffs and found a place to camp.
Dead end
Tall leaning tree
Old road
Concrete pad
The Pure Oil Co. Northeast Salt Valley Unit 1
Fence posts stockpiled at the park boundary
Photo Gallery: Arches Backcountry VII: Eagle Park