The Vortex

It's known as the Vortex.  This swirled bowl is located at the top of a sandstone ridge and was most likely formed by a vortex of water and wind.  It is quite unique and worth seeing, especially since it's not a hard hike or a long one . . . as long as you know where you are headed!  No kidding, many people have gone looking for the Vortex and after several hours go home defeated.

A cold, but sunny day for a hike with Bruce and his family who are visiting from Texas

Before long we we were up on top

The snow covered Pine Valley Mountains make a nice contrast with the red rocks

The Vortex often has water in the bottom, today it's frozen!

Nancy takes a picture of Chris and James, who are on the north side of the Vortex

The sandstone looks like elephant skin

Chris has his eye on the camel-back formation directly in front of him

They say there's nothing quite like this in Texas . . .
now it's James turn to join his dad up on the hump

Here we are!
Kent & Allison
Matt, James, Chris, Nancy and Bruce 

Heading back to the trailhead through the slickrock valley

Just because it's cold doesn't mean you can't go for a hike!
So get on out there!

Falling Man & 21 Goats

One of the things we enjoy about living in southwest Utah is that the winters are mild.  This allows us time to explore the desert while it's cool and the snakes are asleep!  Our friends Bruce and Ev, who are from Canada (and winter in St. George), had some family in town for Christmas.  Bruce planned an outing with them to see the Falling Man petroglyphs in Gold Butte National Monument of southeast Nevada.  We "kind of" invited ourselves along when Bruce told us of his plans and he was graceful (grateful) enough to take us with them . . . this adventure involved twenty-five miles of back country roads, south of Mesquite, and he felt it would be prudent to have another vehicle accompany the group . . . at least that's what he said!  As we had only heard of this area, we jumped at the offer and enjoyed a fun filled day with our excellent guide (Bruce) who had frequented the site several times in the past.

Joshua trees were scattered about making for a nice contrast in the desert 

The terrain quickly changed

Before long we arrived at Newspaper Rock . . .
Bruce (aka tour guide) couldn't resist posing 

We crawled through this alcove on our way to Falling Man

And here it is . . . the famous "Falling Man" petroglyph for which the area is named
Don't forget to look up after you pass through the alcove or you might miss it! 

This panel was quite different from the others
Notice the footprints . . . we've never seen this in a petroglyph before

They say petroglyphs tell a story . . .
Can you figure this one out? 

Do you think they saw a snake?
Or was it sideways lightning?  Hey, there's one of those footprints, again!

Little did we know, Shrek lived in the area!

We continue on, there's more to see . . . Where's that tour guide, anyway!

This panel was appropriately called 21 Goats . . . yes there were 21!
Okay, they do look more like Big Horn Sheep!

Just a fun little formation . . . no bigger than a foot

After lunch, at 21 Goats, our guide lead us up a wash and over this ridge

On our way back, Bruce took us on a little detour from our original path . . .
he wanted us to see these colorful rocks and more petroglyph panels  

This water pocket was almost too much for Chipper,
he loves water and he flew right over it . . . wow!

Our tour guide was unable to explain these circles
 I wonder what they symbolize? 

Colorful sandstone . . . so pretty! 

We had a nice view of the Virgin Mountains on our way back to the parking corral 

Thanks, Bruce . . . we had a wonderful time!

We drove further up the road to see the cistern at Whitney Pocket,
built in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps

On our drive back, we paused to "reflect" on our day as we looked down on Lake Mead