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? |
 |
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 |
