Friends, Mike & Diane, invited us along on an afternoon hike to see if we could locate the Red Man pictograph (
painted on stone rather than
carved into stone) south of Hurricane. We jumped at the chance and began our adventure from the remains of the Fort Pearce ruins (1866) located in the Warner Valley area. We knew that Red Man was approximately a mile west of the fort on the cliff that overlooked Fort Pearce Wash. After a fairly easy half hour hike we pinpointed the rock face we thought the painting was probably on (we had brought along a picture that showed its location). We then began our ascent up from the wash through a boulder field to the base of the cliff right below the canyon rim. Sure enough, there he was in all of his red "iron oxide" glory, facing east and waiting for the sun to rise once again! It was great to explore an area that we hadn't visited in many years and enjoy the history, views, friendship and, of course, Red Man.
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The trail to Red Man starts at the Fort Pearce ruins . . .
From here you can drop down into the wash or stay high on the cliff . . .
Both trails will take you to the same place |
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| We chose to start high and then return following the Fort Pearce Wash back to the trailhead |
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After a half mile we decided to drop down to the wash,
so we could get a better "sense" of where Red Man was located . . .
little did we know he was watching us! |
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| Fort Pearce Wash is located in Warner Valley |
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Checking our map and coordinates, we headed back up to the base of the cliff . . .
we thought we could see Red Man on one of the boulder faces |
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| We scooted through this alcove |
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Then worked our way over and around these huge sandstone boulders . . .
Red Man is located on the boulder face directly above Chipper |
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| There he is . . . we found "Red Man!" |
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| Thanks Diane & Mike . . . we made it! |
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| Red Man is about 4 ft high and he faces to the east |
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| Kent & Allison and Chipper! |
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Looking south at Warner Valley and Fort Pearce Wash from Red Man . . .
The Arizona border is just the other side of the wash |
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| Kent & Chipper high above the valley floor |
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| Chipper said, "Hold that rock, I'll be right back!" |
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| Colorful lichen |
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Traveling back to the trailhead, through the wash, was brushy in places . . .
OUCH, watch out for these thorns! |
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There were several "cowboyglyphs" on the walls of the wash . . .
Pioneers used axle grease from their wagons to leave their signatures on the sandstone |
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| Looking back up to the cliff above Fort Pearce Wash where we originally started |
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| We have come full circle |
