Crow Canyon
Crow Canyon was the one area I thought we might have to skip. The BLM information said a four-wheel drive, high-clearance vehicle was required. When we talked to the lady at the BLM, she thought our 4x4 Explorer should be fine. It rained last week, and we had no idea what the conditions would be today. But the petroglyphs at Crow Canyon made it a place I didn't want to miss.
Crow Canyon is 18 miles down dirt roads the oil companies use to maintain their drilling rigs. Because the roads are used regularly, they are kept in pretty decent shape. You have to be very careful of crazy oil truck drivers, but the roads are pretty good if you don't mind all the washboards. But as soon as we turned off the "main road," we were on our own. We drove down the 4x4 road and saw the Largo Wash with tracks from someone else who had crossed it recently. I shifted into four wheel drive and off we went. The track down into the wash was no problem and the sand in the bottom of the wash was solid. The other side was significantly more exciting. At the edge of the wash was an 18" ridge of sand that we had to jump to get up the hill. The guy before us made a track, but he also bulldozed the sand into a taller ridge when he went through. I could easily see us getting "high-centered," but we managed to plough through--or was it bounce over? Whatever it was, everything in the back went flying and we just hung on.
The
road to the Main Panel
was definitely 4x4-only
as it crossed another smaller wash with deep sand. But the Main Panel was worth it all.
We have seen rock art in California, Utah, and Arizona, but the only place that was better than Crow Canyon
was Horseshoe Canyon ("The Louvre of the West") in Canyonlands.
Horseshoe Canyon is all about scale with the huge figures on the cliff face. The Main Panel of Crow Canyon is all about detail and precision,
with fancy hats thrown in. We walked through the little zigzag gate that keeps the cattle out and then down a path to the petroglyphs.
Walking down the trail (see image at left), the canyon walls provided no clue about the petroglyphs ahead. The petroglyphs included: warriors
with headdresses; a woman with a headdress, skirt, and tassels on her shirt; birds; people riding horses; alien-like creatures; and a detailed corn stalk.
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After shooting for about two hours at the Main Panel, we decided we'd better move on to the Big Warrior Panel, or
we would get caught in the dark. We found the pull-out I'd spotted in Google Earth and then found a trail marker for the Big Warrior. Perfect.
While I was scanning the cliff for our destination, Carol says, "That must be it over there." And right she was. We didn't have a lot
of time to be hunting around, so a definite trail and Carol spotting Big Warrior helped immensely. Big Warrior was about 5 feet tall and looked
a lot like Mike Wazowski in "Monsters Inc." But Big Warrior wasn't the only star in this area. There was also
a four-armed person with a fancy headdress, a cool male Navajo Deity, and a person with a bow and arrow.
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As were leaving Crow Canyon, the sun dipped below the ridges. By the time we drove the 18 miles of dirt road to the highway, it was pitch black. Highway never seemed so smooth as it did tonight after driving the back roads to Crow Canyon.
Since it was right on the way home, we had to make a brief stop at the Dairy Queen for a snack. It topped off a very good day.
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