Travelogues
2015 New Mexico & Utah Trip

Thursday, October 22

Sego Canyon

We slept in this morning and relaxed. The skies were overcast, and we had no where to go.

By mid-afternoon, we were getting restless, so we decided to drive to Sego Canyon to see the petroglyphs. We photographed them the last time we were in the area, but it would give us something to do.

The skies were still overcast when we arrived, but we had nice even light for shooting the petroglyphs. The Sego Canyon Petroglyphs are actually three panels on a sandstone formation that juts out into the canyon. The least impressive panel is on the canyon wall behind the parking area and was created in the Ute style of rock art. The Ute rock art appears to be pictographs (painted on the rock). The rock art includes horses, people, a bison, and a couple of interesting circle designs.

Sego Canyon Ute Rock Art

The more prominent rock art in the Fremont style faces the canyon on a huge smooth rock face. This is my favorite panel. The "Fremont Panel" includes bighorn sheep, a beaver, a person shooting a bighorn sheep, and two trapezoidal-shaped humans I call "The King and Queen." They're probably supposed to be two warriors in their fancy costumes, but I like the grin on the"guy" on the left and the hair of the "lady" on the right. I also like the tiny guy with a bow and arrow bigger than himself shooting the larger bighorn sheep.

Sego Canyon Fremont Rock Art Sego Canyon Fremont Rock Art

The third panel was created in the Barrier Canyon style and was on the up-canyon face of the formation. This panel is all alien-like figures painted on the rock surface. The figures are larger than life-size and are somewhere between impressive and creepy. They look like something out of a sci-fi movie. Several of the figures appear to be damaged by "yahoos" and their rifles. I'm not sure what is says about their skills when they have to shoot these huge figures on a rock wall that don't move or shoot back.

Sego Canyon Barrier Canyon Rock Art Sego Canyon Barrier Canyon  Rock Art Sego Canyon Barrier Canyon  Rock Art Sego Canyon Barrier Canyon Rock Art Sego Canyon Barrier Canyon Rock Art

On the way back to camp, we took a back road along the Green River to search for the Nefertiti Petroglyph Panel. We didn't get anywhere near the petroglyph panel. Because of all the rain, the road was closed as soon as the canyon began to narrow. I was disappointed we didn't get to the petroglyphs...until I saw the sky as we drove back out of the canyon. Clouds were pouring across the sky, and the river reflected the sunset light.

As we neared Green River, lightening started flashing across the sky from several areas. Just as we reached Green River, it began to pour. We drove into Green River and parked at a truck stop near the Interstate exit to watch the storm. I fired up the lightening app on my iPhone and tried to capture the lightening strikes. The lightening and thunder continued for over an hour. It was an amazing light show.

Lightening Strike