Yesterday we had guests in from Germany who are members of the Caolition to Preserve Rock Art and have done a tremendous amount of hiking and rock art exploration in the Western US.
The experiences remind us how important it is to revisit sites that you think you know completely because you have already visited the site.
Santa Clara Canyon, St, George. A very nice 2-3 mile one-way hike, we found Rock Art that we had not previously seen , and we enjoyed the early morning light as we photographed a couple of key panels.
Anasazi Hill, St. George. This was my first visit since Solstice July 2007. The new Santa Clara Preserve setup by a group of BLM- Ivins- Santa Clara probably provides better protection and may diminishment the intentional, malicious destruction to the site. Unfortunately the strenous hike uphill to the rock art site prevents the disabled and handicapped from enjoying the experience. In this case, it's likely the positives outweigh the negative for the Rock Art enthusiasts.
Gunlock Road, The Rock. Better views were obtained and some clouds in the sky may add to the photographs previously available.
Site #4, Gunlock. Another very interesting visit to this site of interesting horizontal panels. In Q4, 2007 we (Coalition to Preserve Rock At, Dixie Archaeology Society) encouraged the BLM to protect the site. It was evident that there was considerable ATV and foot traffic on the rocks containing the petroglyphs that was degrading the quality of the symbols. BLM has installed warning signs and posts to advise visitors to take care and preserve the Rock Art. Hopefully the signs will reduce the amount of traffic on the petroglyphs. As many of you know, our impression of the BLM is not very high - however, give them credit here, nice job, well done. Hope that it's enough to solve the problem.
