Bluff–Part 2

On the day that I went down the Moki Dugway, I saw the sign for Muley Point.  I wanted to go, but didn’t think I had time that day, so I ended up going back another day.  I had read about Muley Point in a book and also in Jim and Gayle’s blog (I tend to go to a lot of the same places they go!).  This was a neat place.  I had read it was a 5 mile road, but at about 3.5 miles I got to what I thought was the end.  I walked around a bit and took some pictures.  When I started to leave, I knew I had to head back the way I had come.  My GPS was telling me to turn around and I quickly realized that I was not on the same road that I had come in on.  I continued on and found the actual end of the road.  I’m glad I did as both stops were great. 

At the bottom of the Moki Dugway is the Valley of the Gods, which is said to be a miniature Monument Valley.  This was a beautiful place where I mostly did a driving tour, I did get out a couple of times just for a short walk.  The road was dirt and I had read was ok for non-4 wheel drive vehicles.  There were a couple of places that I questioned that statement, but I made it.

There were a couple of signs warning that this was “Open Range” and I saw a few cows and bulls. 

I am the type person who sometimes looks at clouds and rocks and sees something.  In the rock above (the one on the left) I see one of those mechanical monkeys who is beating a drum (he is wearing a hat).  Can anyone else see it??   My sister had one playing the cymbals, but I know I have seen one playing a drum.

Also in the area is Gooseneck State Park.  It’s not hard to see why it is called that.

The San Juan River twists and turns flowing a distance of six miles, but only advances 1.5 miles toward Lake Powell.  There are actually 4 “legs” in this area, but I could only get 3 in the photo.  I guess I need to learn how to stitch together photos for a very wide panoramic shot!

One day I decided to see if I could find the Wolfman Petroglyph panel on the Comb Ridge, that was just 7 or 8 miles from my campground.  I had some instructions and found the parking area quickly, but I still had a bit of problem finding it as the description said to follow the cairns that some people had built and I only found one cairn.  I eventually found the spot that had been described as “you must squeeze between a big boulder and the cliff wall”.  It was bit difficult walking as there was no true trail and was steep in some areas, but I made it.

Above is a picture I took after squeezing thru the crack between the boulder and cliff and then scrambling over the other rocks.  I would guess that the boulder was 5 – 7 feet high (in the middle of the photo). 

I knew I was in the right spot because I had read about the alcove above and I could just make out a small petroglyph just to the right of the alcove.  I had to do a bit of scrambling over slick rock and sand and gravel, but I eventually make it to the petroglyphs, which are etched in the patina (dark area) to the right of the alcove. 

You can see some bullet holes in the pictures where some ignorant person defaced the petroglyphs.

I have read different stories on the name Wolfman.  Some say the picture above may be a Wolfman, while others mention the paw prints in several places on the panel.  They believe these were made by the Anasazi. 

The picture above was taken of the area that I had to walk back thru to get back to the car.  I put a black arrow where the rock boulder is that I had to squeeze thru again (upper left corner). As you can see no trail, or great way of getting there.  But it was great,  I really enjoyed it and would do it again.  Some people may have gotten a laugh at my methods (sliding on my rear a few times, kneeling and crawling in one place), but I tend to be extremely cautious in areas like this.

Just some scenery in the Butler Wash and National Bridges Monument area --

Less than 1/2 mile from my campground is the Twin Rock Cafe and Twin Rocks Trading Post.  You can see why they have their names!