A Hike with an Archaeologist
The morning started early, I was out the door by 7am to drive into the park for a hike with a park archaeologist and local climbing stewards. We hiked out to a number of different sites to look at pictographs, petroglyphs, bedrock mortars, and areas with midden (darker, almost greasy, stratified deposits in areas that saw regular human use). The goal was to develop an ability to recognize and identify culturally significant areas within the park to help climbers recognize areas that should not be climbed in order to avoid damaging them. These are highly significant areas that, once damaged, cannot be replaced. The park's policy is to keep private any and all information and images related to rock art, and so I took no photos of the many amazing places we saw today, both areas with a single, large, significant image and areas with hundreds of smaller markings. Many were in remarkably beautiful rock formations, and it was hard not to create a visual record. These areas are protected by law, whether in or out of the park, any tampering or sharing of location is not allowed. If you find rock art, enjoy looking, but please don't add to the risk of their loss due to damage by other, less respectful humans; keep your discovery to yourself. Also, be cool: don't touch or climb on them, and for sure don't add your own drawings. These sites were created by the ancestors of people who still live is this area and the art is relative and significant to them.
After the hike I drove over to take the Queen Valley Road again, I just love that area. I spent most of the afternoon packing and cleaning my little room. Due to various factors tonight is my last night in the park for this residency. As always, the end has come too soon, I've hit my groove and could stay and do this happily for several more weeks. At the same time, I miss my family and friends, and it will be nice to be home and back in the swing of my fantastically crazy, chaotic life. It helps to know I will be back in April, I already have a list of must-hike spots.
I had to run a couple quick errands in town, so headed to the Joshua Tree Saloon for a quiet dinner, then back home to pack, go through a few last photos, and plan for my trip home. I'm planning a morning drive through the park before traveling a few hours to my aunt and uncle's house for an overnight visit. I always love time with them, then will make my way through the Mojave Desert to Death Valley for a few days before the long road home to Coeur d'Alene. I will most certainly have photos to share from Death Valley, though I may not be able to post them until I'm home.
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| Queen Valley Road, with some wonderfully large specimens of Joshua Trees. |
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| Wish I had a friend here for scale, this tree is enormous. There an exceptionally tall one on the other side of the road, a little ways down that you can see, towering over the others. |