Finding Petroglyphs

Sunday afternoon we, my little family and my parents, headed down to the park, Capitol Reef National Park. We had a fun little picnic at the Chesnut Picnic Area, named that because it is where my great grandma's home used to be. It was such a nice day, the weather was so perfect.

After we ate our lunch, we climbed a little hill up to some petroglyphs. Poor Matt and my dad had to pack Kendal everywhere with that darn broken leg!

Look at all that popcorn popping on those apricot trees in the orchard below Matt and Kelsey. Spring Spring Spring!

The petroglyphs we hiked up to are on a big panel that covers quite a bit of rock wall. There were amazing sheep and then some other neat looking people carved into the rock. I think they figure these petroglyphs to be from around 600 to 800 AD.

Me and my mom.

My mom and dad, they are so cute!

While we were on the top of that hill, my dad looked across the little valley and remembered some other petroglyphs that he saw once when he was setting a power pole on the other side of the river. We decided to go try and find them. We crossed the road and got to the river. My dad and I were the only ones that wanted wet shoes, so we went across.

My mom, Kendal, and Matt stayed on the right side of the river. I think my mom kept Kendal busy with her cell phone. Kendal loves any buttons to push!

It took us awhile to find them, and we had almost given up when I finally saw some marks in the rock. This is what I saw. You probably can't see it very well, but I saw this person's skirt and its headdress along with about 5 other skirts and different heads/hats etched into the rock wall.

Then I kept moving and saw these petroglyphs that were clearer to see. These are all up on the rock wall about 15 or 20 feet over my head.

Kelsey is such a little rock climber and she loved climbing all day long. She also liked looking for writings on the wall too. This one was her favorite. The circle is about 2 feet in diameter.

Matt, my mom, and Kendal on the right side of the river patiently waiting while my dad and I tromped through the sand, rocks, and brush. They are so nice!

On our way back through the river. My dad is throwing a deer antler Kelsey FOUND (my dad had to place it right in front of her!) over the river so she wouldn't drop it in the river on her piggy back ride back over.

What a super spring day at 'home.' I always love going down there for a weekend or two. Now that we are 'home' in Heber - laundry.