Shamans Gallery

IntrepidXJ

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Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 5
Wednesday, October 5, 2011

The Original Trip Report on ADVENTR.CO

Visiting the Shamans Gallery, which is also known as the Spirit Shelter, has been high on my to-do list for a while. It is actually the main reason I planned this trip to the Arizona Strip in the first place. We woke up just after sunrise and had some breakfast before driving back into Grand Canyon National Park to the Tuckup Canyon trailhead. We wanted to get an early start so that we didn't end up in the canyon after dark again. After the storm the previous night things were much cooler out and the wind was blowing pretty good all day. The hike down into the canyon was on a much easier trail than our previous hike into another side canyon of the Grand Canyon.

Jared hiking down into Tuckup Canyon ahead of me.


Jared & Tuckup by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Down in the wash, the Spirit Shelter is just up ahead on the left.


Almost There by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A quick view of the pictographs from the wash below.


From Below by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

One more view that shows the location of the Shamans Gallery from a little ways down the wash.


Spirit Shelter by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

This is the left portion of the Shamans Gallery. Many interesting figures found here.


Shamans Gallery by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at two of the more prominent figures painted here. Very unusual.


Ghosts by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

I'm not sure if this figure is supposed to have three heads, but it's eyes have eyelashes painted on, which is something I have not seen before.


Eyelashes by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Another large and elaborate figure further to the right side of the panel.


Circles by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Look closely and you might be able to see the different layers of painted figures over top of each other. This location must have been important for a very long time.


Layers by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

All of these pictographs are painted on the underside of the large overhang.


Overhead by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Looking out from the shelter up the canyon.


From the Shelter by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A large white sheep with an older and faded figure behind it.

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Shamans Sheep by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

These particular pictographs had a lot of green and yellow paint including a few green suns.


Green & Yellow Designs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A wider view of the right portion of the large gallery.


Circles & Spirits by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Another white sheep with a large circular figure, plus what looks like another three-headed figure.


Circle & Sheep by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Jared taking a photograph of the pictographs for a little scale. Many of these figures were life sized. We had to be careful not to back off the ledge while taking photos.


Photographing the Gallery by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

One more view of the larger paintings on the right.


Right Side by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A different view of the large figures on the left.


Shaman Spirits by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We were originally planning on hiking further down-canyon and making a large loop back to the trailhead, but with the storms moving in and the cooler and windy weather we decided to hike back up the way we came after continuing down-canyon just a little bit further. We will have to save exploring the rest of Tuckup Canyon for another trip- maybe once I start backpacking.


Hiking Back by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

When we got back to camp, a cold front was moving in and colder temperatures along with lots of rain and snow were on the way. Once again I decided that I wanted to get another hotel room for the night to avoid the bad weather. As soon as we got camp broken down and loaded in the Jeep, the rain started and didn't stop all night. It was a good choice!

>> Shamans Gallery Photo Gallery
 
WOW! This is the coolest, most unique site I've seen!!!! Awesome job! :twothumbs:
 
What an amazing panel! Thanks for sharing. Those clouds in the last shot are pretty awesome. Nice report.
 
This is a great panel -I've really wanted to make a day trip out here from Kanab. You've inspired me to get it in gear.
 
Gotta see this one. How long was the hike in to the panel from the TH? I've seen the great gallery in Horseshoe and this one looks way more interesting.
 
Well I think your description of the road sealed the deal! I have always read horror stories about 2 popped tires, and yada yada yada! Thanks sometime this spring! Quick question though. I want to take my wife would you suggestion great gallery/area or shamans/toroweap.
 
When I was planning my first trip to Toroweap last year I read all those horror stories and was a little concerned, too. I even went out and bought a small air compressor to keep in my Jeep, just in case. Those stories are all blown WAY out of proportion. The road to Toroweap is an easy graded 2wd road....even in the pouring rain. I was driving 50mph+ on most of it.

The roughest part of the road is the last few miles once you enter GCNP as they don't seem to maintain it in the park. Still, it would be no problem for a vehicle with a bit of clearance....even a Subaru could probably make it to the overlook.
 
I'll have to stick my input in here - I've traveled this road in early spring where it was nearly impassable in my Tacoma. We''re talking deep mud bogs 100-200 feet long - requiring 4-lo plus lockers. It's almost certainly easy when dry - when wet, it's completely different.
 
It was pouring rain while we were out there....I don't recall any serious mud holes
we must have gotten supremely unlucky. best thing was after spending 20 bucks at the carwash to try and spray off all the mud/concrete, I felt a serious wobble in my tires and stopped by discount tire to have them pull them off and take a look. guy didn't even charge me to bang the extra twenty or thirty pounds of mud off the inside of my rim.
 
We'll be in Kanab this August and I would like to visit Toroweap overlook. I wonder if hiking to shamans gallery would be possible. I'm afraid it would just be too hot :-(
 
The toughest part would be hiking back out of the canyon....that would be quite a bit more elevation gain than hiking to and from the Wave. If you are used to hiking in the desert during the summer, I don't think you'd have any issues.
 
My Son and I hiked down to the panel and back up in about 85-90* temps. Coming back up was a little bit hard on my old bad out of (never was in) shape self, but not really all that tough. We had people sitting waiting for us back at the trail head so pushed it a little bit and did the whole thing round trip, including all the picture takeing in under 3 hours.

It was dry when we went and I think I could have driven a Lincoln Town Car to the trail head without much issue - seriously.

- DAA
 

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