napatony13
Member
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2021
- Messages
- 145
I combined a few vague clues in a 30 year-old rock art newsletter, a rough site sketch in a 60 year-old book, and a few hours squinting at satellite images on Google Earth to locate what sounded like a fairly significant but mostly unknown petroglyph site in Western Nevada. It was surveyed in the 1970s and was said to be a hunting site with blinds, stone habitation rings, and rock art on more than 800 different boulders. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places (address restricted) a few years later. After that there seems to be no mention of it.
![CaptureSAT.JPG CaptureSAT.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98382-56bbfd5f30f07597ad959f53fbda4d74.jpg)
Basalt Ridge with possible habitation site clearings...FROM SPACE!
I drove out there on Saturday to investigate, and after navigating about 15 miles of well-maintained gravel road I got to within a quarter mile of the site. A brief surveillance with my binoculars failed to turn anything up, and a quick walk up and down the road didn’t reveal any trails…I began to worry that I might not be in the correct location.
Undeterred, I rock-hopped across a small stream, plunged into the brush and made my way towards the boulder-strewn ridgeline.
![IMG_1244 (2).JPG IMG_1244 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98383-f4ebba4b0adc2e6f84e2440005c6d526.jpg)
Once there it didn’t take long to confirm that I was in the right spot. The rock walls of this hunting blind was the first thing I spotted.
![IMG_1241 (2).JPG IMG_1241 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98386-cbd80951f02ebcbbd8b43f1b68313e91.jpg)
That was quickly followed by petroglyphs…lots and lots of petroglyphs.
![IMG_1204 (3).JPG IMG_1204 (3).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98390-fc1331f6fe86203b6af463a6f8dbbf7f.jpg)
![IMG_1198 (2).JPG IMG_1198 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98387-67e26e327169eafc0a9628c57271d23b.jpg)
![IMG_1199 (2).JPG IMG_1199 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98388-ff63f18acfe9f6fbb16a08155ab3f9e6.jpg)
![IMG_1223 (2).JPG IMG_1223 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98392-b046aeb41555f87a0229dd27bf42727d.jpg)
![IMG_1227 (2).JPG IMG_1227 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98393-76b9574bdba19bbba6c1c44ab3e8a32c.jpg)
![IMG_1206 (2).JPG IMG_1206 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98391-63c019278900db0da7b99aa3183a4468.jpg)
![IMG_1230 (2).JPG IMG_1230 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98395-79a00610228bf8eff433a6274ec2fcbd.jpg)
Once up on the ridge I reached the stone circles I was able to see from the satellite images.
![IMG_1215 (2).JPG IMG_1215 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98399-584bbee4328a90615fabe1ba56e878e4.jpg)
![IMG_1239 (2).JPG IMG_1239 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98400-630bad22ae570047a242ef1f7156abf6.jpg)
There was more rock art to be found, and I'm sure I missed quite a few. Some of them were quite unusual, like this large (3') leaf/plant glyph:
![IMG_1228 (3).JPG IMG_1228 (3).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98401-c6dd5cee04d0243b12b3921b00b69199.jpg)
This one looked to me like a deer that was splayed out and about to be butchered:
![IMG_1226 (3).jpg IMG_1226 (3).jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98396-6b3a18daa493678351ab637d6ecf1bb7.jpg)
Bighorn sheep are commonly depicted in rock art, but it's unusual to see them depicted in this "head-on" three dimensional manner:
![IMG_1236 (4).JPG IMG_1236 (4).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98398-48612104bd952988b3c2c2ea3e3000f2.jpg)
![IMG_1235 (2).JPG IMG_1235 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98397-f3e0d5d35c0f96e56e127ab2945daf15.jpg)
While it wasn’t the most elaborate rock art I’ve ever seen, the “cool factor” was top notch. I wouldn’t see a single footprint other than my own all afternoon, so successfully solving the location riddle brought a certain sense of accomplishment. All I could think about as I admired their work was how incredibly fortunate I was to be having this experience. The ancient hunters had pecked these stones to record and celebrate their successful hunts, and I was feeling a little of that same satisfaction.
![CaptureSAT.JPG CaptureSAT.JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98382-56bbfd5f30f07597ad959f53fbda4d74.jpg)
Basalt Ridge with possible habitation site clearings...FROM SPACE!
I drove out there on Saturday to investigate, and after navigating about 15 miles of well-maintained gravel road I got to within a quarter mile of the site. A brief surveillance with my binoculars failed to turn anything up, and a quick walk up and down the road didn’t reveal any trails…I began to worry that I might not be in the correct location.
Undeterred, I rock-hopped across a small stream, plunged into the brush and made my way towards the boulder-strewn ridgeline.
![IMG_1244 (2).JPG IMG_1244 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98383-f4ebba4b0adc2e6f84e2440005c6d526.jpg)
Once there it didn’t take long to confirm that I was in the right spot. The rock walls of this hunting blind was the first thing I spotted.
![IMG_1241 (2).JPG IMG_1241 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98386-cbd80951f02ebcbbd8b43f1b68313e91.jpg)
That was quickly followed by petroglyphs…lots and lots of petroglyphs.
![IMG_1204 (3).JPG IMG_1204 (3).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98390-fc1331f6fe86203b6af463a6f8dbbf7f.jpg)
![IMG_1198 (2).JPG IMG_1198 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98387-67e26e327169eafc0a9628c57271d23b.jpg)
![IMG_1199 (2).JPG IMG_1199 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98388-ff63f18acfe9f6fbb16a08155ab3f9e6.jpg)
![IMG_1223 (2).JPG IMG_1223 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98392-b046aeb41555f87a0229dd27bf42727d.jpg)
![IMG_1227 (2).JPG IMG_1227 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98393-76b9574bdba19bbba6c1c44ab3e8a32c.jpg)
![IMG_1206 (2).JPG IMG_1206 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98391-63c019278900db0da7b99aa3183a4468.jpg)
![IMG_1230 (2).JPG IMG_1230 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98395-79a00610228bf8eff433a6274ec2fcbd.jpg)
Once up on the ridge I reached the stone circles I was able to see from the satellite images.
![IMG_1215 (2).JPG IMG_1215 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98399-584bbee4328a90615fabe1ba56e878e4.jpg)
![IMG_1239 (2).JPG IMG_1239 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98400-630bad22ae570047a242ef1f7156abf6.jpg)
There was more rock art to be found, and I'm sure I missed quite a few. Some of them were quite unusual, like this large (3') leaf/plant glyph:
![IMG_1228 (3).JPG IMG_1228 (3).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98401-c6dd5cee04d0243b12b3921b00b69199.jpg)
This one looked to me like a deer that was splayed out and about to be butchered:
![IMG_1226 (3).jpg IMG_1226 (3).jpg](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98396-6b3a18daa493678351ab637d6ecf1bb7.jpg)
Bighorn sheep are commonly depicted in rock art, but it's unusual to see them depicted in this "head-on" three dimensional manner:
![IMG_1236 (4).JPG IMG_1236 (4).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98398-48612104bd952988b3c2c2ea3e3000f2.jpg)
![IMG_1235 (2).JPG IMG_1235 (2).JPG](https://backcountrypost.com/data/attachments/98/98397-f3e0d5d35c0f96e56e127ab2945daf15.jpg)
While it wasn’t the most elaborate rock art I’ve ever seen, the “cool factor” was top notch. I wouldn’t see a single footprint other than my own all afternoon, so successfully solving the location riddle brought a certain sense of accomplishment. All I could think about as I admired their work was how incredibly fortunate I was to be having this experience. The ancient hunters had pecked these stones to record and celebrate their successful hunts, and I was feeling a little of that same satisfaction.