Road Trip 2019- Day 2- Petroglyphs
/The first post about Day 2 was getting too long so I decided another chapter was warranted. After seeing the dinosaur quarry we wanted to see some of the other sites shown on the map.
First we looked for a campsite. This is the Split Mountain Campground set up for group camping. I think this is also where people who are rafting the Green River end their trips. We ended up a little further up the river at the Green River Campground.
Detail of the top of the mountain in the photo above.
There are several points where you can see petroglyphs not far from the road—see the flat part of the red rock. Signs explained that these were made about 1000 years ago by the Fremont People by scraping off the desert varnish to expose the lighter rock beneath.
This is a close-up of the rock in the photo above. Sheep siting!
This is another rock face with a lot of petroglyphs. Visible in this view is a a 6-foot lizard. We walked up a trail to nearer the lizard…
…and this is what we saw—a lot more lizards and some other images.
This is the view back down to the road.
We continued along the road to the Josie Morris Cabin. From the National Monument site: “Josie married five times, and she divorced four husbands in a time when divorce was almost unheard of…Josie was universally admired for living such a remote and rugged lifestyle. Women were respected if they could work alongside the cowhands and run an efficient ranch in addition to being feminine. With no money to buy property, in 1913 Josie decided to homestead in Cub Creek. Here she built her own cabin and lived for over 50 years.” She died in 1864 at age 90 after breaking her hip while living in the cabin.
There are trails up into two box canyons where Josie corraled her livestock.
The homestead is along Cub Creek. What a difference it makes to have water!
This was the only wildlife I photographed so far (unless I can count dinosaurs).
This was the second canyon.
Noticing patterns.
View driving back to the campground.
The campground was right on the Green River.
This was unusual for us—being at the campsite before dark. We had time to explore the area a little, read a book, and write postcards to the grandkids. We had our second meal of leftover pizza but added a can of beans. and the last of our salad that we had brought along.
We sat outside the truck for a long time watching the stars in this area that is known as one of the “Dark Sky Parks". The NPS website says: “Dinosaur National Monument is one of the darkest places remaining in the United States.” As we watched the night sky we realized that the flashes we were beginning to notice were distant lightning. We didn’t hear thunder or see streaks but the light show became more intense. Eventually the storm came our way but it was the middle of the night before we actually saw streaks and heard lightning. I was glad to be sleeping in the truck although we never did get much rain.
