5th gen 4Runners in scenic locations

Entered JT through Berdoo Canyon Road

 

I've always wanted to get up to Gettysburg. I'm not exactly a Civil War historian, but there are several places here in Mississippi with battlefield sights. One of those being Vicksburg. During Grant's campaign of 1862-1863, Grants has minor small wins from KY pushing into TN pushing into MS. The small victories, while noteworthy, only helped push Union forces deep in the South. One of the oddities about the Vicksburg campaign, was it's long lasting "ill will" towards July 4 (which was the date Vicksburg surrendered to Grant's army). It wasn't until Dwight D. Eisenhower visited Vicksburg on July 4, 1947 (post WW2) that the city FINALLY celebrated Independence Day.

I've gone to Vicksburg a couple of times, and the old county courthouse is now museum. And has several newspaper displays talking about Eisenhower's visit.

 

Well, why didn't you post a pic of the ancient pictographs at the mouth of Paint Rock? These are what gave it the name Paint Rock.

 

At this rate, we will run into each other eventually, I hope not on a blind corner.
I also went through Rattlesnake/Garfield Flats. Paint Rock is a bit more remote; you an archeo type?

 

Not necessarily. But for nearly 60 years now I've been exploring Nevada on both two wheels and four. So there's not much of it I haven't seen. I lived in Gabbs for 22 years so Paint Rock was just a short ride away.
Elephant Rock, near Grantsville south of Ione. Photo taken about 1980.

 

I was just in Gettysburg for the first time when I took that picture, yesterday. We spent the day. I found it to be a really cool town and the Civil War history is fascinating. There's numerous museums including the NPS "official" museum, a driving tour, and probably 1000 monuments to various regiments and soldiers. Standing where the Union and Confederates stood in 1863 really put me "in the frame" so to speak. I have been delaying going for twenty years so I'm glad I finally unassed myself on this trip to somewhere else. On the way there, the day before, we also spent a few hours at the nearby Flight 93 memorial which is also a very worthwhile trip.

 

I always tell people if they are planning on going to Vicksburg, go in early July. It's hot and muggy. Put yourself in those SAME conditions as those Union and Confederate soldiers, and you'll appreciate that AC (which is true of any summer in Mississippi). But Vicksburg is very much like Gettysburg -- lot of monuments dotted throughout the park dedicated to various regiments and companies.

 

The trailhead mesa doesn't photograph well, but the 50 miles of dirt road to get here is one reason I chose the 4R for this trip.

 

Do they do anything to the rockface to prevent the pictographs from disappearing in the searing heat? I know weather and time do take their tolls, but wasn't sure if anything was put on there to preserve them as best as possible?

 

Good shots of the Great Gallery! Were these done recently? Wondering how much water was coming down the canyon? I hiked that in October so there was minimal flow...but there were patches of quicksand.




Of all the petroglyphs I saw on those walls this is my favorite. Always trying to figure out just what the hunter with the bow on the extreme right was shooting at. Looks like the two animals in the back might be elk but that animal nearest the hunter is SO much larger! And what was that thing on the extreme left portraying? Any ideas?

 

The best practice is to leave the art alone. We are losing rock art to geological processes like spalling, as well as due to lichen growing over them, but the experts generally oppose removing the lichen. I have seen features cemented back together after vandalism though. As the rock art ages, it will re-patinate with desert varnish, showing us which are the older elements. Here's a typical site along the shores of prehistoric Lake Lahontan, Nevada, the oldest rock art in North America which has been successfully dated. About 12,000 years old.

 

I don't think they've done anything here, but there are other places where I suspect something has been done.

It was awful dry in April, just a couple small stagnant pools remained. I did run into smaller bits of quicksand in some side canyons elsewhere in UT.

I liked that hunting pictograph a lot also. I'm nearly positive that bigger animal is a bison. There are other bison pictographs in the region with more recognizable body shape and tail, but very similar horns. That one is more recent than the Barrier Canyon style since the bow and arrow came along somewhat later.

 

Sadly, the large abstract green pictograph at Perfect Kiva has degraded a lot in the last 13 years. A couple big pieces have flaked off and are laying on the sand in the alcove.

 

What trail is this ?

 

Pilot Rock Trail, with Silverwood Lake, Summit Valley and Mount Baldy in the background.

 

Pretty sure it’s mt San Antonio not baldy. Don’t know trail name. We jumped on off of Anadale Dr in Lake arrowhead and took it down towards Cajon Pass.

 

Wow, what are those?!? Are there any theories or stories of what those petroglyghs represent? I’m not saying it was aliens, but wow!

 

This is the site in UT for which the Barrier Canyon pictograph style was named. The place itself was subsequently renamed Horseshoe Canyon. A wide range of dates are suspected, but IMO, the most likely is 1500-2000 years ago. Other Desert Archaic rock art is thousands of years older. I have some issues with the designation of the Desert Archaic culture, since it covers such an enormous span of space and time, especially compared to what came later. More likely, there are important undiscovered regional and temporal distinctions.

Elements of the style are clearly evident in the subsequent Fremont culture (which has a more sensible definition in time and space) and even the Ancestral Puebloan culture that had some overlap with the Fremont.

 

No one really knows. Trained archeologists will be the first to tell you they really don't know what they represent.

 

It goes by both. Different names for the same peak.

This the sign on the way up:



This is at the top:



This is what that plaque says:

 

One more!

 

White Mountains NH

 

Next year we need to do a trip to some of these types of places, my 9yr old daughter is ALL about dinosaurs and fossils so we are going to hit some places like these next year with some planning @Bodie the Dog, we are looking at a big trip through death valley etc

 

Does this count? Barnwell Mtn off road park during Toyota Jamboree

 

This is a great trip for kids that age. The canyon bottom is a sand slog and it's a bit steep coming out, but neither of them is very long and there are several points of interest along the way to stop for breaks.

 

We might flat tow our 71 CJ5 on the highway miles and disconnect for all the fun stuff so my wife and I can both drive and have fun! Gas prices be damned! At least we will have self recovery options! Haha