I hadn’t really intended to visit this canyon again but a recent weather event had me scampering from higher elevations. I had such a great time in 2019 (blog link) that I knew this would be a great place to hang out, explore more of the side roads and canyons, and hopefully find more rock imagery.
The canyon is 46 miles long but became named Nine Mile Canyon when F. M. Bishop on Powell’s expedition to the area did a nine-mile triangulation drawing he named Nine Mile Creek.
Speaking of Powell, I found his glyph as well as some others from that era.
There have been many travelers through this canyon.
The oldest dated autograph I found.
This panel shows at least three sets of travelers and showcases pictographs, petroglyphs, and autographs.
What stories do these images tell?
Some stories are a bit easier to interpret.
I missed this owl panel on my first visit so was thrilled to see it on this trip.
Background
Tips
- A few sites have been made easy to find with signage. Although this one is high on a hillside requiring binoculars or camera zoom.
- This is the resource I used (link). Without it, I wouldn’t have found many of the sites. Few are easily noticeable from the road.
- Often the image panels are well above the road or in side canyons. I climbed up to as many as possible. This is an example of what you see from the road as compared to using zoom and/or hiking to the site..
- Look for the dark varnish surfaces. Often I took a macro photo before hiking up.
- This canyon is a patchwork of private and public lands. I was glad to have Gaia on my phone showing these boundaries.
Resources:
- BLM – Nine Mile Canyon
- Castle Country – Nine Mile Canyon Map
- Climb Utah – Nine Mile Canyon Guide
- Wikipedia – Nine Mile Canyon (worth a read)
Jan's Jaunts and Jabberings 