Parowan Gap Petroglyphs

Parowan Gap near Cedar City is known for its excellent petroglyphs, and everytime I go through, I love to admire them. I hadn't been through the Gap for awhile, and when we went this winter, I was pleasantly surprised to find some nice improvements for visitor recreation.

The BLM had added a small parking lot, restroom, shade ramada with benches, and interpretive signs. It's hard to see under the snow, but they also put in paved walkways so the site is more accessible.

Here's a view looking the other direction.

One thing I really liked about the interpretive signs is that they interpreted the petroglyphs in various ways. The Paiute perspective was highlighted in this sign.

The "Zipper Glyph" is probably the most famous one at Parowan Gap. There was also an explanation about how the petroglyphs could relate to archeoastronomy.

Often I look at petroglyphs and wonder what certain parts mean, and this sign explained some of the symbols.

Across the road we learned about the settlement of Parowan Valley.  The sign also included information about what is historic graffiti, and what is modern graffiti, which is bad and can be prosecuted depending on where it's left.

Desert Girl does her Vanna White impersonation of not-good graffiti.

And here is some historic graffiti.

Back across the road we admired some much older writings.

Some of these were identified with the Hopi perspective.

It was really nice seeing more interpretation of the petroglyphs, it makes me appreciate them even more. For more information, check out this BLM brochure.

Parowan Gap Dinosaur Track Site

We recently took the road through Parowan Gap, which is north of Cedar City and west of the town of Parowan, Utah. The paved road has a sign pointing out the Parowan Gap Dinosaur Track Site. I was so excited to see that, as years ago I had found information on the Internet about the dinosaur tracks, but hadn't been able to locate them. 

A short road led to a parking area and an informational kiosk. Unfortunately most of the posters in the kiosk were so faded by the sun we couldn't read them. One was about Discover Dinosaur Tracks and Preservation, another about Birds of Prey and Climbing. I had no idea that there was rock climbing nearby, that's something we'll have to go check out sometime.

The BLM has a little information about the dinosaur tracks on their website.  The tracks were made by ornithopods, ceratopsians, and theropods in sandstone of the Iron Springs Formation. The most obvious ones are in large fallen boulders on the valley bottom. You can find a lot more info about the tracks in the Milner et al. 2006 paper.

We followed the trail and found that some of the tracks were quite obvious, jutting out of the boulders.

Soon it was a race to the next track.

The metal track markers were very helpful.

It was chilly and late afternoon, so our visit was quite brief, but we look forward to returning. There is a lot to see in this small canyon. Up next: recent improvements at the Parowan Petroglyph Site.

Fun in the Snow!

 Today it snowed and snowed and snowed some more. There are only about five days each year where I don't see any blue sky, and this was one of them. We've had less snow the past few years, so it was such a treat to see so much snow (even though driving in it wasn't fun at all).

When I got home from work, it was still snowing and I knew we had to go play. How to make it even more fun? Invite some friends to a sledding party at the nearby pond.

The pond is surrounded by small trees. Desert Girl learned that if she stood under them and shook them, she would get covered with snow. She thought this was great fun. (I think this is one of the reasons that it's so fun to be with kids in the snow, they don't necessarily do what you expect!)

The pond isn't very big or deep, but it has small banks and the kids were soon sledding. And me too. I made sure I had my own sled.

Later it was time for a snowball fight (I didn't get any photos of that, as I was a very active participant), and then snow angels.


Then the kids decided they wanted to be buried in the snow. They said it felt warm and comfy.


I pulled the kids part way home. Then I ran out of steam.

So they pulled me!

 It was a nice way to get some fresh air and a little exercise.

2016 Fish Springs Christmas Bird Count

 The first Saturday after Christmas is the traditional day for the Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge Christmas Bird Count. I've done it a couple times before and really enjoyed it, so when our schedule allowed us to return this year, I did a little happy dance. Then the day before, we drove two hours on gravel roads to get there. It's a beautiful drive, but pretty isolated.

Fish Springs has a wonderful bunkhouse, and when we arrived we found the current refuge manager, the past refuge manager, and a very nice couple from Salt Lake City. We settled in and had dinner. Then the kids wondered if they could eat the gingerbread house. They eventually worked up the nerve to ask and were delighted to hear they could.


The next morning we split up and went to different areas of the count circle. Desert Boy ventured out with me along one slough, despite the very cold temperatures.

We could tell where the water was because the frozen vegetation stuck up around it. From a distance we could see a little water and birds on it. The American coots are easy to identify, with their all black bodies and white bills. The duck was a harder--I'm no duck expert. I think it's a wigeon (if not, please let me know!)

I paused a bit to admire the beautiful ice crystals.

Even the coyote tracks had ice crystals!

Birds were frequently taking flight, this is hunting season after all, and they see humans as predators. Below are northern pintails and mallards.

One of the most common birds were green-winged teals. When I got a close enough look, their colors were magnificent. They are a smaller duck, so that makes it easier to distinguish them when they fly.

Mixed in with the coots were pied-billed grebes, a smaller bird that dives frequently.

We all gathered for lunch and then afterwards it was time for the big refuge-wide count. That involved the refuge manager trying to get all the birds up in the air, driving from one spring to the next and honking his horn, while the rest of us sat at designated locations and tried to count and identify.

It's not just a few birds. More like hundreds. In fact, our total was about one thousand. That's very low, but it still seemed like a lot of birds to me.

At the spring where I was hanging out I got to see some Greater Yellowlegs.

I also enjoyed the ducks, first going opposite directions...

...then they figured out where they were going.

My most exciting bird was an American bittern.

The kids were good sports. Birding isn't their favorite activity, but Desert Boy said he liked the great blue heron and many northern harriers we saw. He also brought up our backyard bird list and has been enthusiastically adding species to that. So far we're a little ahead from last year.

But probably what the kids liked best was making new friends at the bunkhouse, playing hide'n seek, and devouring the gingerbread house.

 It was a fun weekend, and I hope to do it again!

Looking Forward to 2016

The Magic Unicorn

So after some thought, I've decided I'm not going to make specific resolutions or challenges for 2016. Whew, after admitting that I feel a sigh of relief. It's not that I'm going to be a total slacker, but I do feel like I need a little more breathing room in my busy schedule.

I want what most people do: good health, good friends, intentional living. I will try to eat more veggies, exercise sufficiently, and be more patient. But making those into resolutions won't get me farther this year. Instead, I will try to simplify and just enjoy the moments around me. Carpe diem, sieze the day. That was our graduating class motto, and I think it's still a fine one.

I will continue to go caving and canyoneering and backpacking and hiking. I plan to learn some new photography tricks. I hope to encourage my kids and husband in their endeavors and be there for them as much as possible.

There is one big new thing for 2016 I will mention: I plan to self-publish a mystery novel. It's in the editing phase now, and as scared as I am to share this story, since it's taken me a couple years to create, I'm also very excited by the prospect of putting it out there for anyone who wants to read it. The book will not become a best-seller, but if I can entertain a few hundred people, that will be enough.

If you're making resolutions, I wish you the best with them. If you're not, have a good year, too!

And to everyone, may your future involve magic unicorns. (The one above can be your first one for 2016.)