Well, it was supposed to get to below freezing last night so we left one of the heaters on. This morning when I got up, there was no frost on the ground and it actually looked quite pleasant out. It didn't even feel all that bad when I let the dog out.
Went to make coffee this morning and the coffee pot saga continues!! It would not turn on and only leads me to believe that this one has kicked the bucket as well!! This is coffee pot #3 since the summer!! What the heck is with that!! It is a good thing that I carry the old perc with us.
After chatting with my sister on skype for about half an hour and catching up on all the gossip back home, I looked up information on this area. This is what I found.
The road to the Parowan Gap follows an ancient trail through the Red Mountains that was used by Native American Indians who lived in the Parowan Valley. Yearly, they would travel through this area on their way to harvest desert resources. In the process, they would stop and peck designs onto the smooth faces of the large boulders. The exact age of the petroglyphs is unknown. As always, they are considered an important part of the American Indian ancestry.
These petroglyphs are different from the typical petroglyphs with mostly human and animal designs. Here at the Gap, many of the petroglyphs seem to have counting characteristics with tic marks or repetitive patterns of lines and dots. One of the great discoveries within the last few years is that the Indians here must have been fascinated with numbers and dates. To them, the Gap became a great calendar of times and seasons. The inscription on the "Zipper" petroglyph has been determined to be a calendar with solar alignments, a map and a system of outer cairns (gathering of stones).
In 1849, an expedition to scout out places for new settlements discovered the Parowan Gap and the petroglyphs. The Gap was soon used by white settlers as an access route and eventually over the years, improvements had to be made. As late as 1963, many of the large stones were cleared away and even one large stone, covered with petroglyphs and known as the "Hotel" was blasted into pieces. Now, how is that for progress and preserving history!!
It has been estimated that nearly one half of the cultural record has been destroyed since its discovery in 1849. How very sad. I can't help but believe that destruction such as this would no longer be allowed to occur in this day and age. The petroglyphs are now listed on the National Registry of Historic Places signifying their importance as a cultural treasure.
Hogan and I walked down to the "glyphs" and they were incredible to see. Of course on the way back up the hill to the campsite, I realized that we were in the upper elevations as my breathing was rather labored on the climb. Once back at camp, we decided to stay for the day and head out tomorrow. The sun shone all afternoon but once it decided to slip below the hills, it became much cooler and it wasn't long before you could see your breath. Time to move a bit further south and into the lower elevations.
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