CHANGING OF THE GUARD.
Day 111 – We decided to stay another day. We’d paid for three nights but we weren’t quite finished with this place, so we paid for another night. Today was warm and there was full sun with no wind. The high today was almost 77 degrees. It was a good day to go see the petroglyphs.
From the Archaeology Southwest brochure, “This remarkable place preserves stories about the lower Gila River and the various Native American communities who have lived here for millennia. The petroglyphs testify to their legacies, and they speak of a time before Euro-Americans expanded into the Southwest. Local communities continued to make petroglyphs here after Spaniards entered the region in 1699. Descendants of the petroglyph authors continue to visit Painted Rocks. It is a sacred traditional place.”
“Today the Painted Rocks are managed by the Bureau of Land Management and listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the “Painted Rock Petroglyph Site”. Although this place is a popular and public attraction, it remains especially meaningful to descendant communities. For example, the O’Odham and Piipaash of southern Arizona regard Painted Rocks as a place of traditional cultural importance. Similarly, Yavapai-Prescott Indian Tribal Elder Ted Vaughn described the writings on stone to be the “libraries” of the Yavapai.” www.blm.gov/visit/painted-rock-petroglyph-site
The Painted Rock Petroglyph Site is near the entrance to this campground. Originally a State Park, it’s all run now by the BLM. There are several small rocky hills, two of which have a fence around them. There are a lot of petroglyphs here.
Cathie and Pete left around lunch time, off to their next adventure, in a different direction from where we are heading tomorrow. We hope to meet up again before we leave Arizona for California. Rob did some work on his new tire inflating air pump and we spent a lot of the afternoon in the tent. It was a warm, beautiful day. We watched all day as people departed the campground and a new set of campers arrived. The weekend was ending and a different group came in to enjoy the desert.
For more detailed information about Painted Rock Petroglyph Campground click here.