The desert beckoned us to come for another hike. Our campsite was south of Quartzsite at the edge of the BLM lands. We complied with the desert and went looking for petroglyphs and grinding stones
We headed south west and across several washes until we reached a very wide wash. Google map labeled it as French Creek, but we’ve seen some references to Tyson Wash. We followed the wash/creek south until we reached a right angle turn in dry river bed.
We were looking for the grinding holes and petroglyphs that we heard about. After wandering around a bit, Tony spotted the petroglyphs on the rocky outcrop on the east side of the wash.
At close inspection, the petroglyphs started popping out and became more visible.
I had to darken the photos a bit so that you can see them as clearly as possible.
They weren’t many of them,
and just like most petroglyphs, we weren’t able to decipher the story behind them.
but there is definitely a story here.
Some of the images long faded, while others are very clear and bold. Are these snakes?
It took us a while to find the grinding holes. The petroglyphs are on the right of the photo.
The grinding holes ended up on the other side of the wash, on a small hill.
We passed by caves and rock hangings to reach the top of the hill.
From the top, we had a clear view of the outcrop on the other side of the creek. You can see how this area is unique in the flat landscape.
We finally found the grinding holes tucked away on the south side of the hill.
These ancient grinding holes are where the native peoples would ground mesquite pods and other beans into meal.
These mortars, also known as morteros can be found in Arizona and Mexico and are believed to be around a thousand years old.
Other depressions in the bedrock might have been used for corn grinding or sharpening tools, although they seen a tad too deep for that.
It was cool to explore around these rocks, but it was time to go back. We followed the wide dry creek back to our campsite.
There is a story that a safe full of gold was carried away and buried in the sand during a major flood. Did it make it here? We should have brought a metal detector along with us!
Until next time. Stay safe and warm wherever you are.
Petroglyphs are interesting but the grinding holes are magnificent. By the way what are BLM lands?
They are! BLM Is the Bureau of Land Management, the US Federal body that manages public land. You can dry camp on some of them, and some have some more organized campgrounds: https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/camping
I can see you are enjoying the desert very much. Your captures some wonderful photos. My husband and I walked around the desert for years discovering many wonderful finds of past civilizations that inhabited areas of Arizona and New Mexico.
We love the desert, especially in winter!
How interesting. It would be neat to be able to read their stories.
It really would!
History is amazing. Thanks for taking us there. Allan
Thanks for coming along!
Greetings from Toronto. It is -24 today. Your post feels nice and warm! ????????
I do love how you and Tony discover and experience and see the nature around you. Most people would just hike by these grinding holes and not think anything of them – but how cool it is to learn about the historical uses and meaning of them.
It’ll be interesting to see how our artifacts today, physical and digital, are interpreted by people hundreds of years from now too as these petroglyphs are.
It was nice and warm, aas, we are back to cold…I am convinced that archaeologists of the future will no able to makes heads or tails of what we leave behind 🙂
Fascinating! I probably wouldn’t have recognized a grinding stone before I read your post, but now I might. Great piece!
Thank you! Glad you found it informative!
I wonder if the people doing that were thinking: “well, this warning will certainly help the next passerby…” or if it’s the result of a parent saying “hey, go outside and amuse yourself, kids!” Terrific photos and journey, thanks for sharing!
Thank you, John. Who knows what went on there. We can only guess, and these are some good guesses 🙂
makes you wonder why we’re putting our culture into the cloud?! printed/painted/fossil matter will always outlive any of us, and future culture seekers wanting to understand the past won’t have a clue as to who? and what we are all about?
that’s why we were given fingerprints, to leave our mark. the more things we touch (paintings, sculptures, books, etc) will leave a imprint to our current culture.
from my standpoint, there’s no tangibility to social media, digital archives (SSD or otherwise), even cloud storage. todays culture can easily disappear at the flip of a switch.
keep discovering, keep on trucking, love from the southern shores of newfoundland
You are probably right, although in regard to past cultures, much was lost, or is hard to interpret. How is your new home?
I have three words: Cool, interesting and very educational. Looks like you are enjoying this desert trip.
Thank you! It was a fun trip, just not as warm as we had hoped 🙂
I’m trying to stay cool here in the Aussie summer lol.. i wonder if some of the graffiti around the world hangs about for a thousand years, what the future people will think about it.. let’s hope its a few Banksy’s!
Haha, I always forget that it’s summer in Australia when we are freezing here. Graffiti will probably tell future archaeologist a lot about our culture once they did it out from under the plastic and disposable coffee cups.
I just love the desert, and seeing petroglyphs and grinding stones is an added bonus.
I agree! Thanks for stopping by!
Very interesting and educational. Interesting thought about the metal detector. Who knows what you might find out there? I think exploring a desert in the winter would be really special. Glad you had a chance to do just that.
You never know what you may find. I don’t think you read our blog when we made a discovery when we lived on the farm: https://backroadsandothe-ff2lnb6vju.live-website.com/2020/10/13/the-coronavirus-diaries-we-found-the-hatch/ I think you’ll enjoy it!
You guys could start your own Detectorists show after finding that stove. Thanks for sending that link – the post was a great read!
Haha, thank you!
Despite not seeing too many petroglyphs, the ones you did see are remarkable! I’ve been wanting to check out petroglyphs and I had the opportunities to see them in places like Joshua Tree or Arches National Park…but they always eluded me! One of these days, I’ll have to really dedicate the time and effort to find them!
Some of the petroglyph sites can be very powerful, and for some, spiritual experiences. Hopefully you will be able to visit one day.
Glad you were able to find the petroglyphs and grinding holes.It’s incredible to think how long they’ve been around for. I’m missing the blue skies and sun from the desert.
We’ve been back for a week and we already miss it too!
Petroglyphs are fascinating… They tell of a people telling their stories, mysteriously difficult for us to decode, but so compelling. The grinding holes are a new one to me, glad to learn about them.
I love coming across petroglyphs, and it’s amazing to see how many were preserved on this continent. There are many locations to view grinding holes and hopefully you will come across one in you travels.
Thank you so much for taking me along. I would never get to see these things if you didn’t share with me. Amazing! All the best, Muriel
Always love to have you along. Take care!
So interesting, the petroglyphs are so special 🙂
They really are!
The grinding holes are great! And the petroglyphs. Hope you are warm as well. It’s perfect here in Mexico.
It wasn’t as warm as we hoped it would be…should have gone to Mexico too 🙂
The petroglyphs are fascinating! Great pictures.
They are, and thank you!
Thanks for sharing this. Anita
Thank you for reading!
If rocks could talk, I’m sure they would talk your ear off!
Right?
How interesting. It would be neat to be able to read their stories.
It really would!
Very intriguing and mysterious place. If this place is associated with gold buried in the sand, many would have flocked here and tried their luck to retrieve it.
I think that many tried, but this trunk, if it ever existed, will never have a treasure map or any clues to help with nthe search. The desert is too big!
A metal detector was in order!
Absolutely!
A few WordPress bloggers have been posting about petroglyphs recently. I have enjoyed your own addition to the subject with fascinating photos. As you say, imagine the stories that must be behind these carvings. I can definitely see what you mean by a snake. Would be interested to read a follow-up piece from your perspective as detectorists.
I saw all these posts about petroglyphs as well and they were all fascinating! We didn’t try our detectorists skil this time, but if we ever go back….
I’ve never heard of a grinding hole before, I’ve only seen stones that can be carried.
Yeah, I was familiar with the grinding stones in Ontario that were large but not an entire boulder embedded in the ground. Always something new to learn!
Fascinating site. It is always good to see petroglyphs and hear about the history of the original peoples. Hope all is well with you both. Allan
It was an interesting site! All is well here, just busy. I’ve been procrastinating a bit 🙂 I hope all is well with you!