Looking East

I posted a video compilation of the views to the west showing the Chiricahua Mountains taken over time and now the reciprocal video, the views east over the Peloncillo Mountains.  Taken from the narrowest part of the San Simon Valley, about 9-10 miles wide and from the Painted Pony Resort, this video shows how the landscape and mountains of southern New Mexico are always in motion, always changing, always presenting something new to see with each glance.  The idea of landscapes in motion is not new.  Time lapse photography allows the compression of hours into minutes and the time scale can easily vary.  This compilation of images spans about 5 years and is by no means complete, but is representative of some of the scenes collected over time. Many are sunrise views taken throughout the year but some sunset and day time scenes are also included (especially if the clouds were interesting).  Another observation of how the landscape is always in flux for those willing to pay attention to their surroundings.

A Christmas Present (to myself)

Well, I broke down and finally invested in a tablet for Christmas.  I've been looking at them since last year when my notebook and desktop computers died.  I rebuilt the desktop computer but the notebook computer was a total loss.  A small tablet computer is useful for showing guests images, maps, and websites they might find useful on their visit to the area and without a small portable computer this was no longer possible.  So with a drop in prices just before Christmas I ordered a Surface 3.  It arrived and after getting software updates and my favorite programs downloaded it time to try out the camera.  While not a dedicated camera the built in Surface 3 camera in the 16:9 format does do a good job at capturing big images I would usually build out of multiple images taken with the canon point and shoot I usually use for photographs.  Below are 2 examples of single images I took using the tablet.  These are single snapshots that were then processed in the provided software.  The first is a Christmas Eve image of Portal Peak and the eastern flank of the Chiricahua mountains presented in Black and White (desaturated) with some tilt shift and vignetting added to draw the viewers attention to the mountains.  While the second image is of the Gray Mountain in the Peloncillos to the east, taken the day after Christmas after about an inch of snow fell in the valley.  This image was processed the same way as the first image.

While the colors produced by the tablet camera are good, I prefer the desaturated images of the landscape and have yet to print any of the images, but on the computer screen I'm pleased with the results.  Of course trying to shoot with a tablet can be bulky but the large viewing screen certainly helps with composition except in strong light.  I also noticed that lens flaring can be a problem in strong light but for a non-dedicated camera that is built in Microsoft did a good job.

It will be nice to have a device which I can use to quickly show guests information about the area and hopefully make their visit more enjoyable.

An image of the Chiricahua Mountains taken with a Surface 3 tablet camera.

Gray Mountain in the Peloncillo Mountains of southwestern New Mexico. Image taken with a Surface 3 tablet camera.

 

 

A Busy Thanksgiving

Two weeks and 3 sets of guests, it has been busy around the Painted Pony Resort.  I've been constantly running from one cleaning job to the next.  The good news is everyone had a good time on the estate with one family celebrating Thanksgiving here at PPR.  Fortunately, I have a couple of weeks before the Christmas rentals so I can catch up on some other things that need doing around here.  The estate picked up 0.3" of rain for the month of November with some over Thanksgiving but the skies have cleared and we are back to the deep blue Arizona New Mexico skies that make living here a wonder.  Below are 2 images taken a week or so ago looking east and west at sunrise from the Painted Pony Resort showing some of the color that is a daily experience for those living and visiting the area.

Looking east through Antelope Pass in the Peloncillo mountains at sunrise.  Click the image to enlarge and note the mimetolith gazing up at the morning clouds.

Looking west at the red to yellow transitions on the Chiricahua Mountains at sunrise.

Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Days 2015

This years Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Days was co-sponsored by both the Wildlands Network and Friends of Cave Creek Canyon with additional support from Hidalgo county and private donations.  Starting off with Friday nights opening reception and talk on Trogon's, the 2015 Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Days was off to a good start.  Friday evening talk centered on these neotropical birds that bring many visitors to the sky islands of southeastern Arizona to add another species to their life lists.  Saturday morning arrived with the farmers market and craft fair followed shortly by a day of presentations about the area.  The talks ranged from caving and survey work in Chiricahua Crystal Cave to water resources.  Lunch was catered by the Rodeo Tavern and included two types of lasagna, vegetarian and meat, with garlic bread and salad.  The Gypsy Carpenters provided entertainment during the breaks and throughout lunch.  I presented the last talk of the day on landscape restoration and a PDF of the slides may be found here.  Finally, Sunday three different scheduled walks took place covering plant life, geology, and the history of Paradise.  This years Heritage Days saw a capacity crowd and Valley Telecom was present to video record a number of talks which will be rebroadcast on their cable channel.  Once aired, I hope to post some of the talks to the Friends of Cave Creek Canyon website and Facebook page so those who missed the event can see more details of what went on with an eye to attending the event next year.

Preparations

All about bats

Water, water, everywhere

Smokey the Bear

A mirrored view

The Gypsy Carpenters

Monsoon Indecision

The monsoon season is always a welcomed change, the summer rains bring the desert back to life, the greening of the grasses and new plant growth, the frantic rush of animals finding mates to start the next generation.  It is a hectic pace and that extends to the cloud formations.  Both the Chiricahua and Peloncillo Mountains go through several cycles of cloud building on a daily basis, sometimes bringing rain sometimes not.  The image below was taken one afternoon during the current monsoon season and shows the indecision often seen in developing weather during the monsoon season.  Cumulus clouds were developing just above the Chiricahua Mountains while higher up the clouds took on a runny egg appearance. The difference was the result of different wind speeds at different altitudes with higher winds at higher altitude smearing the developing cumulus clouds.  No rain resulted from this buildup but the appearance of this cloudscape was particularly pleasing.  This weather indecision culminated recently in a spectacular evening of lightning and rain.  The bottom image shows the distribution of lightning strikes in the San Simon Valley and both mountain ranges as a result of this particular monsoon storm.  Very localized and confined to a small (for the desert) area the storm produced rolling thunder constantly throughout the evening.  An image of lightning from this storm taken by Steve Wolfe may be seen here and here. All in all it has been a great monsoon season with almost 8" of rain recorded at the Painted Pony Resort.

Two different cloud types over the Chiricahua mountains on a monsoon afternoon.

Lightning strikes from an overnight storm over the San Simon Valley and surrounding mountains

Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Days 2015

The Upcoming 2015 Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Days is shaping up into another great event for the area.  The Painted Pony Resort will present a talk on landscape restoration on the estate.  It will cover techniques implemented on the estate to restore the grasslands and improve range conditions on the 750 acres of deeded land comprising the estate.  Covering water, soil, vegetation, and animals it will highlight techniques that may be implemented by any land owner to improve landscape conditions

Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Days 2015

Addendum:

There will be several walks on Sunday after Saturday's presentations for participants of Heritage Days.  If your interested in seeing and learning more about the area, please join one of the walks for a great learning experience.

Addendum:
The farmers market for this years Chiricahua Peloncillo heritage days is ready to go.

Goodies at the framers market

Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Days 2014

Another great community event this weekend.  The Chiricahua Peloncillo Heritage Days are a yearly event sponsored by local interests to celebrate the natural and cultural heritage of the area.  Starting Friday evening with a reception and keynote address by a climate scientist from Tucson.  Saturday was filled with talks ranging from C.S. Fly to soil mapping in Arizona and New Mexico and a special kids area with activities was hosted by local educators.  Lunch was catered by the Rodeo Tavern with tasty southwestern style chicken fajitas and eggplant casserole.  The rain held off, though we were hoping, and Sundays scheduled walk at Faraway ranch and the wildflower walk up Cave Creek had nice cool temperatures.  This year marked support for the event by Hidalgo county lodgers tax, as well as other local businesses, which means the event is becoming self sustaining.  This bodes well for future Heritage days and I certainly look forward to the event every year.

The craft and farmers market.

Waiting for the talks to begin.

Friends of Cave Creek Canyon display board.

Speakers and presentations.

Louisiana State Arthropod Museum (LSAM) Returns

The Louisiana State Arthropod Museum returned this month for another visit.  Students and museum staff make the yearly trip and upon their arrival at the Painted Pony Resort is transformed into a field station for the duration of their visit.  Collecting equipment is unloaded, processing stations created in the garage, and microscope stations set up in the computer room.  After dinner and an evening introductory lecture on the high desert of New Mexico everyone relaxes in the hot tub or heated pool after the long drive then begin preparations for collecting projects.  The days are filled with collecting at various locations from the valley floor up to elevations over 9000' in the high country.  While a series of flight intercept traps are set up around the mountain range to sample the local insect populations.  Favorite collecting locations are visited and repeat samples collected.  Each evening students and staff return and a communal dinner is prepared.  Every day a different person is responsible for preparing dinner for the group which creates a series of international meals since students and staff come from around the world to study at the museum.  After dinner samples are processed and then the group relaxes with a movie, more swimming, and black light stations set up around the estate are monitored.  Of course with 750 acres the Painted Pony Resort and adjoining public lands are also used for collecting and students could be found out on the landscape with nets throughout their visit.

Here are several images by Mike Ferro of LSAMs 2014 visit to the Painted Pony Resort.  Additional images from the 2014 LSAM collecting trip may be found at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/12666884@N00/sets
https://www.flickr.com/photos/98218272@N05/14669413607/
https://plus.google.com/photos/108279953306115325580/albums/6047139897560460737?banner=pwa

The first evenings lecture

The arrival and unloading

Collecting in the high desert

Collecting at the light trap

Processing samples in the garage

Microscope station in the computer room

Relaxing after a day of field work

Collecting from an ephemeral pool next to the estate

Winter Rain

Those living in the high desert of New Mexico, especially those with agricultural professions, are always concerned about the weather.  The winter rains have been sparse again this year until yesterday.  The first big storm of the year arrived yesterday and dropped 0.92" of rain at the Painted Pony Resort .  This welcomed rainfall was a fairly gentle rain and the ground received a good soaking.  To top things off, upon going outside this morning the residents of the valley were greeted to a particularly spectacular sunrise shown below.  Perhaps the poppies will bloom soon.

March sunrise (click to enlarge)

Living with the Wildlife in New Mexico

Living in the high New Mexican desert has plenty of advantages but with life there are occasional downsides.  With wide open spaces and an extremely low human population density the other species that share the local environment are up close and personal frequently doing damage in their daily browsing.

First it was the cattle (an introduced species), congregating at the entrance and jumping the cattle guard.  That issue was resolved with fencing the new property and building walls along the road.  This left only the road leading to the Painted Pony Resort for cattle to wander along.  With no feed or water they have chosen to stay elsewhere.  Then large holes began to appear around the buildings foundations and along irrigation lines, even several new trees were dug out.  Although no animal was ever observed digging (the damage occurred at night), the best guess was a badger had moved in.  It dug up numerous irrigation lines (presumably hearing flowing water) and made a general mess of things.  Cayenne pepper proved to remedy that problem.  Purchased from My Spice Sage, liberal amounts sprinkled around the diggings appeared to deter the mystery animal.  Now a new species has arrived, Javelina.  On several occasions a small herd of 6 Javelina were observed on the property and while entertaining for guests, the low rainfall this winter means less available natural forage and the Javelina have expanded their range.  Reports from the neighbors, a mile west, reported the Javelina were eating all the available succulents and cactus on their property indicating the problem was not limited to the estate.

So the animals took to raiding the front planting area as well as other spots on the estate.  First, all the spineless prickly pear planted last year disappeared from along the driveway.  The animals just hopped over the chicken wire placed to keep the rabbits out and devoured each cactus  (a local bobcat observed this spring by guests was keeping the rabbits in check).  Then upon coming outside one morning this heard of Javelina were all standing around finishing off all the Agave that were raised for use at the front entrance.  Finally, they moved onto the front planting area.  They were caught in the act several times and they rapidly moved off when approached, but they returned.  So out came the Cayenne pepper again in the hopes they would find it so unappealing they would move on.  The pepper had some effect and many plants survived foraging attempts, but the Javelina would always manage to get one plant (in this case a small species of Yucca).  So it was time for physical barriers, t-posts and barbwire.  Each tender and appealing yucca was surrounded with t-posts and barbwire strung starting several inches off the ground.  The idea was to create a physical barrier in addition to the olfactory barrier (cayenne pepper) to discourage the Javelina from browsing in the planting area and destroying the vegetation.  

Javelina leftovers

One solution to protect plants

What is CoCoRaHS

Volunteer weather reporting is an important tool in understanding local rainfall patterns and how they affect the valley and surrounding mountains.  There are primarily 2 rainy seasons in the southwest, winter rains and the late summer monsoon which together account for the majority of the yearly precipitation in the desert southwest.  Strong winter rains result spectacular wildflower displays in the spring while strong monsoons result in a general greening of the desert and recharge the San Simon aquifer providing for year round water supplies.

CoCoRaHS (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network) is a nation wide volunteer precipitation reporting organization composed of citizen scientists with the goals:
"1) provide accurate high-quality precipitation data for our many end users on a timely basis; 2) increasing the density of precipitation data available throughout the country by encouraging volunteer weather observing; 3) encouraging citizens to have fun participating in meteorological science and heightening their awareness about weather; 4) providing enrichment activities in water and weather resources for teachers, educators and the community at large" (mission statement). 

In Hidalgo county NM there are 5 active CoCoRaHS reporting stations and 2 of these are in the San Simon Valley, one at the Painted Pony Resort and one at the Chiricahua Desert Museum.  Although only 2.8 miles apart this can make for a significant difference in rain fall totals.  Rain can vary significantly across the valley as evidenced by a local rainfall reporting group and in the photograph show below.  Frequently rain showers are isolated and while one area may experience significant rainfall areas close by may receive little or no rain.  So the more reporting stations, the more data available for analysis, resulting in a better the understanding of local climate.

Isolated storm in the Chiricahua Mountains

CoCoRaHS rain gauge at the Painted Pony Resort

An Early map of Arizona and New Mexico

New Mexico's rich history reaches back to 9,000 BCE with evidence of the Clovis culture from Playas Valley.  Inhabited by a range of indigenous peoples, the Spanish eventually colonized the region.  After coming under the control of the United Sates as a result of the Gadsden Purchase in 1854,  New Mexico gained territorial status and eventually statehood on January 6, 1912 becoming the 47th state in the Union, followed by Arizona  on February 14, 1912  as the 48th state.  This 1880 map from David Rumsey map collection shows the original counties of both states.  The Painted Pony Resort lies in the southwestern corner of the state in the original county of Mesilla in the vicinity of the early Mexican settlement of Fronteras.  Mesilla county was eventually divided into Grant, Luna, and Hidalgo counties giving rise to the distribution of counties found in present day New Mexico.

Grassland Restoration

One of the ongoing projects at the Painted Pony Resort is the restoration of the grasslands on the property.  The lands around the resort were and continue to be grazed, especially the public lands.  The quality of the grasslands varies considerably across the valley as a result of different range management practices ranging from good to poor ground cover  and in the 7 years the 80 acres encompassing the estate have been fenced cattle have not had the opportunity to graze.  As a result the landscape is beginning to recover and there is a noticeable difference in the amount of ground cover on the property.  The 2 panoramic images below show a comparison between the recovering landscape and State land that is continually grazed.  The first panorama was taken last fall looking east along the drive from the Painted Pony Resort showing State land on the left and resort land on the right.  There is a clear difference in the density of ground cover, especially increased grasses on the resort side of the fence.  While the second panorama is taken looking west from the bottom of the San Simon Riverbed showing the grazed State land on the right and fenced private (the resort expansion) land on the left.  Again note the difference in vegetative cover.  The Painted Pony Resort contains a large swath of mid calf high grasses along the riverbed while the grazed State land shows significant loss of grasses and a corresponding increase in woody shrubs.

By fencing and allowing the land to rest the grasses should continue to recover and return to its' pre-grazing state.  Ideally encouraging more native browsers such as deer and pronghorn antelope on the landscape.

For additional information on restoring New Mexico's grasslands please visit Restore New Mexico.

Grazed versus ungrazed

Ungrazed versus grazed

Lights in the Sky over Portal

One of the questions I ask in photographing southern New Mexico and Arizona is "how do people see"?  I received the photograph below from a local resident on a recent hiking trip in the Peloncillo mountains.  She was taking a photograph of a particularly colorful sunset over the Chiricahua mountains and the image below is what her camera captured.  She was surprised at a number of round illuminated objects visible below the clouds in the colorful evening sky.  UFOs in the San Simon valley?  And not just one but a fleet of strange lights over Portal Peak.  Was the San Simon valley being invaded by strange beings from outer space?

While there are a number of stories about strange lights in the sky told locally, the overall darkness of the San Simon valley combined with the bright night sky (making the area a magnet for astronomers) would suggest that many of the lights observed were astronomical phenomena.  In this case the explanation is even simpler.  The photograph was taken from inside looking out through a glass window and the strange lights in the sky were in reality ceiling lights reflected off the glass.  While the photographer did not see the reflections  while composing the scene the camera did register the reflections and captured the reflections in her image, creating an unusual photograph.

While it is fun and interesting to discuss strange lights in the sky and the possibility of extraterrestrial life, the image captured does not support the notion that there are alien visitors from outer space in the San Simon valley.

Cameras see differently than people (photograph by Patty S.)

Creating Depth in Photographs

I'm not a professional photographer, just a guy in the desert with an inexpensive automatic digital camera asking the question "how do people see"?  While the physiological process of vision is fairly well understood, the analysis and interpretation of visual information seems less well defined.  There appears to be variability in the cognitive processes used by humans in interpreting a visual image and one way to qualitatively understand this process is through photography.  In other words "what makes a pleasing image"?  In trying to understand "how people see" a number of techniques have been employed from low level aerial photography to change perspective, in combination with tilt-shift to draw attention to specific elements in a photograph, to multi-image aerial panoramas to provide the viewer with a "big picture" view of the landscape from a different perspective.  But one of the more challenging approaches is the creation of depth in a 2D photograph.  There are a number of approaches to creating depth in a photograph but the most satisfying approach I have found is in-camera layering.  Briefly, a scene is divided into a number of layers then observing differences in contrast, texture, color, and focus between the layers then composing the scene to maximize the differences to make an image.  By maximizing these layer differences it is possible to impart to the viewer a sense of depth in a 2 dimensional photograph without resorting to anaglyphs.  Below are several examples of successfully layered images.  In these images one or more components appear to stand out as a result in differences contrast, texture, color, or focus (depth of field).  It is important to point out all these images were all photographed in the auto mode so depth of field manipulations were not used.

Peloncillo Mountains outcrop

The image above (click to enlarge) is a 4 image panorama taken on a sunny day.  Although similar in color, the outcrop in the foreground is differentiated from the valley floor by differences in texture.  While it is differentiated by color from the Chiricahua mountains in the background resulting in the appearance of an outcrop of rock that appears to float on the background.

Hill in Animas Valley in southern New Mexico

This image is a low level aerial photograph with a tilt-shift effect added.  While employing an overall difference in perspective, in this case differences in contrast between the layers (shadow along the ridge top in comparison to the background desert floor) creates an edge resulting in increased depth.  This effect is enhanced by the tilt-shit which draws the viewer towards the area of increased depth which helps the viewer interpret increased depth in the photograph overall.

Low level aerial view of the Big Hatchet mountains

This image, also a low level aerial photograph of the landscape, relies on layered differences in color to enhance depth.  The foreground layer is brown while the background layer, with Big Hatchet Peak, is blue in color.  This layered color difference helps the foreground peak stand out against the background again resulting in increased depth.

Headstone in Jhus canyon

This final image, of a headstone in the Chiricahua mountains, uses color and texture differences to impart a sense of depth to the image.  The flat smooth brown headstone is contrasted against a background of shrubs and grass which differ in both color and texture again imparting a sense of depth to the image. 

This technique works at any scale from small to large landscapes, and is just a matter of composition.

While a number of different post production processing techniques may be used on a photograph, generally on a slight decrease in input levels and a slight increase in contrast suffice to bring out the layered depth in a composition.

Hiking in the High New Mexico Desert

Thursday and it's hiking day and another trip with the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club.

This trip was scheduled to depart from the Paint Pony Resort, with hiking over to large outcrops at the base of the Peloncillo Mountains on the east side of the San Simon Valley just north of Rodeo.  Upon going outside around sunrise though the scene was one of snow.  The previous night the valley received snow and the mountains and landscape were blanketed with about 1-2 inches of water in its solid form, but with clear blue skies and rising temperatures it looked to be a nice day for winter desert hiking.  Twenty one hikers arrived at the Painted Pony Resort and the group then drove over to the edge of the riverbed to start their weekly cure for nature deficit disorder.  The group made its first stop at a small Mimbres hamlet discovered on the Painted Pony Resort property and after a short description it was onward onto BLM land.  Crossing the old El Paso and Southwestern railroad bed the group continued toward the goal of the outcrops.  These large outcrops show bedding planes of tuff, conglomerates, and some debris from earlier volcanic activity and differential weathering created wide ledges used by former inhabitants of the area for grinding seeds.  Pictographs and 30-40 grinding holes were found along one ledge and additional grinding holes were discovered on top of the outcrop by those daring enough to make the climb.  After a relaxing lunch in the winter sun the group headed back to the vehicles covering between 7 to 8 miles of easy high desert hiking out and back.  The map for this hike may be found here or in the side bar.

It is difficult to adequately demonstrate the scale of features in the high desert and things that look close frequently turn out to be miles away.  Below is a 360 degree photosynth created from below the outcrops in the small valley created by the surrounding rocks.  Hikers may be found in the image which give a sense of scale of this feature everyone locally sees while driving along highway 80.  Click on the image to interact and navigate around the panorama (it requires installation of Microsofts Silverlight and the photosynth should prompt you if you do not have it installed).  Below the photosynth is an additional panoramic view of the outcrop also with hikers for scale.

Outcrop at the base of the Peloncillo Mountains with tiny hikers

Ledge of grinding holes
 

Painted Pony Ranch - Fence Update

Fencing alone is slow work but 1.25 miles is completed now.  The remaining segment, a quarter mile on the east side of the San Simon Riverbed, will shortly be finished with half of the T-posts already installed.  But with guests arriving this week at the Painted Pony Resort it is time to change gears and get back to cleaning and refreshing the buildings on the estate in preparation for their arrival.

With the expansion it seemed appropriate to mark the entrance to the ranch on Painted Pony Rd where the owner now owns both sides of the road.  After discussions about ways to mark the entrance a basalt wall along the road was agreed upon.  With a good supply of basalt a couple of standing basalt pillars were first installed flanking the road.  These 1000 lb basalt blocks took some time to move and install but look nice.  Then a 2-3 ft wall was added on the east side back to the newly installed fence line.   While not designed to keep cattle out the wall is just a marker on the landscape denoting the expanded property for guests enjoyment at the Painted Pony Ranch.

Basalt wall along Painted Pony Road.

Building Fence in New Mexico

The previous post introduced the fencing project for the newly acquired land expanding the Painted Pony Resort to 316 acres (half a section).  While the owner was in residence we laid out the fence lines and pulled the bottom wire along the 1.5 miles of proposed fence line and placed 0.25 miles of t-posts.  Since then the project moved forward with myself placing t-posts, end posts, gates, and wire.  The procedure established to install the fence was:
1.  Locate boundary markers placed by the surveyor.  Required GPS (Google Earth was a great help in establishing possible locations of markers and the route of the fence line) and a telescope to locate markers.
3.  Remove trees and large brush along route.
4.  Layout bottom wire along the route.
5.  Tension lower strand using a come-along with a wire grab and temporary end posts.
6.  Straighten wire along the route by removing low brush and rocks.
7.  Drive T-posts every 20 ft.  Measure distance with 2 lengths of rigid plastic electrical conduit.
8.  Place permanent end posts where necessary, at gate locations, and corners.
9.  Place midspan posts where necessary.  One 0.5 mile and one 0.75 mile stretch required midspan posts since the wire is 1320’ in length.
10.  Fence arroyos.
11.  Install gates where necessary.
12.  Add 3 additional strands of 2 pt. barbwire along the 1.5 mile route.
13.  Secure wire strands at appropriate heights using fence clips, straightening any t-posts to create a uniform and pleasing look to the fence line.

The cost of materials was $ 0.55/ft and with the addition of the hydraulic driver the cost rose to $0.95/ft.  But the increased cost is countered by the time savings in driving T-posts and new equipment for the estate.

Looking south along newly installed T-posts

Looking north along newly installed T-posts

Kabota with hydraulic driver on a T-post.  The main buildings at PPR are visible in the background

Rock Art Interpretation

Interpreting images created by a person from another culture and from a different time is fraught with problems.  The cultural threads become thinner and thinner as the time span between the creation of an image and the interpreter becomes larger.  This inverse relationship makes interpretation of pictographs and petroglyphs left by the former inhabitants of the southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona a best guess.  One approach to the problem is through the use of ethnographic studies where modern descendents maintain a stronger cultural link with the past than an interested observer.  But without direct cultural and lineal descendents this approach can at best only provide a rough guide as to the possible meaning of rock art.  Cultural materials associated with rock art may provide clues to the cultural affinity of the original creator but this requires careful excavation and recovery of associated materials and does not help the interested observer in drawing conclusions about the meaning of particular rock art found in the field.  We are left then to fall back on personal views about the meaning and these are a function of an individuals world view which may or may not coincide with those around them.

As an example the image below is a pictograph panel in Antelope Pass in the Peloncillo mountains.  The panel is 8-10 ft in length, 3-4 ft in width, and is on a large piece of breakdown which was originally part of the ceiling of a shelter cave which at some point collapsed.  Faint pictographs may still be seen on the lower surface of the exposed shelter cave wall indicating the original location of the breakdown blocks.  The collapse occurred sometime during the period of occupation as evidenced by shallow grinding holes on the broken upper surface of the breakdown.  This panel is protected from the elements by the the breakdown and the colors remain bright and the overall pattern easily observed.

At first glance the panel appears to contain connected straight lines and squiggles with the only identifiable feature being an element in the lower right that would appear to be a sun representation. One professional Biologist viewing the panel commented they observed a millipede with legs and segments. But by comparing the view from this shelter cave towards the west across the San Simon Valley to the silhouette of the Chiricahua mountains with the panel several features coincide.  Compare the pictograph panel image with the screenshot from Google Earth captured from the same location.  The squiggly line at the top may be interpreted as the silhouette of the Chiricahuas seen from the shelter cave.  The riverbed is then represented by the series of rectangles from left to right across the panel.  The riverbed would have been the most intensively farmed area in the valley and drainage from Horseshoe, Sulphur, and Cave Creek once met in this area.  The four serpentine vertical lines coincide with drainages from the Peloncillo Mountains around Antelope Pass.  The single short squiggle coincides with a short drainage that abruptly widens found just downstream (north) along the San Simon Riverbed where there are a number of recorded archeological sites.  Based on these correlations, the large blob of red pigment would be representative of the location of the shelter cave and view.  Below these are 2 additional linear features which, if a map, would coincide with the Animas and Hatchett mountains.  Below this lie 2 parallel lines of dots perhaps representing a north/south road or trail similar to the one proposed connecting Paquime with Chaco Canyon or a trail headed into the Mimbres Valley.

The only unidentified feature on this presumptive map is the hatched feature in the middle right on the panel.  It is unclear what this feature may represent but it is perhaps worth a look sometime to look for a corollary.  While evidence of landscape representations (maps) in pictographs and petroglyphs seems to be lacking, perhaps this is the first example of a landscape rendered in a pictograph or alternatively a just a lot of hand waving.  To rise to the level of a scientific hypothesis testable predictions must arise from the hypothesis otherwise it is just a good story.

Addendum:
If this interpretation is correct, a map based on the view from the rock shelter, it contains elements from 2 sources.
1.  A direct view of the landscape from the shelter cave.
2.  Information about the landscape that was in the artists mind.  Painted features on the right side of the panel (starting at the short wide drainage) are not visible from shelter cave, the view is blocked by the Peloncillo mountains, so the information represented could only be held in the mind of the artist and added from memory.

Addendum:
It was pointed out that the "map" as currently viewed is upside down and that when on the ceiling, as originally painted, the silhouette of the Chiricahua mountains would be at the bottom.  This observation is correct but the orientation of the pictograph with respect to north is the same.   When viewed by an observer in the past north was to the left (currently north is to the right in the photograph because of the rock fall).  The position of the sun feature currently in the lower right of the photograph would have orientated a viewer.  Also of note is the location of the sun feature.  It is in the northern part of the sky suggesting the painting is during the summer months and not the winter when sunrise is further south.

Addendum:
Another pictograph with a "sun" feature and "mountains" is found about 4.5 miles further south in the Peloncillo Mountains at the base of Gray Mountain, view here.

pictograph panel

Google Earth screen shot view from shelter cave

Owl Canyon

Back to Owl Canyon was the mantra this week for the Portal Rodeo Hiking club.  Lower elevation hikes in the Pelocillo Mountains are especially attractive in the winter with hiking at warmer elevations and it was another sunny day in the valley as 13 hikers and a single dog began the trip up Owl Canyon.  About 1.5 miles in the group stopped at the dam for a break and group photograph.  Lunch was below a large spire in the canyon with the group scattered up the hillside eating and enjoying the views.  The trip covered 6.6 miles and the map for the hike may be found in the sidebar or through this link.

North ridge line in Owl Canyon

Photograph of Portal Rodeo Hiking Club at the dam in Owl Canyon by Pat Owens

Lunch in Owl Canyon