Escape to White Mountain

So, I'm finally writing about the White Mountain portion of our trip in June. I've been pretty busy, and don't really have the time to write this, but I'm going to anyway, since it's storming outside and I can't swim.

Okay, let's see if I can remember anything.

We'd just experienced the awe-inspiring Boar's Tusk in south- central Wyoming. The mosquitoes were out in murderous force, and more than willing to drive us away by sending in kamikazes in ridiculous numbers.

So we made our escape and headed for White Mountain. The mosquitoes followed for a bit before giving up the chase and returning to their beloved boar.

We parked at White Mountain, and purposely walked off the path, enjoying the cooler, bug-free breeze. Well, I walked off the path, anyway.

I didn't know much about White Mountain before we visited, and I regret not researching it beforehand, because it was amazing.

White Mountain is member of the Green River Formation, and part of the Rock Springs Uplift. At 7,263 feet, it is within the range of the treasure chest's location.

It's hard to imagine that this place used to be a lake in times far past. Ancient seashells still dot the ground, and if you're lucky, you might find one.

But, if you hike up to the imposing, 300 foot cliff face, you're guaranteed to find remnants of a way of life much different than ours. Local members of the Shoshone tribe consider White Mountain to be their sacred ancestral home.

I can see why...there are hundreds of petroglyphs carved into the cliff face. Some modern graffiti is also peppered among the ancient writing. Like this makeshift ATM...

 

There wasn't any money in it. James tried to bust through it with a truck, but had no success at all.

Next to the stone age money machine, there were a couple interesting modern carvings. Like this "W":

 

And this twin peaks kinda thing...

Around the corner, the petroglyphs were less compromised. It was easy to imagine a young Indian brave excitedly carving the story of the day's hunt into the relenting stone. And I was thrilled to have the chance to read their stories.

We slowly walked past each drawing, marveling at the artist's ability to capture our imagination and carry us into this ancient thrill of the chase.

The petroglyphs were carved anywhere from 200 to 1000 years ago. Some were very curious to me, and pretty amusing as my imagination provided explanations that most likely are far from accurate. But hey, who knows? Maybe this does depict a monstrous fish latched onto an Indian's wiener:

And maybe the artist who was in charge of making tally marks drew how his fingers felt at the end of business day:

And maybe while out enjoying a day in their boat:

...they would see things like fish, and otters, and beavers...and possibly, a dolphin...

There were actually all kinds of animals represented, like this elk:

And whatever this monster from my nightmares is:

Indians often used symbols in their rock language, and these symbols were scattered seemingly haphazardly all over the cliff wall. Crosses, the zigzag water symbols, arrows, bear paws, and even an asterisk tightened our focus into an attempt to decipher meaning:

Here's a short video of James and I exploring:

 

And then we found a cave. It was very cool to see the bird tracks and bear paw carved into the entrance...

 

Here's a couple still pics of the cave:

As we exited the cave which probably gave me the infection that caused a nodule on my lung, we saw the moon had come out to say his nightly "hello."

We decided it was about time to head back to our hotel in Green River, but not before I checked out this rock that looks like a skull:

 

And this interesting window-shadow:

And these carvings that reminded me of photos in TTotC:

And this guy:

And these, too:

And then a plane flew by the moon:

And this shrub caught the light so nicely...

 And yeah, James had to physically drag me away from the place...so what?