Huge Geoglyphs in Yucca Valley, CA!

My wife and I were driving the Jeep along Old Woman Springs Road (aka Hwy 247) just north of Yucca Valley last weekend and a dirt road heading up the side of the hill caught our eye. We did a u-turn and went back to explore. I did not see any street markers or signs noting anything of significance in the area, but when we got off the road, there was a placard reading "Rhythm of Life and Atlatl at Black Mesa". Very mysterious, so without reading the sign carefully, off we went in the Jeep up what turned out to be a very steep, difficult road (more on that later). Turns out there are two huge stone designs called "geoglyphs" at the top of the hill. The largest of the two is called "Rhythm of Life". It's 200 feet long and made of 460 tons of stone!! It was made by Australian artist Andrew Rogers, and these are the only two geoglyphs in the US by this artist. There are similar geoglyphs in 11 other countries (Israel, Chile, Bolivia, Sri Lanka, Australia, Iceland, China, India, Turkey, Slovakia and Nepal). So it turns out we literally stumbled across something quiet monumental, and perhaps famous. It's really facinating... to read more, please check out http://andrewrogers.org/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Rogers_(artist). Here are some late afternoon photos... the clouds moved in just in time for some very dramatic desert skies!

Stones making up the "Rhythm of Life" geoglyph in foreground.

My wife standing near the top of the "Atlatl" geoglyph. 

Lone Joshua Tree at the bottom of the hill, near placard.

What an incredible location, and how lucky were we to stumble across this place? It's difficult to see the entire geoglyph from ground level. Here's what the Rhythm of Life geoglyph in Yucca Valley looks like from the air:

Photo credit:  http://andrewrogers.org/land-art/usa/

The second geoglyph is called "Atlatl", and the design is derived from an ancient petroglyph in a granite boulder at Coyote Hole near the village of Joshua Tree. Here's what it looks like from the air:

Photo credit:  http://andrewrogers.org/

Oh, I almost forgot... back to the white knuckle Jeep ride up the side of the hill. We got back down to the placard and read it more carefully: "Do Not Go Beyond The Parking Area With A Car!"... "Wear a hat and rugged footwear, carry plenty of water, and use sunscreen before hiking up the rough path to the site. The path is steep and should be hiked with care, watching out for loose rocks". So, two lessons learned here...

[1] Read the signs FIRST, then proceed!

[2] Jeep trails are always steeper than they appear!

What an awesome adventure!  Linking to Skywatch Friday. Please click the link to visit great skies from all over the world!