Grinding Slick Shelter

For today's adventure I'm taking you to a really cool spot in Joshua Tree National Park that I think you're going to like. This is a first visit for me. Relatively easy to get to, yet remote enough that nobody goes here or knows about it. I say nobody... well, there are a few, but very few. And I know I'm not the first to find this site, but I feel incredibly fortunate and lucky to be one of the few to see it and experience it.

There's no trail that leads to it, but fortunately, it didn't require too much bushwhacking. And unlike my last couple adventures, I didn't have to climb under any rocks or wedge myself between too many boulders!

For a while, I was following a wash that looked a lot like this one. I'm looking for a shelter with a large grinding slick inside. I know the approximate location.

Hmmm... may be somewhere up in those rocks? Let's go take a look. Keep in mind, these photos represent the hike, but are actually in a different location in the Park. That way the true location is protected.

Bingo! Here it is!! A beautiful, large shelter. I don't see any signs of rock art, although it may have been here at one time and faded away over the years. But there are two very obvious grinding slicks in this shelter. Very cool!

A closer look.

And an even closer look!

Even if you weren't looking for a grinding slick, and even if you didn't know what a grinding slick is, I think you would notice that something, over years and years and years, has smoothed out the top of this rock in a couple places. This is the best example, and most obvious example of a grinding slick that I've seen.

As you are probably aware, a grinding slick is just that... a flat smooth area used by Native Americans to grind things. Anything from manzanita berries, pine nuts, mesquite seeds, you name it. The more grinding that took place, the flatter and smoother the surface. And a large rock or stone was used as a pestle (or mano) to grind and crush the material. The mano would be smooth on at least one end. The rock you see in the photos above is not a mano. At least I don't think it's a mano. I found it on the ground next to the grinding slick. It's not worn smooth on one side (or more) and it's probably a little too small. I just placed it there for effect.

Here's a close-up of the larger of the two grinding slicks. This is looking in from the other entrance to the shelter. Well, not really an entrance because the rocks are in the way. More of a window, perhaps. Anyway, this is the larger of the two grinding slicks. If memory serves, at least 12" in diameter. There may be other grinding slicks on the smaller rock next to this one, but I was so busy taking pics of this one, I forgot to check it out.

Feeling totally elated about finding this very cool shelter and grinding slick, I leave things exactly as I found them and move on to explore the area.

Nearby, I squeeze between some boulders to find this beautiful area surrounded by rocks on all sides. One rock surface immediately grabs my attention because I can see some color. I also like the rocky "wing" sticking out on one side.

Getting in closer to the surface of the wall, you might be able to make out some faint red dots near the center of the photo. Let's use Dstretch to get a better look at whatever color might be here.

Now you can easily see the red dots, along with a number of other pictographs if you look carefully. Wow, this is a cool site!

 A close-up of the seven large dots, with a z-shaped symbol on the right.

My favorite symbol from this panel is this double star or sunburst symbol. Very unusual. Without Dstretch, it's pretty faded, but with Dstretch it really comes alive!

A net symbol, which isn't all that unusual. I'm pretty sure this is a basketball net... or may be that's just because I've been watching all the Laker games 😉

A headless dancer with her arms up in the air? I have no idea, but I've promised myself to try to learn more about Native American rock art and culture. It's totally fascinating!

With the sun getting low on the horizon, it's time to head back. This has been one of my most rewarding hikes, and it only makes me even more interested and grateful to see sites like this.

If you look really closely at the next to last photo, you might make out the crescent moon. It's easy to see in the last photo, especially with the help of that leaning Joshua tree that appears to be pointing at it!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.

Thanks for stopping by!!