Thursday, March 4, 2021

"Brunette Lady" of Joshua Tree Pictograph

 Not to be confused with the "Red Lady" of Joshua Tree pictograph. Or the "Twin Ladies" of Joshua Tree. And who knows how many others. I was hiking with my friend Mitch, and we were parked at a spot very near the location of the Brunette Lady picto. Or at least where I thought the picto was located. I had never actually seen her before, but since Mitch was also interested in seeing her, we decided to try and pay our respects before proceeding to our primary destination.

The Brunette Lady picto is located in an area that's not hard to get to. That's about all I'll say regarding the location, except that any landscape photos you see below were not taken near the picto.

Prior to our search for the Brunette Lady, Mitch took me to an arch I hadn't seen before. Well, technically it might be more of an opening in the rocks, but very interesting nonetheless.



Getting Mitch in the photo gives you perspective on the size of the rocks. Let's just hope nothing shifts while he is under there!
 
OK, let's go see if we can find the Brunette Lady!
Do you see her? She's pretty faded, but she's located in this little shallow alcove in the rocks. I'll add some color enhancement (Dstretch) so you can see her better.
Easy to see now. Human-shaped pictographs are much more rare and mysterious than the typical abstract shapes and lines we usually see. Who was this brunette lady? What was her significance? Self portrait perhaps? Time has buried the answers to these questions.
 
Here's a close-up, enhance with Dstretch. Her brunette hair really stands out. What a beautiful pictograph! There is reported to be another pictograph close to this one, but try as I might, I can't find it. After returning home, I do a little research and find that the second pictograph is literally a couple feet away from this one. Doh!! In my defense, it's very faded, and you have to be in a low position, looking up, to see it.
 

The "Twin Ladies" are extremely faded and are really only visible using Dstretch. Thanks to my friend Elliot Koeppel over at http://cali49.com/ for the use of these pics.

Mitch and I had some time to kill, so we decided to wander over to yet another rock art site I was familiar with. On the hike there, we spotted this panel that appears to have handprints on top of handprints on top of handprints. Very interesting!




Straight out of the camera photo. The pictos are still quite visible.




This site is significant because of the huge number of pictos. The large alcove is full of them. Also interesting are the multiple colors used... red, black, some white, and even some bluish pictos. Oh, and there are even some petroglyphs (above photo). A fascinating site!
 
From here, we will head over to our primary purpose for our hike. I'll save that for another post, but it turned out to be a beautiful afternoon with nice desert skies.




There's probably a technical name for these clouds, but I don't know what it is. They remind me of ocean waves.
 
Thanks for joining me on this adventure!
Stay safe and stay healthy.
Linking with Skywatch Friday.

47 comments:

  1. The first one is obvious selfie. But of whoom?

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  2. gorgeous photography as always - love those desert skies

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  3. Wow! Those pictographs are amazing..... I haven’t ever seen such detail in a human figure, even in photographs. I don’t suppose anyone has any idea at all of the age? Your hiking friend was braver than I can imagine there, but it sure does give a size perspective. Thanks always for the beautiful desert skies!

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  4. ...who knew that there were so many ladies in Joshua Tree? Certainly not me! The rock formations and the pictos are amazing, but the afternoon desert skies are Fabulous. Thanks again for taking me along, I hope that we have do it agaiin.

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  5. They are so unimaginably old, mysterious, and fascinating! Wonderful red sunset, and "arch" too

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  6. It must be amazing to see those pictos in person.

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  7. SO interesting! Thanks for sharing.

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  8. Greetings and Salutations from Illinois! I call those clouds shake, rattle and roll. Seriously I don't know what those clouds are called either. I am sure it was on my test in 7th grade science class. But do you know how long ago that was? Let us say too long to remember. Glad you were with a friend. Amazing photographs as always!

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  9. One of these days, will you run out of new pictos to show us? What an ongoing treasure trove!!! The last two photos are jaw-dropping!

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  10. Your desert has so much to see and explore, a truly fascinating place to document. Rock Art always has me wondering about the people who created them, what they were thinking about, what their pictures really represent.
    Your sky photos are really great. Clouds certainly add mood to a landscape :)

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  11. As always a fine itinerary and excellent pictures

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  12. Amazes me how the drawings have stood the test of time. The sky and landscape you show are stunning

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  13. As always, well worth checking out.

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  14. Incredible series of pictographs SPP, so curious, it would be fascinating to know who actually drew them! Your Joshua Tree landscape shots are superb and otherworldly ✨ happy weekend.

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  15. That landscape never ceases to amaze me, and finding the pictographs sounds like a treasure hunt :)

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  16. Another wonderful series of desert photos ~ Brunette lady is impressive ~ great sky shots to ~ Happy Weekend to you ~

    Living moment by moment,

    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  17. Incredible photos of the pictos, the brunette lady is amazing. And then you top it off great landscapes.

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  18. Yes, it's amazing how close this is to everything!

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  19. Dearest Peter,
    You really discovered some very interesting things to capture and for pondering further about their presence.
    The skies are absolutely stunning with that cactus tree against it.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  20. Living a little dangerously there, fella. :-)

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  21. Until I started reading your blog I DID NOT know those graphics existed in the USA. That is so interesting that they could get the color involved that would last soooo long. AMAZING. Loved all the pictures. Good stuff as always.
    Sherry & jack in a nice warm Florida.

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  22. What an exciting hike to find so many pictos. Wonderful. Specially in color. Love the wonderful sky shots
    MB

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  23. Just amazing, especially given what can survive in a desert clime. Someone may have answered you already re the clouds in the last few pictures but my husband (cloud watcher) says they are probably altocumulous clouds.

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  24. Incredible images of the pictographs, makes you wonder how long they been there.
    Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful weekend.

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  25. Stunning shots all around. It's amazing the pictographs survive and it's good you have technology to help you and us to see better. The scenery and sky as always are simply marvellous.

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  26. You do live in a very beautiful area. Love the ladies, if faded. Oh, and the wide open-shot is beautiful, as the sky.

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  27. Beautiful and interesting rock formations and paintings on the rock. Beautiful skies.

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  28. The pictographs were fascinating, interesting and quite amazing, as always. Even if you had revealed the location, it would not be anyplace I would be hiking, so thanks for showing in these photos. And, the skies alone would be a reason for an outing!

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  29. The brunette is a real beauty!
    The rocks in the first shots remind me of a dinosaur head. :)

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  30. Beautiful and fascinating images, again !

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  31. Those pictographs are really interesting and fascinating. But your sky photos are beautiful too.

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  32. Glad you had some success in searching for beautiful and mysterious women! Those clouds look like stratocumulus undulatus to me.

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  33. Those skies are fabulous! You find such fascinating things on these hikes and as always, the scenery is gorgeous.

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  34. Wow - huge boulders! And a lovely sky.

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  35. Wow, love the skies here:) The scale from humans to rocks was to be expected:) The brunette lady can't be to old, it is a modern way of painting a person. Great post Peter - Jesh

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  36. it's very cool those paintings are still there, I almost thought that boulder was going to fall on you.

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  37. how old are these pictograms and what do they want to tell you? very interesting such discoveries
    great sky, beautiful colors
    Greetings Frank

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    1. I wish I knew, Frank! I think the experts could estimate the age, but I have yet to see anything definite about meaning. However, it's interesting that you see some of the same symbols used over and over again in different locations.

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  38. Wow so many pictos in this post. I really love the enhancing you can do to bring out the colors. The sky shots are really pretty too - love those interesting clouds

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  39. Interesting blog and great photography. It would be nice to follow you in the future. Also thanks for visiting my blog on wordpress.com.
    Kind regards, Rudi (from Picpholio)

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  40. What interesting things you find to share . . . AND, it's been such a long time since I've been in a desert . . . the beauty of it all, sure reminds me of excellent times and people. Thank you very much. 💙

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  41. I have seen those clouds a few times - not often. I believe they are called altostratus undulatus.

    All the pictures are fabulous... as usual!! But the second last... phenomenal!!

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