Saturday, November 19, 2011
Somewhere in Kelly Canyon
10 runners set out on an overcast, damp morning into the depths of Kelly Canyon. As we headed down for quite sometime, runners knew the return would nothing but up. However the beauty of the canyon led us deeper and deeper, finally to the junction of Kelly Canyon and Pumphouse Wash, a spectacular water hole of heavily eroded sandstone. Had the sun been out, many might have taken a bath. However, we jumped onto a "trailwind" and returned to David's for Neil's Bloody Marys, Biff's bagels and some of the finest breakfast treats around.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Picture Canyon Time Line
Yesterday, November 16, David McKee and I met with Claudine, a reporter for KNAU who is doing a story on the restoration work at Picture Canyon. It gave us a chance to reminisce on the history of Picture Canyon clean up efforts and how David got NATRA involved in the project.
I first went to Picture Canyon in June 1986 when I was leading an afternoon hike with 4th and 5th graders from the Museum of Northern Arizona's Elden Pueblo archaeology camp. Working on an internship at the Museum I had heard about the petroglyphs and was intrigued with finding them. Once we did, I taught the students how to sketch the petroglyphs to scale on graph paper. The further up canyon we went, the more trash we encountered and the foul smelling sewage overwhelmed our nasal passages. I then decided I didn't want any kids having to go home needing tetanus shots, so we left the canyon.
I would not return until nearly 20 years later when my pal David McKee who worked at the City's Wildcat Waste Water Treatment plant hatched a plan to restore Picture Canyon. David told me he was seeking ways to remove the seven abandoned cars mired in the rocky twisted canyon bottom but the State Lands Department required the presence of an archaeologist to ensure that none of the archaeological features would be affected. I happily obliged to volunteer and on September 24, 2005 the challenging removal was a success thanks to Gary Lively's crane operations.
I first went to Picture Canyon in June 1986 when I was leading an afternoon hike with 4th and 5th graders from the Museum of Northern Arizona's Elden Pueblo archaeology camp. Working on an internship at the Museum I had heard about the petroglyphs and was intrigued with finding them. Once we did, I taught the students how to sketch the petroglyphs to scale on graph paper. The further up canyon we went, the more trash we encountered and the foul smelling sewage overwhelmed our nasal passages. I then decided I didn't want any kids having to go home needing tetanus shots, so we left the canyon.
I would not return until nearly 20 years later when my pal David McKee who worked at the City's Wildcat Waste Water Treatment plant hatched a plan to restore Picture Canyon. David told me he was seeking ways to remove the seven abandoned cars mired in the rocky twisted canyon bottom but the State Lands Department required the presence of an archaeologist to ensure that none of the archaeological features would be affected. I happily obliged to volunteer and on September 24, 2005 the challenging removal was a success thanks to Gary Lively's crane operations.
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