Many of us who enjoy expedition paddling in Texas don’t just paddle to paddle. While we look forward to the challenges of a long river trip, exhilarating rapids, setting up camp in a different place every night, and the solitude of being on the river, we also like to spend a little more time hiking, exploring and really getting to know our environments.
Editor's note: When this report was converted from a pdf file to a web page, it was discovered that the compact disc containing the photos was corrupted and they could not be retrieved. So, all that is available here are small thumbnail photos. If those photos are able to be recovered, they will be used to replace this small thumbnails. I apologize for the poor quality of these photos, but that is all that's available at this time.
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Map from Houston to
Shumla School on the
banks of the Pecos
River
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For a week in August, Louis Aulbach, Dana Enos, Linda Gorski and John Rich took on a volunteer project at the Shumla School for the study of Native American rock art on the banks of the Pecos River west of Comstock. Our good friends Carolyn Boyd and her husband Phil Dering, both former professors in archeology at Texas A & M University, established this school in 1998 to provide the opportunity for intense study into the human use of materials, land and art in the Lower Pecos region, which, according to international experts, contains the largest concentration of rock art in the world.
In exchange for cataloging the research library at the school, we were able to base camp at this absolutely remarkable place. Hike a few meters from the complex and you are deep in the Chihuahuan desert. Hike a bit farther and you're in the canyons of the Pecos River.
Since it was August in west Texas and easily 105 degrees every afternoon, we had a good excuse to stay indoors and tackle our library project during the heat of the day. But each morning, we headed out just after sunrise to hike to the banks of the Pecos and explore, from the high bluffs and mesas, the area we normally just see from the river.
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Dana, Louis and Linda
become librarians
for a week
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John and Dana hike
away from the Shumla
School complex |
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Louis and John hiking
on the bluffs at Shumla
Bend above the Pecos
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Even better, on two of the mornings, we took our canoes down to the boat ramp below the Pecos High Bridge and paddled around the mouth of the Pecos, the Rio Grande and Lake Amistad. We explored areas we always miss during long expedition trips, since by the time we reach this point, we are ready to take off the river and head back to Houston.
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Map showing location
of Pecos Boat Ramp |
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Linda and Louis paddling
away from the put in at the
boat ramp near the
Pecos High Bridge
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During our morning paddles we discovered several amazing rock art shelters and other caves that showed signs of ancient human occupation (not just the trash of modern fishermen and campers). One of the best concentrations of rock art on this section of our paddle was Parida Cave which is easily accessible from a floating boat dock installed by the National Park Service.
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John and Dana scout
the canyon walls near
Parida Cave and
Parida Cave Annex
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This geometric design
in Parida Cave was the
first of its kind we'd seen
in rock shelters on the
Pecos
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Looking out from inside
Parida cave, across the
Rio Grande to Mexico
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For those of you who have not had the opportunity to see first hand the rock art of the Lower Pecos River, let me give you a brief overview. The Pecos River Style is a form of archaic Native American art believed by most scholars to be religious in nature. The rock art is found in rock shelters along the main canyons and tributaries of the Devils, Pecos and Rio Grande rivers and in northern Mexico but the focal points of the art's distribution and the areas of greatest intensity is the mouth of the Pecos and the Devils in Val Verde County. Designs include shamans, anthropomorphs (human figures), zoomorphs (animal figures), hands, geometrical figures, and even historical figures.
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John on the side
of a cliff photographing
rock art inside a large
shelter
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The intriguing image
which called for John
to climb up there
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Dana photographing
rock art at Parida Cave
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The moral of this story is that if you want to paddle in this area with your family or fellow paddlers, but NOT do the 5 to 7 days it takes to paddle down the Pecos where you will encounter challenging whitewater, perhaps beyond your paddling skills (Linda says she speaks from experience here) you can bring your boats out to the Pecos River, camp at Seminole Canyon State Historical Park only two miles away (one of the best state parks in Texas), put on the water at the boat ramp every morning and hike and explore and
paddle to your heart’s content. Seminole Canyon itself has three different hiking tours you can take to see prehistoric Indian rock art, as well as remnants of 1880's railroad camps.
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One of the rock art panels
at a shelter in Seminole
Canyon State Historical Park
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And just a mile west of Seminole Canyon is the White Shaman Preserve, a rock art cave tour led by the Rock Art Foundation. The Rock Art Foundation also works with private property owners in the area to conduct other public rock art tours. If you schedule these things properly, in just a few days you can see a dozen amazing ancient Indian rock art sites that will just boggle your mind, and keep you up late at night in bed thinking about what the abstract images might mean.
In addition to exploring caves full of rock art, you'll also see lots of wildlife, birds, desert flora, and I’m told the fishing is as good as it gets. Then, you can head back to the campground every evening and still enjoy many of the experiences you’ll have paddling the Pecos River from Pandale down to the boat ramp.
As mentioned in last month's newsletter, fellow Houston Canoe Club members Terry and Kathleen Burgess who live just east of the Pecos River in Comstock have recently opened Val Verde Paddlesports. They offer guided tours of rock art sites along the Pecos and Devils River and can give expert information about what else there is to see in the area. Their website link is above, or you can reach them at 830-313-2977 or info@vvpaddlesports.com.
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Pictographs, including
human figure with antlers
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Mystery images
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If you'd like to read more about the rock art of the Lower Pecos River there are several books we can recommend including "The Rock Art of Texas Indians" by F. Kirkland and W.W. Newcomb and "Rock Art of the Lower Pecos" by Carolyn Boyd. There are also some informative websites dedicated to the study of the rock art of the Lower Pecos, the best of which is probably Texas Beyond History.
One final note. These rock art sites are of incredible historic importance. They deserve to be respected and protected. The old adage of "take only photos and leave only footprints" applies here.
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Louis, Linda, Dana and John at the
end of a great week of work,
hiking,paddling and camaraderie
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