Hands down, the most exciting photo day for me during our Escalante trip was a drive on side road off Hwy 12 (no name in order to protect location). I had asked to stop so I could photograph a spectacular Cottonwood tree and we stumbled upon several photo ops. Besides the amazingly large Cottonwoods, there was a very cool small slot canyon but the most exiting for me was what appeared at first glance to be a miniature Indian Ruin. As I got closer, I noticed dung everywhere so being crazy about Woodrats, I immediately thought it must be a midden.
I wrote to a photographer friend, Bruce Taubert, who I thought might know because he’s an Arizona Game and Fish guy but he wasn’t sure so he forwarded my note to Randy Babb who currently works for AZ Game and Fish. (Randy is also a fantastic photographer!) Here’s his answer:
“There are at least two woodrat species (pack rats) that are found in that area. I believe that what you found is an ancient nest or midden. I don’t see any fresh signs of activity in the pictures (very nice photos by the way) such as scattered droppings, twigs or limbs or other vegetative debris that nests are constructed of. Some of these prehistoric middens can be 100’s if not 1000’s of years old. See Van Devender’s packrat book for more details on how these middens are used to determine past environmental conditions.” “My first impression was exactly yours…it looked like a miniature Indian ruin.”
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OK…who else besides me thinks this is exciting 🙂
Marianne,
I know that slot.
Bob
Barry told me you went there with Lonnie Brock. I figured the photo tours must know about it!
Who knew packrats were the first cliff dwellers? How cool was THIS find?! You know what makes the photos? The arch. The arch creates the cliff dweller “look.” Well, there’s a lot more, but that arch contains and protects. Exciting? Hell yes! — Carol Leigh
It looks a lot like being in Sedona with the indian ruins. Great shots. Escalante is one great place to hike and with a camera you are in haven.
Marianne,
Very cool find, thanks for sharing.
Marianne,
Very cool discovery. It certainly looks a lot like a cliff dwelling.
Marianne: Excellent photos! Wonderful find. Randy Babb’s comments re the archaeological and ecological research value of packrat nests is spot on. I’ve found lots of the usual stuff near packrat nests — spent cartridges, shotgun shell casings, bottle caps, even a CD — but my most memorable find was a palm sized piece of decorated Hohokam pottery at a nest in the middle of Fountain Hills. Bless those little furry archivists!