Amazing Space

Steve and I and four friends started down the trail, passing a cowboy brush corral, made of piled up juniper branches. 

"Dang, that's one fine corral," the guys mused, admiring old-time ingenuity. 

As we rode down an abandoned road, we saw grooves in the sandstone made by wagons that traveled this way, long ago. 

Probably the wagons brought supplies for ranchers setting up a seasonal camp, to tend either cattle or sheep grazing the range in the early 1900's. 

Cowboy Cave made a great lunch spot.  Archeologists excavated this cave in the '70's and found sandals and other artifacts dating back 7000 years.  You can read more about it here.

We rode through scenic canyons,

and over the desert hills with magnificent formations in the background.  This area is about 1500 square miles of open space.  The harsh beauty inspires reverence, almost like visiting the most sacred of temples. 
But we did have a destination in mind.  A year ago, we met a sixtyish hiker whose mother had ridden the canyon country as a girl, and told him about a rock art panel she called the "blue-eyed Jesus".  Steve has been hunting down clues ever since.
A ranger we spoke to, and a lone online blogger, call it the "Blue-eyed Princess" panel. Although few people know about it, one of our fellow riders had actually been to the site. 

However, from the looks of Steve and our friend, huddled over a map some 4 hours into the ride, I wasn't so sure we'd find our way.  They look like they're asking each other, "Where the heck are we?"