Petroglyph Point

Posted on October 30th, 2008 in California, Place of interests, Road Trips, Travel by yeehan

“Petroglyphs are images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as “carving”, “engraving”, or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images. Petroglyphs are found world-wide, and are often (but not always) associated with prehistoric peoples. The word comes from the Greek words petros meaning “stone” and glyphein meaning “to carve” (it was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe).


From Random Shots

The term petroglyph should not be confused with pictograph, which is an image drawn or painted on a rock face. Both types of image belong to the wider and more general category of rock art. Petroforms, or patterns and shapes made by many large rocks and boulders over the ground, are also quite different. Inukshuks are also unique, and found only in the Arctic (except for reproductions and imitations built in more southerly latitudes).” From Wikipedia

In Northern California, one place that you can find such ‘drawings’ is in Lava Beds National Monument. The majority of petroglyphs found at Lava Beds are located at Petroglyph Point, a former island within ancient Tule Lake.


From Random Shots

“Most of the pictographs at Lava Beds are found around cave entrances. They are painted in black, produced from a charcoal base mixed with animal fat, and white, made with a clay base. Occasionally red was used, likely made from substances obtained through trade with Paiute Indians to the east. Since scientific dating techniques are possible with the carbon-based materials in some pigments, some pictographs at Lava Beds have been dated to as many as to 1,500 years ago. However, since Lava Beds remains a sacred landscape for people of Modoc-Klamath descent, it is possible that other images are relatively recent.


From Random Shots

As with petroglyphs, guessing the age of an individual image by its condition can be deceiving. Images exposed to direct sun, wind, and rain fade much faster than those in more sheltered areas. Excellent examples of pictographs can be seen at Symbol Bridge and Big Painted Cave on boulders along the trail and walls around the entrances. Perhaps you can imagine generations of artists making their way out to caves such as these with paint supplies and an idea in mind. If you look closely, most lines on such pictographs seem to be about the width of a human finger—literally applied by hand.”


From Random Shots

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Earth rocks

Posted on October 26th, 2008 in Thoughts, Uncategorized by yeehan

Sometimes it makes you wonder how these beautiful rocks came about. And how long more can we admire such natural wonders. Even if it’s just a mere rock.


From Random Shots

And sometimes it also made we wonder how tiny one person as compared to the size of earth. We are just tinier than grains of sand. Wonder how long more can the world last with all those excessive usage of resources without considering much about environmental sustainability. More can be done than current efforts. Only when it’s going to be too late with no return, then will people only realize their mistakes?


From Random Shots

Just some rants and hope that people will be awaken from their “dream” soon. The earth is CHOKING.

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Caving experience

Posted on October 20th, 2008 in California, Place of interests, Road Trips, Travel by yeehan

There are lots of other caves to explore depending on your interests. We decided to try a couple of caves until we decided that we had enough. This is a challenging cave that we tried.

Hercules Leg Cave (1,948 ft/594 m) and Juniper Cave (2,362 ft/720 m)
These two caves were connected by the removal of debris in a collapse pit, and together make one long excursion with an entrance and exit. The Hercules Leg portion has generally high ceilings and smooth floors. The connection to the Juniper branch involves crossing a breakdown with a passage height of 2.5 ft (0.8 m), and several low sections thereafter.


From Random Shots

You will start caving from the entrance into the darkness. Armed with only torchlight, you are required to maneuver your way through. What is also dangerous during caving is that there are a lot of junctions along the way and you’ll not know if there’s an opening at the end. So this means that you need to remember the way that you came in. When we caved, we always chose one direction when we reached a junction (i.e. Always choose the ‘right’ way). So if you reached a dead end, you just follow original trail and take the left turn whenever you reach a junction.


From Random Shots

During caving, the greatest happiness is when you see light because you’ll know that even if you are lost, you can always try to climb out from the cave. It’s just a sense of assurance that at least we are not really heading to any dead ends.


From Random Shots

However sometimes the hole is either too small or too high up. So, you’ll still stuck underground. At least there’s sign of hope, huh? Rather than being in complete darkness.


From Random Shots

Once I finished caving the few challenging ones, I felt relieved and happy that I have accomplished another unique experience in my life. Another story, another chapter.


From Random Shots

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Still there

Posted on October 2nd, 2008 in Thoughts by yeehan

It has been a long time since I posted something. And seems like my post frequency is dropping to one post per month! I still have lots of travel stories to tell. And I need to write them down fast before they slowly fade away from my mind. (Can’t believe that I have left US for more than 2 months now)

My neuron cells used to store my thoughts is now being slowly displaced by other thoughts. Just like a hard drive with limited storage space, my brain has almost reached it’s capacity and I slowly need to offload them to somewhere else to keep those influx of other matters.

Forgetfulness. That’s the term. Or perhaps short term memory loss. There is only so much one can do and remember and it’s always good to keep notes/reminders or have someone to remind you of the things to be done. Right now I’m relying on my phone as my personal assistant. Reminds me to do all those necessary stuff but sometimes I’ll still forget to key those information in my phone. Maybe I should find a PA soon.

24 hours ain’t enough. Most people feel this way but it seems like time is just ticking away so fast and I’m playing catching up with time. And time is always one step ahead of me.


From Random Shots

But I’m staying strong. It’s just the mindset. Change your thoughts and you can change your world. Still there and going strong!

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