Thanks to PageRob for organizing this one! The guy is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to pottery and he had some inside information. The day was gloomy, but the rain held off until midafternoon--enough time to search for glyphs and sherds around the park. Many of the glyphs are faint, but Surprise Boulder at the end of the day was worth the hunt. The amount and variation of pottery sherds is overwhelming--I'm sad to think of the looting that is going to happen now that our bankrupt state has made the decision to close the part. But, hey, the politicians have their "pet" projects (like NAU's branch in India) to spend our money on...

On the way home, near the Walnut Canyon exit on I40, I glimpsed a large bird in the median, very close to the road--not flying away from the traffic. I took the exit, circled back, and stopped to see what had happened. It looked to me like an immature golden eagle. The bird couldn't extend its wings to fly--it may have been clipped by a car or truck. I took a couple of pictures, then watched it hop/flop up the median to the trees. I called the Game&Fish hotline to report it and I hope they were able to send someone out to find it before it got hurt worse.