On the Trail of Signs and Wonderss

The images in Fate Bell Shelter are on ceilings so high the painters must have built scaffolding. Ten stick figures line up on the rear walls, flanked by red handprints. I think of Egyptian tomb friezes and the Minoan wall paintings at Knossos. Are there graves here, too? One winged shaman wears deer antlers. Other red figures, in what look like ceremonial robes draped from extended arms, float and fly and dream, perhaps in a trance, among snakes.

The next day we head for the Curly Tail Panther Shelter, on private land about 20 miles east, above the Devils River. To reach the panther, we have to climb over the canyon's edge and along a narrow ledge in the red limestone cliff. It is a cool, overcast morning, and the wind is almost too strong for this--almost but not quite.

"It's important not to look down," Patrick advises. So I don't, but I wish I could be like the ocotillo we passed on the trail, firmly rooted, free to wave its arms in the wind.

Curly Tail Panther Shelter was never home to humans. With its high, vaulted ceiling, curving rock forms, smooth limestone floor and graceful, rounded mouth, it feels like a miniature cathedral.

We sit cross-legged or sprawled on the sloping floor, which seems to welcome our bodies, and watch the sinuous river 250 feet below for a long time. Behind us, a vibrant shaman connects the powers of life and death, making them one, and a fierce panther holds us and the spirit of this place in the powerful curl of its huge red tail.

When I reluctantly take my leave of los tres rios, I stop again at the White Shaman solstice marker, where I notice for the first time the commemorative bricks paving the area surrounding it. I arrange to have one laid in memory of my son. The desert-red brick is there now in the sun and dust and blooming cactus, above the Pecos River canyon. It reads "William Jack, 1955-1976, in Celebration." My heart, and perhaps his, rests.

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GUIDEBOOK

Reading Rocks in Very Old Texas

Getting there: Continental and Southwest fly nonstop from Los Angeles to San Antonio, Texas; United has a direct flight (one stop). Restricted round-trip fares start at $296.

Touring: Seminole Canyon State Historical Park, telephone (915) 292-4464, is about 180 miles west of San Antonio on U.S. 90. The park is open year-round. Admission is $2 per person. Tours ($3 extra) are twice a day from February into June (check for exact dates); no tours Monday and Tuesday in other months.

The Rock Art Foundation conducts day tours by appointment, $10 per person; tel. (888) 525-9907.

Where to stay: I camped in the park; reservations are advised, tel. (512) 389-8900.

Rock art hounds recommend two hotels on U.S. 90 (Avenue F) in Del Rio, 40 miles southeast: La Quinta, tel. (830) 775-7591, has doubles with breakfast for $55-$68; Ramada, tel. (830) 775-1511, has doubles for $69.

For more information: Texas Department of Economic Development, Tourism Division, P.O. Box 12728, Austin, TX 78711-2728; tel. (800) 888-8TEX, Internet http://www.traveltex.com.