Evidence of the passing of the Pleistocene Glacier and the effect it had as it carved into the Colorado landscape can be seen in the glacial cirque and the flanking arêtes, visible on the mountain peak in the upper left corner.
The labeled photo below will help to identify these glacial features.
Labeled Glaciated Features as seen
in Cañon City, Colorado
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Click on the Sandstone rock and mineral collage above to enlarge it in a new window.
Click to enlarge.
"Impurities", in this case, are a good thing since such coloring renders some of the most magnificent landscapes imaginable.
Iron Oxide Pigment
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Around 70 and 72 million years ago, during the late Cretaceous Period, the Laramide Orogeny, a major uplift and mountain building event, began to affect Colorado Geology and it continued to do so into the Paleogene period of the Cenozoic era (post-dinosaurs).
Horizontally deposited sedimentary rock layers were thrust upward, many to near vertical positions, during the Laramide mountain building. At this time the shallow inland sea that covered the area retreated, never to return again. 1
The Rocky Mountain range was uplifted and rivers such as the Arkansas began downcutting, eventually forming deep gorges, such as the Royal Gorge. Tilted blocks of crustal rock, bounded by thrust and reverse faults, included the overthrusting of older Proterozoic rock strata over younger, Paleozoic rock layers.
Chemical weathering paints the outcrops with vivid red hematite (iron oxide) and yellow limonite hues. See photos of these minerals below; they will also enlarge.
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Wild turkey are abundant and one of the symbols appears to represent a turkey's foot; perhaps symbolizing a successful hunt for a Hunting and Gathering tribe. Petroglyphs throughout Ccolorado have been dated between 7500 B.C. to the mid-1500s. 2
The Southern Ute Indian Tribes populated this area of Southern Colorado and so it is possible that the drawings are Ute in origin. 3