Tag Archives: Piedras Marcadas Canyon

Single Digits and Hundreds of Petroglyphs

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, Assistance, Education, Hiking and Nature, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

December 26, 2023, Santa Fe- It was 6 F, about ten miles south of Chevelon Butte, along the road between Payson and Winslow, at 6:30, this morning. By the time I reached Winslow, the heat had kicked in and it was a balmy 21 F. Gallup offered 19 degrees and Albuquerque, 37.

Along the route, I saw two coyotes sprinting across the highway, between Stoneridge and Crossroads, in Prescott Valley and, much later, two pronghorns gamboling in the desert, just east of the Rio Puerco Casino, outside Albuquerque. Police were along the highways in force, especially in the early morning hours, when I was driving in darkness. Passing the upended hulk of a wrecked semi-trailer, I felt grateful for their presence.

The main focus of the day, though, was on petroglyphs, the communication medium of pre-writing societies, in many parts of the world. Albuquerque’s Petroglyph National Monument, in the Duke City’s northwest corner, offers hundreds of descriptive figures, in three main clusters. The first, just south of the small Visitor Center, is Rinconada Canyon. This sector features a 2.2 mile loop trail, which took me about 45 minutes, a good part of which was spent noting the depicted animals and people.

West Mesa, at Petroglyph National Monument, Albuquerque.
Easternmost petroglyphs of Rinconada Canyon.
In the upper left hand corner, two beady eyes peer out from a small rock.
This collection reminded me of Newspaper Rock, south of Gallup.
The artists used pigment from plants, to add luster to some of their glyphs, chipping off the naturally-occurring lacquer and applying pigment to the bare stone underneath.
Two fish, a festal cup and a star adorn this rock.
This basalt ledge is one of many that served as a grinding table.
Spanish explorers added their art to the rocks. This “patriarchal” cross is one of many found in the West Mesa rock forest.
Here is an example of a figure that gives rise to speculation about extraterrestrial visitors. Puebloans caution against such speculation, saying we cannot know, for certain, what the ancients had in mind when these scenes were painted.

I went on, to Boca Negra (“Black Mouth”) Canyon. Here, there are three trails: The short Macaw Trail, the moderate Cliff Base and the “strenuous” Mesa Point Trail, which was easily climbed by a three-year-old girl, along with the rest of the group.

Mesa Point Trail:

At the base of Mesa Point, there is quite an assortment of figures.
Mesa Point’s own newspaper.
Looks like Gingerbread Man, with a robot t-shirt!

Here are scenes along Cliff Base Trail

Pupal scorpion?
“Greetings, future ones” ?
Fearsome mask?
One last newspaper clipping

I took a breather, to put gas in Sportage and fuel in my tank-at Which Wich, an innovative shop that uses a combination of technology and “check-off” paper bags, which the diner fills out and the attendant uses, in making the customized sandwich. 

Last, but not least, was Piedras Marcadas Canyon, which co-exists with several housing developments, yet seems a world away, once one is on the trail. There are two options here: Petroglyph View Trail, which goes directly to the scenes, and North Rim Trail, which goes to the top of the mesa-sans petroglyphs. I took the former route.

“Bob” couldn’t help himself. I’ve felt that way, but never given in to the carving impulse.
Here is a more “conventional” astrophysical image.
Finally, a “family” portrait.

There are many more scenes, which will be on my Flickr site, but you get the message(s).