700 Year Old Graffiti

Our hiking experience today took us to the Piedras Marcadas Canyon, part of the Petroglyph Monument on the West side of the Rio Grande. Piedras Marcadas means "marked rocks" and the canyon has the densest concentration of petroglyphs in the park. The canyon is made up of piles of volcanic rock. The ancestors of the Pueblo Indians carved the images into the black rock faces. Here I am pointing at one.

And here's a cooler one:

At first, Stephen said he was disappointed because he thought they would be more artistic and less like "700 year-old graffiti." But then we saw people, animals, and geometric shapes and symbols and started to wonder why they were made. Were they art? History? Communication? Our speculation made them much more interesting. And besides, there was the beautiful view.

We even saw a balloon landing nearby.