Ancient artwork

There's nothing quite like getting sand blasted on your first walk in a new state.

There is so much to see and do around Albuquerque, New Mexico it's a shame we're only here for a week. For our first foray into the desert landscape we visited Petroglyph National Monument. There are four canyons to walk through while playing the ancient version of Where's Waldo with petroglyphs. We chose Rinconada Canyon as it was the closet to the visitor center and late in the day.

The afternoon continued to bluster with strong winds as it had all day. Now though, we were on a sandy path exposed to the full brunt of it. The sun was bright, keeping it warm but still we had to wear jackets or have our bare skin assaulted with millions of sand grains trying to embed themselves.

There are apparently around 300 petroglyphs along about a mile or so of this trail. In the rocks.

Where to look?

There were a couple of helpful signs and once the wind mellowed a bit we were able to stop shielding our eyes long enough to start searching for them. The first half of the trail they were difficult to spot. Can you see the hand?

It's on the right side near the bottom.

After we passed the Spanish graffiti, the petroglyphs were easier spot. Mind you, there were a couple of newer writings, but some are now old enough to probably be considered less graffiti and more historical.

Trying to figure out the meanings of the symbols for us laymen was a fun exercise in creativity.

It was a great way to start our exploration of the area.