Three Rivers Petroglyph Site
Because we couldn’t camp at White Sands, we had to find another spot. This spot turned out to be the Three Rivers Petroglyph site, where there are over 20,000 petroglyphs. I’ve seen plenty of petroglyphs in my travels across the southwest, but these were the absolute best. The variety (and sheer quantity) was amazing. I’ve never seen a petroglyph of a human face before this, and some of the animals were pretty great, too. There were many more photos I wanted to include, but enough is enough…go see them yourselves; it is well worth the visit.
Of course I injured myself clambering among the rocks to see the petroglyphs, partially because I had not properly equipped myself with a cane, and partially because a pair of sandals with actual straps to keep them on my feet (as opposed to the more usual flip-flops) is about as close as I can come to hiking boots. A pair of ankles with the strength and stability of half-cooked pasta did not help matters, either. I was congratulating myself on my persistence and willingness (as a handicapped person) to overcome any obstacle in the pursuit of seeing cool stuff, so I stifled my cries of agony and superciliously brushed off the injuries as being of no importance. Then the next day, as I was hobbling down the road trying to walk the dogs with a wrenched knee and some sort of weird (but very painful) abrasion on the bottom of my foot, I felt very whiny and put-upon. So much for my persistence.
This probably isn't the best one to start out with, but it was one of the first ones I saw, and it reminded me of a pooping angel. Maybe the angel is pooping lightning bolts? Anyway, I was very fond of it for that reason, and included it even though it isn't one of the clearer petroglyphs.
Much later on the trail I found another pooping angel but this one has a growth of some kind on its wing that might be a dog?
The naturalism of this ram's head is different from the more highly stylized petroglyphs I've seen before.
Here's a whole sheep...again, I thought this was unusually naturalistic.
So most of you probably aren't impressed with this petroglyph, but my family members will immediately recognize it as Leopold the See-Through Crumb Picker. Leopold the See-Through Crumb Picker was one of the many books our mom read to us when we were little. I thought he was an original idea, but here he is in a 900 year old petroglyph. Wow!
This is obviously a cross between a giraffe and a turkey.
And this, also obviously, is some sort of pterodactyl/road-runner thing.
I don't know what this is...some kind of scrawny horse, maybe? But what I love about it is that it seems to be playing yo-yo with its tongue, and the yo-yo is the Earth. So it must be a cosmic beast of some kind that has a yo-yo earth tongue.
Here is an ancient road sign. It was actually sitting beside the path, pointing in the direction we were supposed to go. Coincidence? Perhaps..........
Here is a man with garden rakes for arms and bell-bottom pants.
Here is a person wearing earrings
And here is a googly-eyed monster.
And here is an even more terrifying monster with halloween teeth.
Lastly, we have a man with a Mayan pyramid on his head. There were several others I wanted to post, including a fish and a bunny and what looks like an Urban Planning layout, but I thought you might be getting bored, so I will cease posting for today.