We have spent the last two days at two of our national monuments. I was impressed with both. Our first was El Malpais. There were some areas closed but we were able to see a few things. We stopped at the Sandstone Bluffs. It was site. The Zuni Mountains in the distance is the western edge of the lava flow. To the right is where the lava flowed after it was ejected from over 200 vents in the area.
Then we drove on to see La Ventana Natural Arch. It was a short hike to view and worth the effort. The sun wasn’t in the best place but we made it work.
Today was El Morrow. It was something to see. I might have been a little more impressed with this one. It’s about 45 minutes off of I-40 but definitely a must see. We entered the visitor center and was briefed by the ranger. We told him we were going the shorter route to see Inscription Rock so we didn’t get the briefing about the Headland Trail. We headed out for our short hike to see the inscriptions and petroglyphs.
I looked at the map and headed in the direction I thought we would go. That was our first mistake. It’s always a mistake to let me read the map. One day we might learn. We headed up what I thought was the way to Inscription Rock and after climbing 250 feet we see the Atsinna Pueblo. I knew we were on the wrong trail at that point because we weren’t supposed to see that. It was amazing, although they were doing some work there.
At that point, I asked Tom if he wanted to turn around. He asked if we would get to Inscription Rock this way and the map showed we would. Again, I’m reading the map! I should input here again, I didn’t get the Headland Trail briefing. So, we journeyed on.
We climbed over these rocks and amazingly didn’t fall. There was somewhat of a path in most places. The Civil Engineers were here in the 1930’s and left their mark by putting in stairs and other improvements for people to see the beauty of the area. After over a mile or so a couple we were behind were coming back towards us and the trail was closed due to ice. Again, I didn’t get the briefing. They had been told it was closed due to ice. So, we turned around and followed them back down. We made it back to the visitor center and I told the ranger we had taken the wrong path. He offered to turn the video on so we could rest for 15 minutes before going on the right path to Inscription Rock. I was very appreciative.
Let me say here that the path to Inscription Rock was flat, short and what I was expecting. Goodness! Inscription Rock, for thousands of years people of journeyed this way to a pond that never runs dry at the base of the rock. It is fed by rain and snow melt. You can see the dark lines on the rock behind it and that is where the water flows down.
Some of the inscriptions were hard to read. The managers of the park performed maintenance on the park in the early years and sometimes did more harm than good. They put graphite in the letters to try and enhance the inscriptions which often didn’t work.
We weren’t able to see them all because part of that trail was closed as well. But one I want to call attention to is the one made by Miss A. F. Bailey. Very few women signed the rock. America Francis Bailey and her sister Amelia were part of a wagon train traveling from Missouri to California in 1858. The trail guide says, “If America Bailey had known what she would encounter later in the journey she may not have continued. Just east of the Colorado River, eight hundred Mojave Indians attached the sixty Anglo travelers. The Mojave killed nine and injured seventeen while suffering eight-seven casualties themselves. The pioneering caravan retreat to New Mexico to wait out the winter in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. The Bailey sisters eventually made it to Fresno County, California.”
If you’re near Grants, NM I would highly recommend both of these national monuments. But be sure to check the websites because with all the cutbacks in our National Parks they aren’t always open. It’s a shame really. I hope your days are filled with amazing adventures.
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