Piedras Marcadas Canyon, Petroglyph National Monument – Albuquerque, NM

At around 10:30 last night (7/3), on a whim, I decided to head to White Sands, NM for the 4th of July. I left my home in Arvada at 4:00am and drove straight to Albuquerque, NM. On the moderately long drive(7hrs) I figured that I didn’t really plan the trip out that well. The heat down there this time of year is rather exhausting and just hiking around for an hour took most of my energy out of me. And not to mention that its always better to travel with someone in case something happens out in the middle of nowhere. So after thinking about what to do I saw a sign for Petroglyph National Monument. I had no idea what to expect at the park but was glad I stumbled upon it. There are a few areas to the park and I visited the northern most location, Piedras Marcadas Canyon. Petroglyphs literally cover hundreds if not thousands of stones/boulders. The lighting conditions weren’t the best but here are some photos of the park. I plan to go back during better conditions one of these days! After hiking around for a bit I drove all the way back home in Colorado. I arrived just in time to catch the firework show in Arvada (9:15pm). It was a great way to cap 15hrs of driving 960miles (1545km), and seeing many new places that will need to be further explored.