5/26 : Petroglyphs Galore & the Sandia Tramway

The first thing Steven and I saw at Petroglyph National Monument, outside of Albuquerque, was an Apache plume with feathery, pink blooms. If we'd been here a week earlier, white, five-petal, rose-like blooms would have covered the desert shrub. The resourceful Ancestral Puebloans used the plant's slender, straight branches to make arrow shafts, the sturdy branches to make brooms, and the flower petals were eaten to prevent gas. After the leaves were steeped in water, the mixture was used to promote hair growth!

No wonder Steven and I hope to return to New Mexico next year, as there are over 50 park units within a day's drive of Albuquerque, also known as ABQ. 

You may recall that we also saw a horno while visiting Banedleier National Monument near the beginning of our New Mexico road trip. Introduced by the Spanish in the early 17th century, it is still used by the local Pueblo people for baking. Pueblo men learned from Spanish explorers to harvest wheat, a vital staple because it was easier to make bread from it than from corn. The women were taught to build the bee-shaped oven for bread baking. The horno construction materials and techniques varied from village to village.

A cholla: 

The beginning of the Petroglyph Trail on the ancestral lands of the Pueblo People in the Rinconada Canyon:

The 7,200-acre living cultural landscape of the monument holds profound meaning and value to 29 indigenous tribes, including the Diné and Apache, as their ancestors have lived on this land for generations. 

A series of volcanic eruptions about 20,000 years ago began to create this slope of eroded volcanic boulders. While there are thousands of petroglyphs carved along the 17-mile-long volcanic escarpment known as ABQ's West Mesa, the Ancestral Pueblo People lived in multi-storied adobe villages on both sides of the Rio Grande, approximately two miles east of the canyon. Archaeologists believe that most of the petroglyphs carved in the Petroglyph National Monument were created by residents of the Piedras Marcadas Pueblo, the most populated pueblo village site closest to the monument.

After walking for almost a mile and not noticing any markings on the thousands of basalt boulders, it was pretty exciting when we finally came across the first images at Petroglyph National Monument, which is responsible for protecting one of the largest petroglyph sites on the continent. The designs and symbols were carved onto basalt boulders by both indigenous Americans and Spanish settlers between 400 and 700 years ago. Surveys have confirmed more than 24,000 petroglyphs along the volcanic escarpment!

Among the most common Spanish petroglyphs were symbols representing religious beliefs and cultural traditions, such as the cross below on the right, that may have been left by Spanish sheepherders.

The petroglyphs are a valuable record of cultural expression and hold spiritual significance for some contemporary American tribes, as well as for the heirs of local Spanish land grants. With each petroglyph preserving the belief and virtues of its creator, the original meaning is also known only by that person. In the 21st century, we can only theorize about the interpretation and purpose of each inscription and be grateful that the petroglyphs are part of the country's national story and heritage. 

Visitors to the monument were reminded that petroglyphs can be damaged by even the lightest human touch, as oils from our hands alter the color of the basalt stone, diminishing the contrast for others to view. The petroglyphs are irreplaceable cultural resources that, if damaged, are lost for future generations. But can you imagine being able to touch the ancestral stone markings and forming a visceral connection to the designs and those who crafted them? 

It is thought that images of hands were used to mark territory and sacred places, and were also considered to be the emblems left behind by medicine men.

Although some images carved into the basalt resembled modern graffiti, the petroglyph's authenticity was confirmed by the wide and deeply incised lines, as well as the rate at which the image began to re-oxidize, or darken due to desert varnish. 

Geometric and abstract images found along the escarpment are symbols that may be associated with nomadic desert cultures, which likely created the oldest images in the monument, dating back 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. 

Spiral petroglyph and pictograph images are commonly found throughout the region and are associated with wind, water, spiritual emergencies, and an individual's life journey. 

Since animals were an essential part of the Pueblo culture, various desert animals are depicted in petroglyph and pictograph form throughout the Southwest. 

A perspective shot of the escarpment at the 1.1-mile marker made me wonder why many of the images had been carved pretty far up the hill. 

Archaeologists refer to these images as being made in the Rio Grande style, which developed rapidly around 1300 AD, coinciding with a dramatic increase in the local population and the construction of numerous pueblo villages along the river. Rio Grande style images often include human figures, animals, and geometric design, as well as incorporating three-dimensional attributes of the boulder to create 3-D petroglyphs. Look at the mask carved into the corner of the boulder, with some of the facial features coming from the boulder itself!

I discovered that only now are archaeologists developing methods to determine the exact age of petroglyphs. They can estimate age by studying relatively dark areas and re-oxidation, compare the style, content, and execution of petroglyphs to those nearby, and compare designs with similar designs on dated pottery or painted murals inside kivas. They can determine that the sheep petroglyph must have been created after 1600, because sheep were introduced by the Spanish about that time. However, it is impossible to determine whether the image was carved by a Spaniard or a Puebloan, as both cultures were simultaneously creating petroglyphs.

Steven and I joked that it almost felt like we were playing the Where's Waldo game as we searched for images among the basalt rocks and pointed them out to each other.

Notice how this rock was carved on three sides.

I wondered what drew the artists to specific rocks to carve their images.

A view looking back along the escarpment before walking back through the desert: 

Though the desert appeared barren, it was anything but on closer inspection! Steven and I had lucked out, choosing to visit ABQ in late May when so many desert flowers were blooming.

The bustling city of Albuquerque in the background: 

A few miles away was the Mesa Point Trail in Boca Negro Canyon, where we saw the largest stone covered with images carved by the Ancestral Puebloan people. They used sandstone hammerstones and chisels to remove the thin exterior layer of desert varnish, exposing the basalt's lighter interior color. Again, while some images were recognizable to people today, their original meanings were known only to the carver and those who lived and traveled during that period. 

We learned on this trail that it is not appropriate for modern Pueblos to reveal the meaning of an image to others, because various Pueblos have differing opinions on meanings. Any single image may also have complex or multiple meanings based on the context. 

This trail was far more challenging than the previous one, especially since we planned to hike to the top.

A worn area on the top of one boulder indicated that Native people used it as a grinding surface to sharpen tools, grind seeds and dried flower petals into powdered pigments, and to prepare plants for medicines. 

Standing at the top of the trail, we caught our breath, as we were standing one mile or 5,280 ft. above sea level - the same elevation as our adopted home of Denver, known as the Mile High City. Straight ahead were the 10,678 ft. high Sandia Mountains, whose top we'd see in a bit. Below us lay the Rio Grande Valley, whose history of human habitation dates back 3,000 years.

Another hand motif: 

Because of the sun's glare, not all petroglyphs could be visible at certain times of the day. I smiled when I read that Pueblo elders believe that the petroglyphs choose when and to whom to reveal themselves. We liked to think that they chose us, as we had some incredible views of the petroglyphs. 

As we suspected on the earlier trail, the elaborate historic rendition of a Christian cross may have been carved by Spanish shepherds in the 1700s  or 1800s. That was because they closely resembled Latin crosses done in the patriarchal style.

If we return to New Mexico next year, as we hope to, we'll explore more of the Petroglyph National Monument's trails.

We then made a beeline across the city to catch a ride on the Sandia Peak Tramway, the longest of its type in the world. While waiting for our timed entry, I spent a few minutes in the New Mexico Ski Museum. In 1955, the owners of the Twining Ski Company, now Taos, leased a lodge but had no lifts. They offered skiing by a Sno-Cat driven by their 11-year-old son!

Surplus Army Air Corps B-24 bomber seats were used on New Mexico's first chairlift, built at Santa Fe Ski Basin in 1950. The lift, assembled from parts of an old mining lift salvaged from the Eueka Mine in Silverton, Colorado, was retired in the early 1960s. 

A view of the city and environs from the base of the tramway:

North America's first mono-cable four-passenger gondola was not installed at one of the resorts in my native Canada or even in our adopted state of Colorado in 1962, but rather at New Mexico's Sierra Blanca Ski Resort, which was renamed Ski Apache in 1984! 

Skiers were pictured loading at the bottom terminal of the 4,200-ft-long Constam T-bar at La Madera Skiway, later named Sandia Peak, in 1948. 

When the Upper Terminal of the Sandia Peak Tram was completed in 1965, its length was 14,850 feet over a 4,000-foot vertical rise and an upper span of 7,500 feet. The two cabins, each holding 50 passengers, took 7 minutes to reach the mountaintop. 

The tram's founders, Ben Abruzzo and Bob Nordhaus, were pictured in 1964 near one of the helicopters used to construct the tramway. It took more than 5,000 helicopter trips to what would become the World's Longest Tramway at the time. 

Norhaus was described as a "skier, lawyer, father, 10th Mountain Division officer, and visionary." He also founded the Albuquerque Ski Area, created La Madera, and conceived the "longest tramway in the world." He and Ambruzzo built the link between the growing city and the mountain world they loved so much. 

The 40-passenger gondola - oops, flight, according to the folks at Sandia Peak, left every 30 minutes. The last flight of the day leaves two men up at the top all night long. If we didn't want to get eaten by bears, we were told we'd better get on the last flight down the mountain! We were excited to board Flight 18 - did you notice the New Mexico flag on the bottom of the cabin?

Views from the cabin, aka the gondola:

The elevation at the bottom of the tramway was 6400 feet, compared to 10,400 feet at the top. The temperature at the base was a relatively balmy 64, but it was 10 degrees cooler at the top. I pitied the people who had chosen to wear shorts for the late afternoon ride up the mountain!

We saw hikers on the path that wound its way up to the top of the mountain. Our pilot, or perhaps he was our flight attendant, told us it was also a road that had transported the tower up the hill from the base. We sure felt the cabin swaying after crossing the first tower, but fortunately, we'd been warned by the pilot to expect it a few minutes ahead of time. 

After crossing Tower 2, we still had another 1.3 miles to go before reaching the top. The cabin sped along at a good clip of 25mph, zipping past some breathtaking views below us. 

We passed the sister tram heading down to the base of the mountain. 

We weren't enthralled to hear that they expected lightning later in the day, and hoped we'd be off the mountain well before then. 

After a 15-minute ride, we arrived at Ten 3, the restaurant and gift shop located at the top of Sandia Crest, which opened in 2019. 

The attendant at the top mimicked reeling us in!

Steven and I were both winded and out of breath once we reached the top because of the higher elevation. After relaxing for a few minutes, we took in the stunning views in every direction. The view from the top encompassed an 11,000-sq.-mile area, including Albuquerque and the Rio Grande basin five thousand feet below us, both within the Rio Grande Rift, a zone of faults that has formed basins and ranges from southern Colorado into Mexico. At five miles deep, the rift is one of Earth's greatest troughs. 

  I think this was 7,775 ft.-high Cabezon Peak, Spanish for Big Head!

South Sandia Peak's elevation was over 9,600 feet.

The ski area on the opposite side of the mountain from the tramway was the primary reason it was built, allowing skiers to be transported up the mountain much faster than driving around it to access the slopes. 

We definitely weren't about to hike down the mountain, so we strolled along the Sandia Mountain Wilderness trail at the top for a while. 

As the trip down the mountain was first-come, first-served, and many hikers arrived ahead of us, we had a long wait for our return ride. 

Our cabin guide told everyone that more people get engaged at the top of Sandia Peak than at any place in the state. He joked that one time he saw three happy couples on one of his rides down the mountain, but that the fourth guy obviously didn't do his homework, as the woman said no, so they stood at opposite ends of the cabin!

He also mentioned that the mountain was called Sandia because it was the Spanish word for watermelon, the color of the rocks in the late afternoon light. 

Then we headed to see a few more roadside attractions that had piqued our interest. The first was the Owl Cafe, so named for obvious reasons!

Then it was on to the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History, but only to take a look at the Atomic Annie located in its backyard. That was easier said than done, however, as we had to sweet-talk the guard to allow us to walk through the brush and the trash that had accumulated beside the fence in the far corner of the museum. Of course, it'd have been free if we'd decided to pay and go through the museum to view it from inside the fence. But where's the fun in that!

Atomic Annie, also known as the M65 atomic cannon, was an artillery piece built by the United States and capable of firing a nuclear device. It arrived in 1968 from Sandia National Laboratories. When it was mounted on its two prime mover transport trucks in 2011, it was one of only three Atomic Cannons displayed as it would have looked in the 1950s, on the nuclear battlefield. Weighing 83 tons, it was so heavy that special concrete pads had to be poured to support it! Unless you're a huge military buff, I'd not recommend taking the time or energy to view this roadside attraction!

Since it was Memorial Day, we decided it was only fitting that we stop at the New Mexico Veterans' Memorial. The statue of a U.S. Navy veteran reminded me that six presidents were Navy vets: JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and the first Bush. 

The Hands That Held a Child represented a mother's loss of her child serving the country, a theme I hadn't seen before.

It's a shame that many of the flower beds in the memorial park hadn't been kept up, as it seemed a disservice. 

The Welcome Home Veterans statue was from the "grateful people of New Mexico to thank you for keeping us safe." I wonder if the returning Vietnam War vets felt the same gratitude, as that was certainly not represented in the press at the time.

When Sgt. Brent Woods was born in 1885, he was a slave for the first ten years of his life in Pulaski County, Kentucky. He became a Buffalo Soldier in the U.S. Army, earning America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the Indian Wars in the New Mexico Territory in 1881.

Take a moment to click on 'The Call' to make it bigger and easier to read. Regardless of your political leanings, it's quite stirring. 

Other images that struck me:

Next post: Indian Pueblo Cultural Center & Corrales' history.

Posted on July 6th, 2025, from home in Denver as we're getting ready to fly the coop again in a few days. We'd better soak up the hot days forecast for this week as we'll be heading for much colder climes on the other side of the pond! I hope you remember to take care of yourself and your loved ones.