As magnetic as the pull is to White Sands National Monument, I kept driving past its glimmering granules yesterday. My car ventured past Holloman Air Force Base, around Alamogordo, and north to a land between the San Andres Mountains and the Sacramento Mountains. 

Around 600 years ago, the Jornada Mogollon people made the area of Three Rivers Petroglyph Site their home. It is not believed that there are any living descendants of these people, but it is apparent that they lived a rich and vibrant life. It is also clear to me that they were a very intelligent community.

I hiked up the mountain ridge along the trail, but quickly diverged from the beaten path. Unlike many other sites of this type, visitors are allowed to wander and explore throughout the area. 

I spent hours venturing from one place to the next, finding treasure after treasure, imagining what life must have been like in this village and what the Jornada people meant when they inscribed the over 21,000 petroglyphs that cover the landscape at this site. There were circles, animals, faces, patterns, and symbols everywhere and I was playing a great game of hike and seek with them. 

I finally had to force myself to stop and begin the journey back to my car, but not before I made the discovery that some of the most striking creations were on the highest sheer rock faces that look out on the San Andres Mountains. Someone clearly knew what a billboard was long before modern humans came up with the idea. I have to say, I like their version better.