Boca Negra Canyon

Most of you who have visited us have been hiking in the Petroglyph National Monument on Albuquerque's west mesa. On Saturday, the kids and I went bakc to hike the mesa trail at Boca Negra Canyon, a spot with a fascinating concentration of petroglyphs and a nice hike to the top of a mesa overlooking the valley.

By way of preface, it is important to note that we have been under a long hot spell here in NM; Saturday topped out at 97, and, as you can see, the sky was bright and blue. The kids and I drank over a quart of water on our 30 minute hike. Here the kids pause on their way up the mesa:
Boca Negra Canyon slopes southwest from the top of the escarpment on the city's western edge, making it an ideal spot for the carving of petroglyphs, which usually are found on south-facing rocks. The shorter trails on the canyon feature dozens of fascinating petrogylphs of animal and human figures, as well as the abstract designs common to the ancient populations of the area.

But I like the hike for the views. Atop the mesa, you have a sweeping panorama of the city, and some day I want to bring binoculars and scan for the temple in the northeast distance. For now, however, I am content to watch my children learn to hike by scrambling over the rocks and realize in the process how much they can do. Boca Negra has become a nice family tradition, as a child is truly a "big kid" when he or she can do this hike without being carried at all. Here three big kids pose atop the mesa: