Secrets on Route 66, New Mexico

Old New Mexico

Discovering ancient ruins and graffiti walls

Following our little rift with the law, Adam and I continued west to El Morro, a rocky promontory that was once a watering hole for travelers. For centuries, Puebloan Indians, Spanish explorers and American pioneers stopped here to quench their thirst water the pool of water collected at its base. In the process, they turned the nearby surfaces into an ancient graffiti wall. Over 2,000 signatures, dates, and stories have been carved into El Morro since the 1600’s making it the predecessor to today’s bathroom stall at a dive bar in East Village, Manhattan.

Adam and I had arrived late in the day which made our hike to the top of El Morro wonderfully solitary. It was was there at the top that we found ourselves starring into the centuries-old ruins of a pueblo village. Up to 1,500 people lived, worked, and slept where we now stood studying what was left of the 850 room structure.

Adam and I were so busy getting lost in history (we literally had no idea where we were going) as the sun set that a park ranger came to look for us. We had somehow become only two visitors left in the entire national park. What a weird, magical feeling to be lost in history.