I finally went through all my pics of yesterday's adventure, and I still wound up with over 200 photos, but I didn't wanna cull any more because the scenic landscape & trail shots go with the petroglyph shots, the primo landscape is part of the experience, lol. These are NOT the 'Three Rivers' known to Pittsburgh Steelers fans, but three creeks which ultimately run together in the high desert of the Tularosa Basin, with Sierra Blanca to the east and magnificent scenery in every direction. If you like wide open spaces, that is... and there's no shortage of them here, lol. I spent several hours at this site, wandering around in shorts, T-shirt & hiking boots which I brought in one of my saddlebags on the bike; a very nice Park Host lady let me stash my riding suit, helmet & riding boots in a storage room at the Park HQ, which was very helpful. This is actually a "Nat'l Rec Site" as well as a historical site, and though the park only offers a limited number of campsites, there are other campgrounds farther up the access road to the east, under the escarpment of Sierra Blanca and its neighboring peaks & ridges. The sunny weather was excellent yesterday, it felt like 70* F on the trail, but it might have been a tad cooler... I was constantly moving around in search of petroglyphs to photograph, and there's no shortage of THEM either, with 21,000 petroglyphs already recorded, lol. That number alone makes this one of the largest (if not THE largest) rock art site in the Southwest! 
Of course, not ALL petroglyphs are ancient, there has been vandalism, plus some Old West cowboys might have scraped their initials or nicknames into the rock with their knives or spurs, lol. When you see a petroglyph which reads " '76 COOP" you may safely assume that it wasn't put there by some ancient denizen of the Southwest, lol. The big question is: was it put there by some cowboy in 1876, or put there by some friggin' jackhole tourist in 1976? If the former, it's pretty cool; if the latter, well, some folks should know better, aye? Anyway, let's get started on this excellent tour, we begin by rolling up US-54 to the turnoff for Three Rivers... there's a classic trading post right there on the highway, I took a few shots on the way in and stopped there on the way out to check out the merchandise (more on that later). I'll try to post these pics in a timely manner, only inserting captions where they are needed. Otherwise, you're riding in to the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site to do some hiking and eat a picnic lunch... I only had two beers during yesterday's adventure, one before my hike and one after, lol. Hiking felt really good on such a nice day, and once I reached the area where the petroglyphs began, along a basaltic ridge which rises above the surrounding high desert, I took a couple hits from a pipeload of chronic I hauled up there, lol. Had to get in the mood to trip on those petroglyphs... half the ancient stone carvers were probably high on peyote anyway, judging by their rock art, lol.
Here we go, rolling up to the "World Famous Three Rivers Trading Post!!!" Of course, I'd never HEARD of it until yesterday, but I live in a world of NARROW horizons, lol...
Next we have artwork in the Park HQ building, plus shots of the lot & some facilities...
More on the facilities later, this is a nice place to camp but spaces are limited, unless you drive something like 8 miles farther up the paved access road to another campground. Facilities here were orderly and clean, no worries on that score.
Of course, not ALL petroglyphs are ancient, there has been vandalism, plus some Old West cowboys might have scraped their initials or nicknames into the rock with their knives or spurs, lol. When you see a petroglyph which reads " '76 COOP" you may safely assume that it wasn't put there by some ancient denizen of the Southwest, lol. The big question is: was it put there by some cowboy in 1876, or put there by some friggin' jackhole tourist in 1976? If the former, it's pretty cool; if the latter, well, some folks should know better, aye? Anyway, let's get started on this excellent tour, we begin by rolling up US-54 to the turnoff for Three Rivers... there's a classic trading post right there on the highway, I took a few shots on the way in and stopped there on the way out to check out the merchandise (more on that later). I'll try to post these pics in a timely manner, only inserting captions where they are needed. Otherwise, you're riding in to the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site to do some hiking and eat a picnic lunch... I only had two beers during yesterday's adventure, one before my hike and one after, lol. Hiking felt really good on such a nice day, and once I reached the area where the petroglyphs began, along a basaltic ridge which rises above the surrounding high desert, I took a couple hits from a pipeload of chronic I hauled up there, lol. Had to get in the mood to trip on those petroglyphs... half the ancient stone carvers were probably high on peyote anyway, judging by their rock art, lol.
Here we go, rolling up to the "World Famous Three Rivers Trading Post!!!" Of course, I'd never HEARD of it until yesterday, but I live in a world of NARROW horizons, lol...
Next we have artwork in the Park HQ building, plus shots of the lot & some facilities...
More on the facilities later, this is a nice place to camp but spaces are limited, unless you drive something like 8 miles farther up the paved access road to another campground. Facilities here were orderly and clean, no worries on that score.
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