El Morro Inscription

El Morro

On the Top of El Morro

El Morro National Monument - October 11, 2003

I spend about 2 hours at El Morro. Most of it spent on the path that goes around the formation, up to and across the top, and then back down again. The path itself is about 2.5 miles in length, with two relatively steep portions for the climb up and then back down again. But I am getting ahead of myself.

El Morro was about 2 miles down the road from where I had camped the previous evening. The campground was probably the worst I have yet stayed at. The women's restroom did not have running water and there was little access to running water for cooking or cleaning, a prerequisite for camping at least For Me. The campground had no control over the weather - it was darn cold up there, the kind of cold where you have condensation inside the tent but it is clear and dry outside. However, on the plus side, it was very inexpensive. And it did serve its purpose. Finally, it was close to my objective for the next day, El Morro.

El Morro is a cuesta, a long formation with a gentle upward slope that abruptly drops off at one end. It is composed of sandstone and, as you can see by the pictures, has plenty of vegetation. Indian ruins, A'ts'ina, are located on the top of El Morro and are considered sacred by the local Zuni Indians, and El Morro itself served as a kind of "I was here" guidebook that various people signed as they passed. Instead of signing an actual book, however, people inscribed their signature, pictures, poems, and the like into the soft rock. I took a couple of pictures and have displayed the one that came out best - an inscription from an American soldier in 1860. The rock has inscriptions from the original Spanish explorers dating back to the 1600's but those have weathered somewhat in time and don't come out well in pictures.

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