Tome Hill

Last night Noelle and I stayed in Socorro to meet my Mom and Dad in Albuquerque International Sunport today. Since their flight did not arrive until after 1 pm, we decided to explore a little bit before we went to pick them up. I thought the trip to Tome Hill would be the perfect little spot as its interesting, but doesn't require too much hiking.

We made our way to the parking area at Tome Hill Park and admired the sculpture of La Puerta del Sol,

then crossed the road and started up the hill.

The hiking was steep but not too difficult. We could see the three crosses perched on top almost immediately.

Tome Hill is an interesting site in that the basalt boulders on the slopes of the hill are covered with over 1,800 petroglyphs. We only found a few of them.

It was also a  landmark for travelers on the Camino Real (Royal Road) and used by native people as a lookout point. In addition, the hill is also the site where people make religious pilgrimages on Good Friday. Needless to say, in a few days the hill and surrounding countryside will be covered with hundreds of pilgrims making their way skyward for their only "hike" of the year.

Thousands trek to Tome Hill : krqe.com

We reached the cross-covered summit

and looked around, finding evidence of the devout who had preceded us.

Then it was a walk through the basalt to look for rock art.

While we didn't find a whole lot of petroglyphs, the area is certainly intriguing and I hope to return some day to do some more poking around!