We stood in or near that same place for quite some time, talking about all sorts of things -- his background, American Indians, history, art -- it was fascinating.  I never even made it to the end of the trail!  I had to leave, as it was getting late, and I had another appointment.
   One thought, then, did occur to me strongly.  I felt that I had finally met someone who really knew what the petroglyphs there, and elsewhere, were really about.  I mean, what were these Indians really up to with all these drawings?  I know, I've read all the ideas posited by present-day researchers about the markings being religious art, communication symbols, or maybe just plain graffiti.
   But why, in places like this?  Why, in some places and not others?  What was it about this rubbly, remote, harsh location that inspired people for thousands of years to spend a huge amount of energy creating all these drawings?
   Finally, here was someone who knew.
   So, before turning back along the trail, I explained to my guide my quandary.  Those of you who have read some of my other writings in the GeoArt section* know where I am going with this: what is it about rocks that energized the ancients here?  "I am searching for that answer", I said almost pleadingly, "and maybe you, being a knowledgeable Indian, and an artist, can tell me."
   He answered me without hesitation, in a completely unexpected way: "Perhaps, sir, what you are searching for is your own spirituality."
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