I love traveling West, so I was stoked when my grandfather invited me on a men’s trip to camp and hike in southeastern Utah. I was by far the youngest on the trip, and every night I sat with older men around a crackling campfire and slept in a tent under the stars. Each morning, I crawled out of my sleeping bag and set out to find ancient Puebloan ruins, pictographs, and petroglyphs.

Most fascinating was the fact that the locations of many ancient Indian sites are kept secret for preservation purposes. Even park rangers will not share details. On our final day, we set out to find “Big Crane,” a three-foot tall petroglyph that is at least two thousand years old. We did not know its exact location, but we knew to explore “the Butler Wash area of Comb Ridge” and that we should “aim for the left side of a flat topped knob.” Everything looked like a flat topped knob! Our group hiked around the area for hours, finding nothing. Two veteran hikers gave up and returned to the car.

Although I was exhausted from the oppressive heat and I had not showered in days, I searched a little longer with two other hikers. This was our last chance because we were flying home the next day. Once we rounded the corner of the next canyon, we immediately rejoiced. We found “Big Crane.”

I was thrilled to be standing in the spot where an Indian created this artwork many centuries ago. The petroglyph was a treasure worthy of the Smithsonian, but part of its value was its secret location. Locating “Big Crane” on its original canvas was better than seeing it in any museum.