FINDING LOST CIVILIZATIONS This

five minutes to start the truck, but the starter would not engage.He then released the truck’s hood latch, took off hisshoes and socks, rolled up his trousers, and stepped out intothe creek.I looked at Manuel and said, “Sometimes life is hard.”With a big smile, he said, “But it’s beautiful.” I was struckby the power and inspiration of what Manuel had said. Lifetruly is beautiful. Anyway, by the grace of the ancients anda power unseen, Manuel was able to start his truck and wemade our way to the base of San Ignacio. As we started ourassent Manuel pointed out several large circular stone formationslying on the ground. I noticed many of these alongthe way and initially thought they were evidence of somesort of a structure at the top of the hill. We continued ourclimb until we reached a flat area under a sheer wall of basaltstone. We examined this wall; I was surprised to see thatthe basalt had formed in a manner that resembled hundredsof circular columns all stuck together and rising from theground to form a cliff face.Persevering, we climbed and reached a second ledgethat also featured similar basalt formations. As we inspectedthese formations Manual pointed out a series of steps thathad been cut into the basalt, which appeared to lead into acave. I climbed the steps and at the top noticed that thereseemed to be a natural fissure into the wall face. A cut hadbeen made into the fissure and the cliff face, which wasabout four feet wide, ten feet high, and about five feet intothe basalt wall. There were no petroglyphs or other markingto indicate who had carved out the steps or the indentationinto the basalt.We continued our assent until we reached the summit,which was a flat area that measured approximately thirty by148