In the 19th century, a group of Spanish explorers died exploring the canyonlands in southeast Colorado; because there were no priests in the party to perform final rites on the doomed men, the river they died near came to be known as el Rio de las Animas Perdidas en Purgatorio - which was shortened to simply Purgatoire River by French explorers who came to the area years after. Local accents bastardized the French word into Picketwire, and that is how Picketwire Canyon is still known today.
We weren't able to finish the entire 17.4-mile hike, but we did enjoy the best parts of the canyon. A group of geologist cyclists were kind enough to point us toward some pictographs carved into some boulders about a mile or two into the hike, and we made it as far as the dinosaur tracks before turning back.
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