Bandelier Nat'l Monument

24 May 2010-Yesterday was our last day in Santa Fe, so I thought I would throw in the New Mexico license plates here. The one on the right is the normal one, while the one on the left is their centennial plate...New Mexico became a state in 1912...so they are getting the jump on 2012.



We spent about 3 1/2 hours hiking in Bandelier...about 5 miles total, so between this and the mountains the day before we were pretty beat. Not as young as we used to be, as they say!

We 1st set out on the Falls Trail. If we had gone all the way down it would have actually taken us to the Rio Grande, but we decided on a shorter 3 mile round trip to the 1st waterfall...the waterfall is actually an 80 foot drop, but it doesn't look it from here. Check out the video!

Once we got back from the falls, we headed out to the Main Loop, which this paperwork says is an hour hike...but the meant one hour each way! The walk itself was much flatter than the Falls Trail, but as you will see at the end we had us some climbing to do!

This area is a National Monument because of the ruins uncovered years ago that were once the homes of the Pueblo people. These people actually not only built homes on the ground like us, but they lived in caves in the sides of the mountains and had 2-3 story homes there. I have attached the writing here because I know some people, like Ellen, like to read about it. Number 4 talks about their religious life, while 6 talks about their homes. 7 shows what the "town" would have looked like.

There goes Cathy! I deleted my picture by mistake, but you will see more of me later! haha

This cave has 3 or 4 rooms in it that Cathy is going back and forth from.

Watch your step, young lady!

Where you see the holes in the mountain would have been where the roof of their dwelling was. They had wood beams jut out from there, and then potentially another story above that, or more.

These pictures show carvings in the rocks, called petroglyphs. The 1st one is just a few circles, but the next one shows what I am pretty sure to be a fish.

This is a bit more elaborate.

Now we are getting to the serious part of the trek. To get to this Alcove House, you have to climb a series of 4, very steep, ladders. going up 140 ft.. It was a little unnerving to say the least. Several spots had warnings for people to read, but I figure I am trying not to leave anything for the "bucket list", so I gave it a try.

To the right of Cathy is the 1st ladder.

For your viewing pleasure, see the videos.

This should give you a good idea of how steep this climb was.

This is at the top of the climb, with the picture showing what it would have looked like years ago. The circle on the right side of the 1st picture is actually the entrance into an underground room.

Here is Cathy climbing into the room, and me already there. It was actually darker than it appears because of the flash of the camera.

Me outside the ceremonial room, and looking out at the valley.

Here is Cathy starting the climb down, which was much more intimidating than going up.

And look at this idiot!!!! He is carrying his little girl, maybe 5-6 years old!

After 2 days in the mountains we finally saw something other than squirrels and those bunnies. This was the only deer we saw the whole time. I saw it wiggle it's ears or we would have walked right by her.

On to Mancos, CO today...more pictures to follow! haha