Vacationing in Northern New Mexico... part 2 - Mountains and Deserts

One of the best parts of Bandelier is it's location to the Jemez Mountains. One afternoon, M and I took a drive up into the aspens to check out a place called Valle Caldera. http://www.vallescaldera.gov/ This national preserve is an experiment in nature preservation. A Board of Trustees manages the land - allowing for recreation, ranching, and natural processes to occur in unison on the land.

The day we visited, it was windy and chilly, so we stayed on the highway instead of hiking down into the 12-mile wide natural caldera. I was hoping for elk but we'd have to get up at 4 am to see them... That's too early for me, vacation or not. So we headed on up the highway and stumbled upon a great little hike by a high mountain stream.

Las Conchas trail runs along the east fork of the Jemez River

The geology was amazing

Michael really wanted to get his feet wet....

It was a bit chilly - he's standing on a thin sheet of ice

yuck....

Someones artwork on a tree - I love random acts of art!

Once we left Bandelier and the mountains, we headed down to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. KKTRNM was the catalyst to going on this trip. M and I saw some pictures of this place and knew we had to go there.

I felt like I was back in the canyons of Utah

Once through the canyon, we climbed to the top of the mesa for some fantastic views!

I think they're a bit phallic.... :-)

Looking down into the canyon and narrows

Ginormous Ponderosa

After the very hot morning hike we headed into Santa Fe for lunch. Found a great local spot, the Blue Corn Brewery, who had excellent food. I highly recommend you check them out if you find yourself up there.

We had planed to camp at a recreation area by a reservoir. We both had reservations about that. Rec areas are notoriously crappy places for tent camping.So we scrapped that idea and headed into the woods once more. We camped our last night at a campground outside Santa Fe at 9,000 ft.... it was more than chilly. More on that next time...

Vacationing in Northern New Mexico.... part 1 - Bandelier (Ruins, Ponderosas, and Lazy Camping!)

M's photo - one of the Ancestral Puebloan
cave homes (caveates)

After a rough week, I was in need of a vacation so M and I road tripped up to northern New Mexico.... Bandelier National Monument, Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, and Pecos National Historic District. It was to be a week of hiking and exploring - my two favorite things!

First things first - driving through east-central New Mexico is extremely boring.

4 hours of this.... ugh

But it got really good so it was worth the drive.

M and I spent 3 days camping and hiking among 1000-year old Ancestral Puebloan ruins among ponderosa pines and amazing rock formations, before stumbling upon a mountain stream above 9,000 feet and hiking among the hoodoos of the flat desert. Oh yeah, all the while learning about ancient peoples, discovering rock art, and hanging out with mother nature. In other words... a perfect vacation.

We had the campground almost completely to ourselves, leaving the crowds below the canyon rim. This was  perfect for so many reasons... no loud families next door, no creepy neighbors to smile at when you step out of the tent first thing in the morning, and completely empty bathrooms.

low-lighting and a cell phone camera = fuzzy M

camp food: fancy-pants homemade risotto with Fritos :-)

Bandelier National Monument is a fantastic place to learn about some of the people who lived in the southwest deserts and canyons between 800 and 1300 A.D. Its also a fantastic place to climb around in the homes they left behind.

Along the main trail in Frijoles Canyon

M, ever a park ranger, takes a photo for the cool couple who took ours
on the ladder

Checking out the inside of an Ancestral Puebloan home

original plastered wall with artwork - preserved for 1000 years...

Bandelier is full of ladder fun! 

We found a lot of pottery shards at one ruin site

seriously, full of ladder fun

Ghostly footsteps of the ancient Ancestral Puebloans,
carved forever in the soft rock

I'd love to look out onto this view from my yard!

 There was also plenty of goofing off to be done...

Scary skull-rock face

Checking out the water levels from a flash flood in 2011

M trying to speed up geologic processes

 Besides the great archaeology, Bandelier was a great place to commune with nature...

M's photo - he loves his black and whites.

Watching a super-cute squirrel find his stash from last fall

Looking down into Frijoles Canyon

M watching the sunset and enjoying the
afternoon silence

me watching the water fall through the canyon

M looking out into the canyon where the Frijoles Creek meets
the Rio Grande

Inquisitive coyote on the side of the road.
He was very responsible and waited until
we passed to cross the street.

The one place you DON'T want to see wildlife....