Bandelier National Monument & Los Alamos

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Today we drove north from Santa Fe to Los Alamos and Bandelier National Monument. In White Rock we detoured to an overlook for a very impressive view of the Rio Grande River Gorge.

Bandelier National Monument is a restored and protected area in Frijoles Canyon (“Little Beans Canyon”) consisting of several groups of Cliff Dwellings and the pueblo village of Tyuonyi. Many of the cliff dwelling are accessible by ladder and visitors are encouraged to climb up and enter them - we did.

The valley is enclosed by high cliffs of volcanic rock called tuff, a soft pinkish rock. The sky was blue, the air was cool and the sun very hot.

At the upper end of the valley was large cliff dwelling called the “Alcove” reached by climbing three sets of very long ladders.  I got up the first one and decided that discretion was the better part of valour and quit.  Carol went on to the Alcove.

Our next stop was the Valles Caldera, a huge bowl shaped depression that had resulted from a volcanic eruption many million years ago. The Caldera is the second largest such geologic feature in the world.   Yellowstone National Park is the largest.

After being thoroughly awed by the caldera and the cliff dwellings we drove to Los Alamos to visit the Bradley Science Museum devoted to the Manhattan Project that led to the first successful atomic bomb. Not so awesome but interesting.

Hopefully, we will find a wireless connection tomorrow and can send off the next blog posts.

Monday we drive to Durango, Colorado where camp for one night.

Ladder leading into cliff dwelling at Bandelier National Monument

Here we are posed for our first formal photo of the trip

Interior of  a cliff dwellingH

Trail leading to cliff dwellings

Trail though the Ponderosa Pine forest

View of ruin of Pueblo at Bandelier National Monument

View Pueblo ruin from a cliff dwelling

View of cliff dwelling location from the top of the cliff