Valles Caldera and Bandelier National Monument July 19-20, 2018

Thursday, we woke to a bright sunny day. We left our site in Cochiti Lake and traveled southwest to drive the scenic Route 4 from Bernalillo (yes, we backtracked here) north to Bandelier. The road started off in the scrubby desert with mostly pinyon juniper and sage. As the road climbed, we traveled through a beautiful red rock canyon and then up to lush green forests of pines, spruces and aspens. 

Red Rock Country - few places to pull off for photos

Climbing in elevation with real trees!

At the top of the ridge, we came upon Valles Caldera – an ancient collapsed volcano. Now it is a lush grassland, unique in this part of the country surrounded on all sides by mountains. It is home to a large herd of elk, but they were too far away for photos. The firefighters were all assembled to begin a controlled burn, so we were glad we got there before the smoke haze settled in the caldera.

Multiple bad fires happened the area after the many years of fire suppression

This outcropping is from magma forced up after the volcano collapsed

Getting ready for the controlled burn

Frijoles Canyon, home of the Ancestral Pueblos and cliff dwellings 

We drove a few miles further up and down through canyons and although it was getting late, we decided to check out Bandelier to see if Jack could navigate the trails. Then on to our campground at the White Rock Visitor Center, about 20 minutes from Bandelier.

Friday, we got out early so that we could return to Bandelier and walk the Main Loop through the Frijoles Canyon where the remnants of a large pueblo and cliffhouses can be seen before it got too hot – expected to be in the mid 90's. I don't care if it is dry heat, it is hot – especially in the sun. We first visited their museum and watched a short video.

Tuff Rock - "Swisscheese" rocks from volcanic ash that has been eroded

We did about ½ mile of the trail seeing the pueblo ruins and the first cliffhouse before Jack had to turn back because of a large number of steep, narrow steps. I continued on and climbed ladders to look into the caves that the ancestral pueblo people carved from the volcanic ash stone, called Tuff. These cliffs were made from 1,000 feet of ash deposited when the Jemez volcano blew twice more than a million years ago! Each time, they estimate the eruptions were 600 times the strength of Mount St. Helens. 

 The stone is soft and easily carved. Inside the caves, they painted the walls with various scenes and designs. Lots of petroglyphs were found outside on the cliffs right above the dwellings. 

Tuff Rock detail - very soft rock that is eroded by water and wind and can be "dug" out with hard stones

Caves and Pueblo-style house

Lots of ladders to access to caves

From inside the cave.  All had blackened ceilings from fire/smoke and many had additional rooms carved into the cliff

The smaller horizontal holes were for wooden beams to support upper floors

The early Pueblo people were farmers, raising corn, beans and squash. The villages consisted of 40 rooms in the mid 1200's, and by 1400, there were fewer, but larger villages some with more than 600 rooms. The people migrated from the canyons to villages along the Rio Grande River. 

An unusually large kiva - an underground community center for religious ceremonies, education and storytelling

The pueblo part, built on the canyon floor housed hundreds and had multiple floors.

Along the trail

A salvaged painting from inside a cave protected under glass

An original cave decoration with vibrant colors still 

Petroglyphs just above the caves

We returned to the RV, hot and tired, but thought the ruins were worth the effort. There were two other areas I wanted to hike, but at 92 degrees at 10:30, I had to pass them up. We drove east, stopped for a great lunch in a bakery cafe called Pig and Fig. Did a bit of grocery shopping and stopped at a campground 15 miles north of Santa Fe to take advantage of their electricity so we would have AC for the afternoon heat.

Interesting RV in the grocery store parking lot

We are near Los Alamos and Santa Fe, but will not spend time at either, as we spent quite a bit of time here on a previous trip.

More errands later in the afternoon – the dreaded laundry and watching the skies for the typical afternoon thunderstorms that are part of the monsoon season here.