Bandelier National Monument

Before leaving Albuquerque and head to Tucson, we decide to travel north without the camper to see Bandelier National Monument since we are only 80 miles away.

We encounter fall foliage along the way

 We arrive to the Monument

Here you are allowed to wander around the ruins by yourself

The rock formations are really interesting.  I see a tree, a rabbit riding a horse and a cat - what do you see?

 We don't need no stinking stair-master

 View of the Kiva and Tyuonyi village below the cliff dwellings

This Rock formation reminded me of a witch

 

 The fun part of Bandelier is that you can also climb up into some of the dwellings

These are called Cavates -  a combination of the words Cave and Excavate

Time to take a little break

and take in the sights

Hello out there!

The blackened ceilings are from soot, believed to be intentional. The soot helped seal the crumbly volcanic tuff and stopped grit and dirt from sifting down to the floor.

Uh Oh, that down thing doesn't look like as much fun

 Off to the Long House

Gary spotted these guys

The Long House.   There were approximately 245 ground level rooms in the Tyuonyi Village.  The Long House has rooms stacked 2-3 stories high.  They don't know how many rooms were stacked above the 245 ground level rooms.

There are carvings in the rocks

We continue on to the Alcove House.  The rock formations along the way are amazing

From here you can just make out the trail and ladders up to the Alcove

Well, we made it this far - might as well go for it

Access is by 4 wooden ladders and a number of stone stairs. Looks like a game of chutes and ladders

Come on Gary!

Are we there yet?

Success! There is a reconstructed kiva.

The view is outstanding but I wouldn't have wanted to haul groceries up here!

There are viga (wooden beam)  holes and niches of former homes

There's that back down thing again

It's a tight squeeze in some places

So glad we made the trip!

We do the circle tour back to Albuquerque through the Jemez Mountains

The leaves are turning

A stop to see the views

We pass thru Valle Grande

Didn't see any Elk but they have a lot of area to roam in!

The sign says Low but that looks suspiciously like smoke!

So glad to see this sign!


Along the way we passed Jemez Historic site

It is a beautiful drive along a scenic by-way

Almost home and you can see the smoke from the "controlled burn"

Tomorrow we begin the journey down to Tucson!