Just a quick blurb - we took a trip south to Carrizozo, Alamogordo, White Sands, Ruidoso, Lincoln, etc etc this past week. Instead of posting one huge post, I broke the posts up by day - describing what we did each day.
So be sure to read the posts behind this one to see the incredible country & learn a little history of the area we visited.
PS - It's the end of October and we are still wearing shorts, sandals and hats to protect us from the sun! Whoopeeee
Sorry, I had to rub that in, just a little. I'm sure I just jinxed us and we'll have cold, snowy weather from now on. hee hee
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Oct 24 - Capitan, Lincoln, Ruidoso & Cloudcroft, NM
Today found us hitting the road east to Capitan and the Smokey Bear State Monument. It is a simple little building with exhibits on Smokey Bear and his poster counterpart as well as a nice exhibit on wildfire fire-fighters. Smokey's grave is also located here.
For those that don't remember (I only do because my parents have related the story, Smokey actually died when I was seven), Smokey Bear started out as a 'logo' for the National Forest Service to educate people on forest fire prevention. The 'living symbol' Smokey Bear was found in 1950 during the Capitan Gap forest fire, a fire that burned 17,000 acres in May 1950 near the town of Capitan, NM. On May 9th, a 2 month old bear cub was found clinging to a small, burned tree. A crew of GI's under the direction of Speed Simmons, brought the injured cub to the fire camp, there after several attempts to treat its burned paws, Ray Bell, a pilot for the NM Game & Fish Dept flew the cub to Santa Fe where his injuries were treated and he was nursed back to health by Bell's wife & 5 year old daughter.
Smokey was sent to the National Zoo in Washington, DC where he live out his days - he passed in 1976 at 26 years of age. A new bear, Little Smokey, was chosen as the living symbol once Smokey died but upon Little Smokey's death, no other living symbol was appointed.
From Capitan we headed on the Lincoln, the epicenter for the infamous Lincoln County War that helped to propel William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid, & Sheriff Pat Garrett into infamy. The "war" started between two ranchers/merchants that were vying for the same market-share with Lincoln, the surround area and the US Military at nearby Fort Stanton. John Tunstall was killed on his return from his ranching acting as the catalyst for the battle - his loyal followers (including Billy the Kid) swore revenge on the Murhpy company for his death and it was about then all hell broke loose. Many died before the 'war' was ended - Sheriff Pat Garrett followed Billy to the Maxwell Ranch near Fort Sumner in northern NM, where he allegedly shot Billy dead.
Originally the Murphy complex, then a courthouse
now a museum - Lincoln, NM
Lincoln has several museums dedicated to the period of the Lincoln County War (1878-79) with historical markers placed in front of prominent buildings explaining the goings-on of the time. It is a neat little town and cool to wonder about and see the actually sites I've been reading about in all my Louis L'Amour and other "hisotrical-fiction' books. Neat to see where these legends actually originated.
From Lincoln we headed back southwest to Fort Stanton - an old frontier fort that also became a hospital for turberculosis victims, mostly from the Merchant Marines. The cemetary there is the only inland Merchant Marine Cemetary in the US. Unfortunately you can't really 'visit' the fort, most of the streets are closed to the public, although it did look like you could take a tour - but while we were taking some photos (about 15-20 min) the tour group hadn't moved so I don't know how much you would actually get to see.
Fort Stanton, NM
US Merchant Marine Memorial
at Fort Stanton, NM
Established 1899
On to Ruidoso, a great NM ski resort. Lots & lots of Texans here... even this time of year. We had a great lunch at Lucy's - very spicey Mexican food before heading on to Cloudcroft via 244 acorss the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Ruidoso, to us, was a typical ski-resort town. Lots of shops, & restaurants. Beautiful setting though.
The route we took to Cloudcroft was very scenic. Through Elk Canyon & Silver Springs Canyon. Of all the reservations we've seen so far - this one is the prettiest and most scenic (in our opinion). We hit Cloudcroft around 3 PM - just as school let out, which is located on the main street through town. Nice. We found the 'touristy' area and grabbed some gelato and took at couple pics before heading back to Carrizozo and camp. I would like to go back and explore that area a bit more - maybe camp in one of the NFS campgrounds we passed (closed for the winter). There are lots of trails to hike and two observatories - the Sunspot Solar Observatory & the Apache Observatory. Supposedly you can take tours - NM has the most specatular night-skies, I would LOVE to be able to view it through an enormous telescope. All the neighboring communities have dark-sky ordinances enabling you enjoy the stars without 'city-glows'.
Bonita Lake - between Ruidoso & Nogal, NM
Grave of Smokey Bear
For those that don't remember (I only do because my parents have related the story, Smokey actually died when I was seven), Smokey Bear started out as a 'logo' for the National Forest Service to educate people on forest fire prevention. The 'living symbol' Smokey Bear was found in 1950 during the Capitan Gap forest fire, a fire that burned 17,000 acres in May 1950 near the town of Capitan, NM. On May 9th, a 2 month old bear cub was found clinging to a small, burned tree. A crew of GI's under the direction of Speed Simmons, brought the injured cub to the fire camp, there after several attempts to treat its burned paws, Ray Bell, a pilot for the NM Game & Fish Dept flew the cub to Santa Fe where his injuries were treated and he was nursed back to health by Bell's wife & 5 year old daughter.
Smokey was sent to the National Zoo in Washington, DC where he live out his days - he passed in 1976 at 26 years of age. A new bear, Little Smokey, was chosen as the living symbol once Smokey died but upon Little Smokey's death, no other living symbol was appointed.
San Juan Mission - Lincoln, NM
From Capitan we headed on the Lincoln, the epicenter for the infamous Lincoln County War that helped to propel William Bonney, aka Billy the Kid, & Sheriff Pat Garrett into infamy. The "war" started between two ranchers/merchants that were vying for the same market-share with Lincoln, the surround area and the US Military at nearby Fort Stanton. John Tunstall was killed on his return from his ranching acting as the catalyst for the battle - his loyal followers (including Billy the Kid) swore revenge on the Murhpy company for his death and it was about then all hell broke loose. Many died before the 'war' was ended - Sheriff Pat Garrett followed Billy to the Maxwell Ranch near Fort Sumner in northern NM, where he allegedly shot Billy dead.Tunstall Merchantile, now a museum - Lincoln, NM
Originally the Murphy complex, then a courthouse
now a museum - Lincoln, NM
Lincoln has several museums dedicated to the period of the Lincoln County War (1878-79) with historical markers placed in front of prominent buildings explaining the goings-on of the time. It is a neat little town and cool to wonder about and see the actually sites I've been reading about in all my Louis L'Amour and other "hisotrical-fiction' books. Neat to see where these legends actually originated.
From Lincoln we headed back southwest to Fort Stanton - an old frontier fort that also became a hospital for turberculosis victims, mostly from the Merchant Marines. The cemetary there is the only inland Merchant Marine Cemetary in the US. Unfortunately you can't really 'visit' the fort, most of the streets are closed to the public, although it did look like you could take a tour - but while we were taking some photos (about 15-20 min) the tour group hadn't moved so I don't know how much you would actually get to see.
Old Fort Stanton 1855-1896
Fort Stanton, NM
US Merchant Marine Memorial
at Fort Stanton, NM
Established 1899
On to Ruidoso, a great NM ski resort. Lots & lots of Texans here... even this time of year. We had a great lunch at Lucy's - very spicey Mexican food before heading on to Cloudcroft via 244 acorss the Mescalero Apache Reservation. Ruidoso, to us, was a typical ski-resort town. Lots of shops, & restaurants. Beautiful setting though.
Original Grist Mill at Ruidoso, NM
The route we took to Cloudcroft was very scenic. Through Elk Canyon & Silver Springs Canyon. Of all the reservations we've seen so far - this one is the prettiest and most scenic (in our opinion). We hit Cloudcroft around 3 PM - just as school let out, which is located on the main street through town. Nice. We found the 'touristy' area and grabbed some gelato and took at couple pics before heading back to Carrizozo and camp. I would like to go back and explore that area a bit more - maybe camp in one of the NFS campgrounds we passed (closed for the winter). There are lots of trails to hike and two observatories - the Sunspot Solar Observatory & the Apache Observatory. Supposedly you can take tours - NM has the most specatular night-skies, I would LOVE to be able to view it through an enormous telescope. All the neighboring communities have dark-sky ordinances enabling you enjoy the stars without 'city-glows'.Cloudcroft, NM
Bonita Lake - between Ruidoso & Nogal, NM
Oct 23 - White Sands National Monument
White Sands National Monument, New Mexico
After the Three Rivers Petroglyphs, we headed south to Alamogordo and the White Sands National Monument. I barely remembering visiting White Sands as a kid with my parents and probably one of my nephews. Really, the only thing I remember is the brilliant white sands - blinding white sands. I just kept telling Bryan how unbelievably white it would be - anxious for him to experience it too. Then as we drive into the park, I just kept saying - "It will get whiter further in we get..." Then we'd drive further in and I was like "I just remember it being more white, I can't believe I remember it being so white when really its just a light pinkish-tan..." It was about then I realized I had my sunglasses on - thus the rosey sand. hahaLarge Dune
The sand really is brilliant white - eye shattering white! It was magical and weird to see all of the white and it not be snow. The introduction video we saw at the Visitor Center had someone walking a husky dog in the sand and we joked all day about how confused that poor husky must have been! "What, this isn't snow!!!"
Raymona & Bryan at White Sands NM
Bug Tracks in the Sand
Us on the Alkili Flats Trail - White Sands NM
View across the sand dunes - note the black
specks are vegetation between the dunes
We had a quick picnic lunch at one of the many picnic tables scattered around and then climbed the dunes and took a couple hikes.
Bryan at our picnic table
View of one of the picnic areas from top of a dune
Some native vegetation grows between the dunes but nothing on top, except at the edge of the dune field. The two foot yucca you see on the top of a 30 foot dune is really a 32 foot yucca! Yep, the yucca can grow fast enough to keep its crown above the top of the dune - once the dune has passed the yucca will most likely collapse and then die. We also learned that the Rio Grande Cottonwood and survive being buried in a dune as long as part of it is above the dune. We saw a few tips of branches above 20-30 ft dunes!22 ft yucca in a 20 ft dune
(measurements are really guesstimates)
(measurements are really guesstimates)
The dunes are created by gypsum that has eroded from the surrounding mountains that flow into the Tularosa Basin. The rains come and fill in shallow lakes called Playas (the largest is Lake Lucero) as the water evaporates it leaves behinds selenite crystals. Wind, freezing & thawing, wetting & drying eventually break them down into sand-size particles that are then blown northwest by the wind. This process has created the White Sands dune field we see today - the dune field covers 275 square miles and is the largest gypsum dune field in the world. Part of the field is on the White Sands Missile Range (think Trinity Site) and is not accessible to the public.
After our visit to White Sands, we took a quick trip to the Oliver Lee State Park to check out their campgrounds. They were very nice, with amazing views (you could sort of see White Sands). Oliver Lee was a prominent rancher in the area in the 1800s and helped shape the country. His third ranch headquarters is located nearby.
Dog Canyon, at Oliver Lee State Park
Bryan next to HUGE Century plant
Oliver Lee State Park
Then on our way back to Carrizozo we stopped at the Eagle Ranch Pistachios farm & winery (Heart of the Desert label). We missed the daily tour of the pistachio farm (1:30 M-F, Sept-May & 10 AM & 1:30 PM M-F, Jun - Aug) but we did get some great treats there - green chili pistachios - yummy but SPICEY - white chocolate pistachio cookies (delicious) and of course, a bottle of red wine to try.Oh, while we were out sight-seeing, White Sands Missile Range were performing some exercises/training in support of ground troops (this was announced on the radio in Alamogordo) - we didn't see anything but we could certainly hear it! Very disconcerting to hear/feel sonic booms (or missile explosions). The booms would shake your insides - we only heard/felt 5, I can't imagine what a war-zone must be like. Now we know a little of the term "shell-shocked". Wicked booms!
Oct 23 - Three Rivers Petroglyph Site
Today we visited the Three Rivers Petroglyphs site (managed by BLM). What a remarkable place!! The trail is not handicap accessible but is a fairly easy hike (there will be some dodging rocks, and slight inclines). There is a nice guide at the trailhead that describes a very small fraction (11 to be exact) out of the 21,000 petroglyphs that have actually been documented by the Archaeological Society of NM's Rock Art Recording Field School.
These petroglyphs (rock carvings) were made by a group of prehistoric Native Americans referred to as the Jornada Mogollon. The pictures were made with stone tools by removing the dark patina on the exterior of the rock. Some of the petroglyphs were made by just scratching through the patina to the lighter inner layer of the rock. Others were made by pecking through the patina using two rocks like a hammer & chisel. Scholars know how the petroglyphs were made and probably by who - but no one really knows what the petroglyphs were used for.
It was amazing to see these petroglyphs and wonder what they were trying to convey. The hill upon which the petroglyphs reside is fairly remote and not easily accessed - why would they choose that particular place to leave their mark? Was it a place for worship? A gathering place for gossip & news? We may never know. My suggestion is for you to go visit, see how many you can spot and come up with your own theory on their significance.
Mask
Running Bighorn Sheep
Body of Bighorn Sheep - notice body is full of Mimbres-style geometric design & three arrows
These petroglyphs (rock carvings) were made by a group of prehistoric Native Americans referred to as the Jornada Mogollon. The pictures were made with stone tools by removing the dark patina on the exterior of the rock. Some of the petroglyphs were made by just scratching through the patina to the lighter inner layer of the rock. Others were made by pecking through the patina using two rocks like a hammer & chisel. Scholars know how the petroglyphs were made and probably by who - but no one really knows what the petroglyphs were used for.
It was amazing to see these petroglyphs and wonder what they were trying to convey. The hill upon which the petroglyphs reside is fairly remote and not easily accessed - why would they choose that particular place to leave their mark? Was it a place for worship? A gathering place for gossip & news? We may never know. My suggestion is for you to go visit, see how many you can spot and come up with your own theory on their significance.
Variety of Petroglyphs
Mask
Running Bighorn Sheep
Body of Bighorn Sheep - notice body is full of Mimbres-style geometric design & three arrows
Carrizozo, NM - Valley of Fires State Park
Valley of Fires Nature Trail
View across lava flow from campsite #11
Lava Flow
We took another trip this week, this time we headed south to the small town of Carrizozo and the Valley of Fires State Monument and then planned some day trips to Alamogordo & the White Sands National Monument, the town of Lincoln and Ruidoso.
So, first stop - Carrizozo, NM and the Valley of Fires. This lava flow is one of the youngest flows in the Continental US taking place about 1500 to 5000 years ago. This flow, however, didn't come from a volcano - the lava was extruded by vents in the earth and flowed south down the valley. The flow varies from 2 to 5 miles wide and 44 miles long and in places it is 165 ft thick.
The campground there at the park is now managed by the BLM. It is a really nice campground, 25 sites and a really nice bathhouse. Sites 2-13 & 15 have electric/water hook-ups, #1, 14, 16-19 do not have hook-ups and 20-25 are for tents only. All sites have covered picnic tables, BBQ grill and fire pit (although in that area that seems risky!!). The tent sites are situated right up against the lava flow and are very private, the developed sites are up on the ridge and offer amazing 360 degree views of the lava flow and surrounding mountains. We were in site 11 and the cost was $18/nite.
Camper from Nature Trail
Developed Sites of Valley of Fires Campground
The amazing thing we've noticed about the campgrounds here in NM is the quality of the sites - most of the ones we've been to in Washington & Oregon have been very cramped; sites are just crammed as close as can be with little privacy. There are, of course exceptions, but really that's the norm. Here - the sites are notably spaced well-apart, while privacy is still questionable at some site due to lack of vegetation - simply not being in your neighbor's camp is wonderful. Again, there are exceptions but so far I'd say 95% of the campgrounds we've visited have been nicely spaced and well-maintained.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Great-Nephew Kale - 1 week old
Such a cutie-pie. Here's a pic of Kale (1 week) and his big sister Kayli (5 years). I did find out that Kale is the Hawaiian form of Charles - which is Kale's late paternal grandfather's name.
Oct 19 Day Trip
Today we went to the Cerrillos Hills Historic Park (CHHP) and drove the backside of Sandia Peak down thru Placitas.
We heard about the CHHP from a trails book Bryan picked up called "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles - Albuquerque" by Stephen Ausherman. The CHHP preserves 1100 acres of trails, old mines (turquoise, manganese, galena (lead sulfide), & silver) and high northern NM vegetation. People have been mining in the area for over 8000 years, first were the Native Americans as they dug for the 'evil-repelling' turquoise, later galena was mined and used as a glaze on thier pottery.
Upon the Spaniards arrival they took notice of the area and they began the first silver mining operation in 1581. Anglo miners started coming to the area in 1846, the mining boom lasted from 1879-1884 and by 1898 a millennium had depleted the resources and the area was abandoned - leaving behind towns, mills and over 5000 holes in the ground! Also in the Galisteo Basin, they have discovered the largest pueblo ruins in the US - one, San Marcos, boasts over 2000 rooms - more than even Chaca Canyon National Historical Park or Mesa Verde National park can claim (paraphrased from 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles - Albuquerque, Hike #21).
I don't believe the ruins have been fully excavated or are open to the public as yet but I'm anxious to see them.
There are several trails through CHHP - we took two: The Jane Calvin Sanchez trail and linked it with the Esclante Trail. Both were fairly steep (and we are out of shape) but in good shape and easy to access. Combined the trails were about 2.3 miles round trip from the parking area. The trails take you past several old mines with small placards describing them and surrounding areas. One curious thing Bryan and I noted were that the mines were really shallow - most were around 20 feet deep... When we think of mines, we think of these huge, multi-tunneled, deep mines. Interesting to note these were more like holes in the ground.
After leaving CHHP, we headed south down Hwy 14, the Turquoise Trail, to the backside of Sandia Peak. We saw on the map that there was dirt road that would link the ski area of Sandia to CR165 that ends up in Placitas - so we checked it out. Quite the busy dirt road with many people parked on the sides picking Pinon nuts (pine nuts). I guess this year is a bumper crop and they are quite pricey it seems - $20/lb!! Guess we should have stopped and picked some as well... A friend on the City-Data forum said if you picked them up off the ground, to make sure you didn't pick up deer poop too (I guess they are about the same size) - that there wasn't anything worse than watching TV, munching on Pinons and biting into a deer turd. Lovely.
Some kind of squirrel in the Sandias
We heard about the CHHP from a trails book Bryan picked up called "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles - Albuquerque" by Stephen Ausherman. The CHHP preserves 1100 acres of trails, old mines (turquoise, manganese, galena (lead sulfide), & silver) and high northern NM vegetation. People have been mining in the area for over 8000 years, first were the Native Americans as they dug for the 'evil-repelling' turquoise, later galena was mined and used as a glaze on thier pottery.
View of Ortiz Mtns from CHHP
Upon the Spaniards arrival they took notice of the area and they began the first silver mining operation in 1581. Anglo miners started coming to the area in 1846, the mining boom lasted from 1879-1884 and by 1898 a millennium had depleted the resources and the area was abandoned - leaving behind towns, mills and over 5000 holes in the ground! Also in the Galisteo Basin, they have discovered the largest pueblo ruins in the US - one, San Marcos, boasts over 2000 rooms - more than even Chaca Canyon National Historical Park or Mesa Verde National park can claim (paraphrased from 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles - Albuquerque, Hike #21).
I don't believe the ruins have been fully excavated or are open to the public as yet but I'm anxious to see them.
There are several trails through CHHP - we took two: The Jane Calvin Sanchez trail and linked it with the Esclante Trail. Both were fairly steep (and we are out of shape) but in good shape and easy to access. Combined the trails were about 2.3 miles round trip from the parking area. The trails take you past several old mines with small placards describing them and surrounding areas. One curious thing Bryan and I noted were that the mines were really shallow - most were around 20 feet deep... When we think of mines, we think of these huge, multi-tunneled, deep mines. Interesting to note these were more like holes in the ground.
View of the Jane C Sanchez Trail from the Escalante Trail
After leaving CHHP, we headed south down Hwy 14, the Turquoise Trail, to the backside of Sandia Peak. We saw on the map that there was dirt road that would link the ski area of Sandia to CR165 that ends up in Placitas - so we checked it out. Quite the busy dirt road with many people parked on the sides picking Pinon nuts (pine nuts). I guess this year is a bumper crop and they are quite pricey it seems - $20/lb!! Guess we should have stopped and picked some as well... A friend on the City-Data forum said if you picked them up off the ground, to make sure you didn't pick up deer poop too (I guess they are about the same size) - that there wasn't anything worse than watching TV, munching on Pinons and biting into a deer turd. Lovely.
View from Sandia Mtns
Some kind of squirrel in the Sandias
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Oct 18 Day Trip
Since we had to cut our Pecos trip short by a day due to a dead battery... we decided we'd do some short day trips that we'd put off while Bear wasn't doing so well. Today we hit Jemez (prounounced Hay-mez) Dam, Cochiti Lake, and Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument (not exactly sure how to pronounce this one so your on your own with this one!!).
The Jemez Dam is located on the Jemez Pueblo Reservation just north of Bernalillo and it isn't much - a large earthen dam that dams up the Jemez River - maybe there is a lake there some of the time but not while were there - barely even a river. However, if you use Google Earth it will look like a large lake, until you zoom in and then the lake disappears. Our New Mexico Gazetteer shows it as marshlands - not exactly sure I agree with that either but there you go.
Next stop: Cochiti Lake located on the Cochiti Pueblo Reservation. I guess as far as lakes go here, its very nice. As far as lakes go in the Pacific NW (and well, frankly, Texas too) it isn't very large. Really, not large at all. Really. The Cochiti Dam dams up the Rio Grande River creating Cochiti Lake. There is a very nice, large campground on a bluff overlooking the lake (looks like there is another CG on the other side but we didn't visit that one) and a nice swimming beach.
Our most interesting stop today by far was again on the Cochiti Reservation called Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. Kasha-Katuwe means "white cliffs" in the traditional Keresan language of the Cochiti Pueblo and it certainly is accurate! This plateau offers a view back in time, a remarkable study of geologic processes at work. The cone-shaped formations (hoodoos) were created by volcanic eruptions that happened 6-7 million years ago. There is a great 1.1 mile loop that offers splendid views of the cliffs and hoodoos (While loop is trail-rated as 'easy' the right-hand part of the loop is fairly stable, flat and probably handicap accessible with a little effort - sadly the other half of the loop is very steep, rocky & lots of washouts - certainly not suitable for wheelchairs). There is another trail that leads into a narrow slot canyon and ends up on top of the plateau. It is rated as moderate to difficult and is 1.5 miles one-way and includes a steep (630 ft) climb to the top. We did not have time to take this trail but plan to go back soon and finish it. We walked about 150-200 ft into the canyon and it was just fantastic. Can't wait to go back and glad we took the time today to visit. There are picnic tables and vault toilets at the trailhead but no potable water. A very remote, peaceful setting... loved it!
Then back home for all the 'good' college football games. hoooo-rah!
The Jemez Dam is located on the Jemez Pueblo Reservation just north of Bernalillo and it isn't much - a large earthen dam that dams up the Jemez River - maybe there is a lake there some of the time but not while were there - barely even a river. However, if you use Google Earth it will look like a large lake, until you zoom in and then the lake disappears. Our New Mexico Gazetteer shows it as marshlands - not exactly sure I agree with that either but there you go.
Jemez 'Resevoir' behind Dam
Next stop: Cochiti Lake located on the Cochiti Pueblo Reservation. I guess as far as lakes go here, its very nice. As far as lakes go in the Pacific NW (and well, frankly, Texas too) it isn't very large. Really, not large at all. Really. The Cochiti Dam dams up the Rio Grande River creating Cochiti Lake. There is a very nice, large campground on a bluff overlooking the lake (looks like there is another CG on the other side but we didn't visit that one) and a nice swimming beach.Cochiti Lake
Our most interesting stop today by far was again on the Cochiti Reservation called Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. Kasha-Katuwe means "white cliffs" in the traditional Keresan language of the Cochiti Pueblo and it certainly is accurate! This plateau offers a view back in time, a remarkable study of geologic processes at work. The cone-shaped formations (hoodoos) were created by volcanic eruptions that happened 6-7 million years ago. There is a great 1.1 mile loop that offers splendid views of the cliffs and hoodoos (While loop is trail-rated as 'easy' the right-hand part of the loop is fairly stable, flat and probably handicap accessible with a little effort - sadly the other half of the loop is very steep, rocky & lots of washouts - certainly not suitable for wheelchairs). There is another trail that leads into a narrow slot canyon and ends up on top of the plateau. It is rated as moderate to difficult and is 1.5 miles one-way and includes a steep (630 ft) climb to the top. We did not have time to take this trail but plan to go back soon and finish it. We walked about 150-200 ft into the canyon and it was just fantastic. Can't wait to go back and glad we took the time today to visit. There are picnic tables and vault toilets at the trailhead but no potable water. A very remote, peaceful setting... loved it!
Below are some photos from Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument
Then back home for all the 'good' college football games. hoooo-rah!
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