Seattle to New Mexico (and on to Texas): Nov 19, Part 2

We arrived at Bandelier just a little past Noon and after a quick look at the small museum and a 10-min information film we hit the trail. The setting here is surreal... the cliffs are made up of volcanic rock called tuff. The tuff is easily eroded but some parts erode more quickly, leaving behind Swiss cheese effect. The Ancestral Puebloans used these holes & caves to their advantage, enlarging the caves and building in and around them.

Us - Frijoles Canyon in the background

The first people that actually settled here were the Ancestral Pueblo (formerly known as the Anasazi (ah-nah-SAH-zee), an outdated term with Navajo origins that mean "ancient enemies" and is no longer used), however human activity can be traced back as far as 10,000 years!! Frijoles Canyon, where many of these ruins are located, is part of the Pajarito (pa-ha-REE-toe) Plateau that was formed from two violent eruptions (each being 600 times more powerful than the 1980 eruption of Mt St Helens) of the Jemez Volcano.

The first ruins you reach on the trail is the pueblo village, Tyounyi (chew-OHN-yee). This almost circular village is only one of several located within Bandalier National Monument. Tyounyi contained over 400 rooms that ranged from 1 to 2 stories in height. They believe that around 100 people lived in the village.

Tyounyi Pueblo from cliff dwellings

The cliffs above Tyounyi are filled with cliff dwellings. These dwellings utilized the natural caves and worked at enlarging the rooms for living and storage rooms. These small caves are known as cavates (CAVE-eights) and many had rooms builts in front of them. Both the valley floor village and the cliff dwellings were inhabitated at the same time, no one knows for sure why some lived in the cliff dwellings and others lived in the pueblos.

Raymona looking in a cavate

Bryan coming out of the kiva cavate

On the trail at Bandelier National Park

While most sites in Bandelier are unexcavated there are quite a number that have been along the cliff face, dubbed the "Long Houses" since they follow the cliff face for quite a distance. You can see by the holes that held the vigas (beams that supported the roofs & floors above) how tall these structures could be (Bryan and I counted 3 floors in several areas).

Long House cliff dwellings

Further down, about a 1/2 mile from the Long Houses, along a vey level easy path is the Alcove House. It is a 140 climb up 3 30-foot ladder and one that's a little shorter in order to reach the house. It doesn't sound so bad, but it really is a bit unnerving. Especially going back down the ladders.

The start of the Alcove House trail