Day 54: Bandelier National Monument

Trip Start Jun 21, 2008
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of United States  , New Mexico,
Wednesday, August 13, 2008

First stop, Bandelier National Monument.  I've wanted to go here since visiting the website.  Unfortunately we did not have a lot of available time in our schedule, so we decided to walk the Main Loop Trail, see Alcove House, and visit the Visitor Center and museum.

Amazing.  The ancestral pueblo people built their homes at the base of, and against, the cliffs.  The hollowed out additional space in the cliff itself.  While we could only see some ruined foundations of buildings, we could see the caves and carved spaces where wooden roof beams were set into the rock of the cliffs.  There were a couple of caves visitors could enter.  You had to climb a ladder to get into them.  The neatest part for us was going to Alcove House, which was a housing area in a cave set high in a cliff.  You had to climb a series of steep ladders to reach it.  A sign at the base indicated that people with heart conditions or afraid of heights should not attempt the climb.  We made it to the top and it was a little intimidating.  Archeologists believe that the cave once had homes in it, though no foundations were visible.  The Park Service had reconstructed the kiva and visitors could enter.

While at Alcove House, 1 mile+ from the Visitor Center, the gray clouds which had been threatening decided to let loose.  Luckily for us, we were down the ladders before it poured.  We were soaked by the time we made it back to the car.  It was fun, though.

Onward to Los Alamos.
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