Bandelier National Monument

Guest posting by Bear
Views from White Rock on the road to Bandelier


I was a bit hesitant about the choice of trails that SewDiva chose for our exploration of Bandelier NM. I wanted to see more of the cliff dwellings and less of the “nature” trail. Boy, was I wrong (yet again). The trail led us through several ruins on the canyon floor; then took a distinct turn UP the face of the canyon walls to the ladders into the cliff dwellings. Most of the rooms were about the size & height of an REI dome tent. We had plenty of photo ops of faces sticking out the holes in the sides of the caves and people stacked on the ladders. Great fun!!!

As the trail dropped back down to the valley floor, a side trail led off to another structure called the Adobe House; half mile long and 140 feet up. Nobody else was even vaguely interested in looking at that, so while they headed back to the visitor center, I raced up the trail to see what was there. The trail was a wonderful little walk in the woods along the year-round stream that ran through the valley. Massive cottonwood trees, beautiful red ponderosa pines (my personal favorite), and other trees & bushes that fall under the general category of “scenery” to my ignorant eyes. Then the ladders – woo hoo!! Most of the 140 feet gain was climbing these seemingly cobbled together branches of wood. I especially liked the one that creaked & groaned as I climbed & descended. I was huffing a bit at the top where there was a fairly massive cave (the Adobe House) looking down the valley, along with a kiva (a hole in the ground generally used for ceremonial activities) in the middle that I climbed down into (another ladder!). The climb down was less strenuous, but the first step on any ladder is always a knuckle grabber for me. I raced back down the valley just as my partners laid out the picnic lunch. Perfect timing and a perfect hike!

-Bear

A fun trivia bit from SewDiva: did you know that Ponderosa Pine smell like vanilla? The older and redder the tree, the more pronounced the smell. Indians used to eat the inner bark as a treat.

Dollars saved on this trip with Park Pass: $108.00