One of the benefits of the unplanned detour to Santa Fe and Los Alamos was that we were very close to Bandelier National Monument, Besides the incredible natural history accessible at this park, it is an impressive archeological site with cavates and petroglyphs of the Ancestral Pueblo. As we left Los Alamos and drove towards Bandelier, we had to go through a manned security gate near the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The guard wanted proof of our citizenship, and had to look inside the camper. It was a little unsettling, but considering what they study at the laboratory, it’s probably a good thing that they check on who’s driving by. We continued on to the park, where we found that the Visitors’ Center is housed in an old lodge, and well maintained trails to the cavates and petroglyphs start right behind the building. We suited up for a hike, locked the dogs in the camper, and took off with a surprisingly high number of other people also out to tour the site.
From the beginning of the trail, you can see the hole-pocked cliffs. It’s fun to try to guess which holes lead to living spaces.
As you head towards the cliffs, you pass an area where structures were built in a circular formation for those who didn’t live in the cliffs.
Many of the dwelling are accessible to the public via wooden ladders.
You can tell some of the holes lead to dwellings because the rows of smaller holes in the rocks were created to mount sticks in to hold awnings and provide roofing for outside structures.
In a couple of spots, they’ve recreated what they think the original dwellings were.
Many petroglyphs are carved in the rocks near the dwellings.
The signs say this is a macaw, and that it proves that the Ancestral Pueblo traded with people from much further south. It’s not the most realistic macaw drawing I’ve ever seen, so I’m not sure if I buy it.
At the end of the trail, you can climb a series of ladders to a large dwelling they call The Alcove. It’s larger than the other dwellings, but the fact that people climbed to get there is more impressive than the space itself.
The large hole is The Alcove. The climb starts between the two trees to the left in the photo.
We pulled out of Bandelier National Monument around 1:30, and headed for Albuquerque, where Todd and Tatiana had just arrived home.