Heading South

Jun 12

Another early day with the tent packed up and on the road by 6:30 AM. First stop of the day was a very disappointing visit to the San Luis State Wildlife area just to the southwest of the Great Sand Dunes NP. The lake was a long way from shore and any birds were blurry with at best. To be fair, I did spot a previously unrecorded bird for myself (American Avocet) and a very large rabbit.

Large and fuzzy (photographically - looked fine in real life) rabbit

Next was bombing south on Hwy 285 heading towards Bandelier National Monument near Santa Fe, New Mexico. A few things struck me on the ride - I had never been to New Mexico, this part was gorgeous, not heavily populated, and probably not terribly wealthy. Oh, and apparently nobody sells state road maps anymore. We have clearly become an electronics-based society.

I confess I hadn’t done any reading about the site before arriving and was pleasantly surprised. The following is the blurb from the National Parks app:

“Bandelier National Monument protects over 33,000 acres of ruggedly beautiful canyon and mesa country. Petroglyphs, dwellings carved into the soft rock cliffs, and standing masonry walls pay tribute to the early days of culture that still survives in the surrounding communities.”

I spent about three hours on at the site with most of that time exploring the short trails in the Frijoles Canyon. This area includes the foundation of a fairly large community in the valley floor, small caves structures in the cliff faces, and a reconstruction of a probable cliffside structure.