While we are in Santa Fe, we are surprised to learn of national monument called Bandelier that is a mere hour away. There's a campground, Juniper, that has walk-up campsites, and, based on the time of year, we figure we should have no problems finding a spot. As we drive up there, we pass through a thriving little town, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It turns out to be the home of the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Anyway...
We get to Bandelier and drive through all the campground loops, and they are all virtually deserted. That's actually fortunate for us because there were only about 3-4 sites that were actually large enough to fit our rig. We opt for one in the first loop with paved sites.
Bandelier has a trail that takes you through a canyon surrounded by mesas. You pass by cave dwellings carved into the side of the mountain by the Ancestral Pueblos as well as old ruin buildings from their civilization. There are even a few of the caves that you're allowed to climb into and "explore."
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| Self guided tour handout depicting Ancestral Pueblo life |
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| The ruins of the gathering area as seen from some of the cliff houses |
Once you've completed the trail along the mesa (about halfway through), you have a choice to turn back to the visitor's center or to go on to the Alcove House. The Alcove House sits about 140 feet above the canyon floor. Climbing up to the Alcove House involves climbing 4 wooden ladders and a number of stone stairs.
I didn't make it to the top of Alcove House. At the top of the first ladder, I discovered that my hands were too small to hold on to the vertical poles to get off the ladder, and I had to wrap my whole body around the top of the ladder to get on and off.
Since I was carrying things, the transitions was very difficult, so I opted not to go on. Tom did continue on to the top.
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