Northern New Mexico Part 3. Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail and Bandelier!

Saturday, I woke up and met some of my siblings for a little brekkie nosh and then I did another good walk. 

I started at Smiths grocery store and walked along Los Alamos Canyon Rim Trail, which is a nice wide paved trail, and then crossed the highway through the new-ish underpass, went behind the airport and walked the east end of Pueblo Canyon, west back to Smiths.

Of course, mapping hit a snafu, as I forgot to turn on Runkeeper for the first mile or so, and my Apple Watch died halfway through! It was about 4 miles. 

Not a great pic, but I love me dem ravens!

Los Alamos Canyon

From the public art in the highway pedestrian underpass. It's the same underpass where Anne and I made our art piece, Mischief Pie, a couple years ago. 

Path of tuff – must be home!

Pueblo Canyon

I'm pretty sure these are ancestral Puebloan dwellings across the canyon. Too much uniformity to be random wind-blown caves.

An accidental photo, but I kind of like it!

My dream house...

Saturday afternoon, I headed to Bandelier National Monument, a treasure. 

As many times as I visited Bandelier in my youth and the many times I've been back to visit, I've only ever walked Frijoles Canyon around the Tyuonyi (pronounced Qu-weh-nee) Village, the home of the Ancestral Puebloans.

And this is exactly the walk I did late Saturday afternoon when I arrived. I drove to the Visitor Center and walked the Pueblo Trail. It is so cool! Go visit Bandelier someday! 

I didn't climb the ladders today.

Evidence of a wall painting, footholds, roof timber holds, cavates, and petroglyphs!

Close up of the petroglyphs:

And more petroglyphs. There are a lot on the cliff walls! These are just a few.

A great example of a wall painting. Preserved under plexiglass.

The trail continues along the Frijoles River back to the Visitor Center.

On my drive back up to the campground, I stopped at the overlook. Gorgeous views! And those clouds! Ow, my heart!

A ranger talk capped the day. It was all about the Ancestral Puebloans' agriculture techniques. She talked about the three sisters crops, using pumice as mulch, and irrigation techniques. Interesting! 

Tired, I headed back to camp. Juniper campground, Coyote Loop, Space 42. Great spot!

Poppy among the pines

Northern New Mexico, Part 2

The morning of Day Two held a wonderful walk with my dear brother-in-law and friend, with a yummy lunch afterwards! ❤️ 

After lunch, I hiked from downtown Los Alamos through Graduation Canyon to the Pueblo Canyon Rim Trail, where I headed west and came out at Canyon Road, then back to where I had parked Poppy. About 3 miles all told.

It was lovely! See for yourself:

Nothing like the smell of a Ponderosa Pine. Vanilla or Chocolate?

A view of my childhood playground. You can barely make out where "LA" was once painted.

Thunder was rumblin' and I did not want to end up like this tree!

Wild onion

Another view of LA Mountain, where I romped as a child. It's also known as Burnt Mountain, and since 2000, Twice Burnt Mountain!

You can kinda sorta see where "LA" was painted on the rocks in years of old.

That evening, I enjoyed tacos and beer with three of my four siblings, plus other loved ones! Afterwards, I walked over to Ashley Pond, passing The Lodge...

 

...and heading to Ashley Pond, where I met my BIL for the free Concert in the Park. Ashley Pond's geese greeted the crowd.

We listened to Nik Parr and the Selfless Lovers, from Austin, Texas.

And then – exhausted – I retired to Poppy, who was parked in the Bathtub Row Brewing Co-op's (AKA The Tub) Harvest Host spot. Woke up to sunflowers!

What a fan-frickin'-tastic day!

New Mexico July 2025 Part 1

 I camped with the fam for a night at Lake Cachuma. Dang that I didn't get many photos, except this is the best. Li'l guy and a flashlight. Gotta love it.

Can't get the video to work. Will update later! 

I hit the road after our night of camping and booked it across the Southwest, a road I’ve traveled dozens of times. I didn’t want to do attractions and stops, so I drove all day to Kingman, Arizona, where I Crackerdocked, and then to Albuquerque where I had dinner with a dear friend and Crackerdocked again.

Then, to where my heart resides, Northern New Mexico. 

Took a drive into the Jemez and walked my favorite trail, Las Conchas, and then I stopped at Valles Caldera National Preserve and did a short walk before the thunder scared me back to Poppy.

Plenty of flowers, critters, and vistas!

Here are the photos. 

Many years ago, and for many years, the river ran deeper and wider:

And then to the Valles Caldera: