From the Sky to the Core:
Yesterday Chelsey and I day tripped out of the Albuquerque area for some much needed sunshine. We got a bit of a late start and had to grab some food on the go. Rebel Donuts was the breakfast destination. We are going to have to give it a second chance because it was not that awesome and it seems to me like bacon donuts should always be awesome. Flavors included: cookies and cream; pretzel; rollo; chocolate bacon, etc.
Sky City is a development that the Acoma Indians built on top of a 365 foot Mesa out in the middle of the desert (on top of mesa in picture to left). It was built in the 13th Century which, according to Wikipedia, makes it one of the oldest continuous communities in North America. Anyhow, this city is up on this Mesa and, historically, it was very hard to reach (now a bus takes you up there). There were only 4 staircases to get up and they were very well hidden. Many only consisted of handholds and footholds making it impossible to carry things with you when you climbed to the top. We, by chance, went on a day when the Acoma people were celebrating the election/appointment of
their new tribal leaders.
As a result we were not able to take pictures on top of the Mesa although we did take a few photos from the bottom. There was a parade and people had come from all around the reservation to watch the celebration. Only 13 families live on the Mesa permanently. They have no running water, no sewage, no electricity. It is just a big rock out in the middle of the desert. Chelsey and I spoke with a local lady who pointed us to the only remaining usable staircase. We descended via this primitive "staircase" and Chelsey was scared to death (above).
After Sky City we headed further West to El Malpais National Monument. As proof of my advancement in spanish, I will translate "El Malpais" for you. It means "the bad country" or "the evil country." It was awesome!! We stopped in the Ranger Station and, lucky for us, it was kid's fun day in the park. The Ranger loved his job very much and was a bit like Dwight Schrute. He explained all kinds of things to us about the park's formation and about general philosophy, including how nature was the first, and is today, the only true democracy. I told him that was "an interesting perspective." That is not something we covered in my Democracy Masters program. Chelsey did not like him because he spoke only in a series of non sequiturs. Anyhow, he told us a few stories about the park while using stuffed animals as props. That was our cue to go and explore on our own.
First, we hiked a portion of the Narrows - a clifflike portion of the park with red dirt and lots of rocks (left). Instead of having trail markers on trees they have cairn markers in El Malpais. A cairn is basically a stack of rocks. You never leave one cairn without having another cairn in sight. It makes for a more involved hike. I speculate that this is the case because, first, many of the trails do not have trees and, secondly, where there are trees they likely burn frequently. The first hike got us up to a good elevation and gave us a great view of some of the lava fields (left below). After getting this view we decided that it would be more fun to go walk around the lava fields so we turned around and hiked a different trail amongst the lava. On our way down we came across some HUGE prints (likely Elk) and droppings. As you can see from the picture the prints were bigger than Chelsey's hands (above right).
The lava hike was really neat because it was just so different. According to the excited guide earlier in the day, El Malpais is home to the "largest former volcanic region in the solar system." I think this is kind of an outlandish claim and I doubt its credibility but that is what he said. What remains at El Malpais that look like Mountains are in fact the cores of very old volcanoes. Over time the outside has worn away and all that remains is the very center of the volcano. The lava spilled out all over the region and, in many places, provided outstanding soil and caused huge natural growth. The guide explained that the Phoenix area was actually settled because of its historically lush environment. Anyhow, the lava is cracked all over and there are large cavities and sink holes all over the place. It is a different type of terrain and was very beautiful.
We finished our hiking and headed back to US Route 66. It was a bit less direct but we took it all the way back to Albuquerque. First we saw a gorgeous sunset with a really pink and purple sky then, once the sun had set, you could see so many stars. We jumped out of the car (after we parked it) and checked out the sky. You could see satellites and more stars than I have ever seen. We are going to take a trip in a couple weeks to Chaco Canyon for an astronomy night. You are supposed to be able to see the entire Milky Way from the rural and dark places in New Mexico. We finished the evening with a green chile cheese burger from the Route 66 Diner in Albuquerque. It was a great way to finish an eventful Saturday.
Yesterday Chelsey and I day tripped out of the Albuquerque area for some much needed sunshine. We got a bit of a late start and had to grab some food on the go. Rebel Donuts was the breakfast destination. We are going to have to give it a second chance because it was not that awesome and it seems to me like bacon donuts should always be awesome. Flavors included: cookies and cream; pretzel; rollo; chocolate bacon, etc.
About an hour of driving later we hit Acoma, New Mexico - home to the Acoma tribe of Indians. There are 18 Indian reservations or "Pueblos" in New Mexico. Each is a bit of a tourist attraction because no Pueblo is complete without a Casino. This Pueblo, however, has a different type of destination (in addition to the Casino)... Sky City.
Sky City is a development that the Acoma Indians built on top of a 365 foot Mesa out in the middle of the desert (on top of mesa in picture to left). It was built in the 13th Century which, according to Wikipedia, makes it one of the oldest continuous communities in North America. Anyhow, this city is up on this Mesa and, historically, it was very hard to reach (now a bus takes you up there). There were only 4 staircases to get up and they were very well hidden. Many only consisted of handholds and footholds making it impossible to carry things with you when you climbed to the top. We, by chance, went on a day when the Acoma people were celebrating the election/appointment oftheir new tribal leaders.
As a result we were not able to take pictures on top of the Mesa although we did take a few photos from the bottom. There was a parade and people had come from all around the reservation to watch the celebration. Only 13 families live on the Mesa permanently. They have no running water, no sewage, no electricity. It is just a big rock out in the middle of the desert. Chelsey and I spoke with a local lady who pointed us to the only remaining usable staircase. We descended via this primitive "staircase" and Chelsey was scared to death (above).
First, we hiked a portion of the Narrows - a clifflike portion of the park with red dirt and lots of rocks (left). Instead of having trail markers on trees they have cairn markers in El Malpais. A cairn is basically a stack of rocks. You never leave one cairn without having another cairn in sight. It makes for a more involved hike. I speculate that this is the case because, first, many of the trails do not have trees and, secondly, where there are trees they likely burn frequently. The first hike got us up to a good elevation and gave us a great view of some of the lava fields (left below). After getting this view we decided that it would be more fun to go walk around the lava fields so we turned around and hiked a different trail amongst the lava. On our way down we came across some HUGE prints (likely Elk) and droppings. As you can see from the picture the prints were bigger than Chelsey's hands (above right).
The lava hike was really neat because it was just so different. According to the excited guide earlier in the day, El Malpais is home to the "largest former volcanic region in the solar system." I think this is kind of an outlandish claim and I doubt its credibility but that is what he said. What remains at El Malpais that look like Mountains are in fact the cores of very old volcanoes. Over time the outside has worn away and all that remains is the very center of the volcano. The lava spilled out all over the region and, in many places, provided outstanding soil and caused huge natural growth. The guide explained that the Phoenix area was actually settled because of its historically lush environment. Anyhow, the lava is cracked all over and there are large cavities and sink holes all over the place. It is a different type of terrain and was very beautiful. 
We finished our hiking and headed back to US Route 66. It was a bit less direct but we took it all the way back to Albuquerque. First we saw a gorgeous sunset with a really pink and purple sky then, once the sun had set, you could see so many stars. We jumped out of the car (after we parked it) and checked out the sky. You could see satellites and more stars than I have ever seen. We are going to take a trip in a couple weeks to Chaco Canyon for an astronomy night. You are supposed to be able to see the entire Milky Way from the rural and dark places in New Mexico. We finished the evening with a green chile cheese burger from the Route 66 Diner in Albuquerque. It was a great way to finish an eventful Saturday.
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