Bandelier

On Tuesday June 2nd, we drove up to Bandelier National Park for our first hike in the area. It was an absolutely stunning day and we were luck enough to get there early so we missed a lot of the foot traffic. The majority of the hike is on a narrow paved walkway, which runs along most of the the Ansazi dwellings, but we also decided to hike up to the top of the ridge overlooking the main park which was a lot of effort given the steep switchbacks and the altitude (over 7000 feet). It was beautiful and well worth the effort.

All set for a hike


Papa, as Sherpa, and Sofia all set for our first hike


The Big Kiva, which would have a roof over the top and was a communal meeting area


Overlooking Tyuonyi (Qu-weh-nee) which was once two stories tall and consisted of over 400 rooms!


One of the many caves dwellings


Sofia and Papa in one of the cave dwellings we could visit


A view of Tyuonyi from above


Hiking up


At the top - Sofia watches and plays with ants (they are HUGE in New Mexico, but don't bite) and stink bugs (she never got sprayed luckily)


The views hiking down


It started to rain for a minute, so we put up the rain gear - so cute!


One of the Anasazi dwelling areas - the holes in the cliff were supports for their roof/floors - CK and Sofia are at the far right