BANDELIER NATIONAL MONUMENT

Early Saturday morning, last day of the trip. First visit of the day was to Bandelier National Monument. It's a very large park, but I was only going to be in the Frijoles Canyon area.
I had read online that during the summer access to the canyon and the Visitor Center is by shuttle bus only. I didn't want to deal with that, so because one of the exceptions was for visitors arriving before 9:00 a.m. I get there shortly before 8:00.
A big round ancient thing. Any guesses what it is?
One of the attractions on the loop are cave dwellings. There are many caves in the canyon walls.
There are also some old ruins as well, or probably more accurate, reconstruction of old ruins.
Because I was there an hour earlier than the Visitor Center opened, there were no other people on the trail while I was there. Also, it was raining a bit and the temperature was in the low 60's, which while a bit chilly was a pleasant change from the 100+ temperatures just a few days earlier.
I guess if I was an ancient Pueblo person a long time ago, I'd be looking for some nice caves to live in.
Talus houses, like this reconstruction, were built on the rock debris slopes on the sunny side of canyons and mesas.
This is the view down from a rather small cave. Could have been an ancient single guy's pad.
So if everyone is living in caves, maybe these were some neighborhood shops they built.
Stare at the wall long enough and you can make out some petroglyphs.
An old Pueblo television carved into the rock face. Must not be broadcast hours yet, That looks like a Native American test pattern.
The good news is there is a public restroom on the trail. The bad news is it is closed. The other good news is there is no one else anywhere around, so I peed near the building rather than in it.
Since it had been raining there was water flowing in this tiny stream.
Once again, I climbed up to a high cliff dwelling.
In addition to some stone steps, there were many ladders going up (and down for that matter). Let's count the rungs. This one has 19.
Another 32 on this one. That's 51 so far.
Another 28 makes 69. You know, it was still raining off and on and I was basically all alone out here. If I had slipped on one of these ladders, fallen and knocked myself unconscious, I probably wouldn't have been found for at least an hour.
And finally this little ladder makes 77 rungs to climb up to...
...the Alcove House, formerly known as the Ceremonial Cave. It is located 140 feet above the floor of Frijoles Canyon and was once the home of approximately 25 Ancestral Pueblo people.
Again, the caves offer a nice view of the canyon.
It was nice to have a little hike in cooler temperatures, even though with the rain it was quite humid. There are many trails at Bandelier for hikers to enjoy, but I was on a schedule so I just did the main loop.
In 1925, Evelyn and George Frey, with their infant son, came to Frijoles Canyon to operate the Lodge of the Ten Elders, which stood between here and the canyon wall ahead.

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