Looking Down on Bandelier
Bandelier National Monument
OK, think back to that volcanic ash scattering. Naturally, the vast majority of it wound up covering nearby territory, sometimes landing in drifts up to several hundred feet thick. When the ash settled and compacted, it became the soft volcanic rock known as tuffa, the very same material the Romans used as building blocks.
This material was soft enough that indigenous tribes were able to carve homes out of the rock. Bandelier National Monument is home to some fascinating cliff dwellings.
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Kushal Marvels at the Weather
Labor day falls at the end of New Mexico’s “Monsoon Season,” where the weather is fickle and entirely unpredictable. We were cruising along with the windows down one minute, then the next we were kicking the wipers up to full blast to see through the cloudburst that was overtaking us.
The weather made for some great lighting, though. Would that I had a waterproof camera, I would have captured the shot of the sun illuminating each raindrop from behind as they poured down on the glistening pine forest.
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The Valles Caldera
Continuing northwards, we find ourselves at the Valles Caldera. This was the site of the Toledo Eruption, many many millenia ago. This volcanic eruption, they say, had 600 times the explosive power of Mount Saint Helens. It blew the top off this mountain, leaving a crater over 13 miles wide and scattering volcanic ash as far as Lubbock, Texas.
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2005-09-04 – Bandelier, Caldera, Jemez
On Labor Day, I headed north of Albuquerque with my neighbor Kushal, who had just flown in from Calcutta and had not seen the US outside of Albuquerque. We took I-25 one hour north to Santa Fe, had a spicy Thai lunch that was as eye-watering as it was mouth-watering, and then cut west and south in a loop that would take us back to Albuquerque.
However, the chronology of our trip doesn’t serve the history of the geology, so I’m going to reverse it and start where we finished.
Route 550 winds through the Jemez Mountains, which sport some of the most breathtaking views I’ve found in New Mexico. The southern end of the Jemez has brilliant red rocks, ranging from a dull pottery orange to a deep, bloody red.