Go West Young ... (16) On to Los Alamos, Valles Caldera, "dirt road", Aztec Ruins and Farmington.

      Finally leaving Santa Fe, as it seem we have been here a very long time, touring the four points of the compass, North, East, South and West, and about town itself. The time has come to move on. Shortly after leaving Santa Fe we came upon a rather interesting rock formation which we will call the resting camel, just sitting there by the road, but it was certainly worth the stop for a photo.


Has anyone seen Lawrence of Arabia nearby
or perhaps members of the French Foreign Legion?


   The drive was interesting, some massive peaks in the distance around us, and lots of the Santa Fe National Forest. After some miles one comes up on the town Los Alamos, famous (or infamous) for the work that took place there during WWII, the development of the nuclear bombs that were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Just follow the links.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos_National_Laboratory
http://lanl.gov/index.php
     We didn't take the time to stop in town, but only drove through, even alongside the high security fence, for what seemed a rather long distance. The town does look inviting though, and perhaps on a future trip. More links to follow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Alamos,_New_Mexico   http://visit.losalamos.com/
http://www.bing.com/attractions/search?q=Los+Alamos+Historical+Museum&qzattrid=w679700&FORM=ATRCCN
       After Los Alamos we came upon a most interesting feature on the ground. A very large what appeared to be a plain with a hump or two on the otherwise rolling hill. In the far distance we could see very large animals. This area was completely fenced off. We learned this is not just good cattle land, this is an extremely large caldera of an ancient volcano, and is named the Valles Caldera. It is one of only six known super land based volcano's and is 12 miles wide.
       We took a number of pictures, which when spliced together should work to form a panoramic view - some day in the future we will do that.

 That little bump in the middle of the photo is the lava dome.

The photo you find in Wikipedia is better.

 The person in the car visible is far away, though not visible 

on this photo but could be seen from the road.

He or she was taking pictures of the animals,

 which turned out to be a heard of elk.

http://www.vallescaldera.gov/      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valles_Caldera
http://vallescaldera.com/              http://www.vallescaldera.gov/comevisit/
http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=121002-D
https://www.facebook.com/VallesCaldera

 

      After leaving the area of the Caldera we thought we would take a shortcut, and we found one, but the sign said "In Winter, No trailers, No motorcycles, No RV's, Four wheel drive only ....", heck we are driving a Subaru Forester that is only, at this point, 2 years and 2 months old. We meet the FWD requirement in that we are AWD all the time. Off we go onto the dirt road and up into the hills and mountains. We didn't see any other traffic, though occasionally we would see a cabin or house among the trees. The surface of the road was kind of like driving over an old fashioned washboard, very bumpy. After sometime we caught up with a motor grader that was leveling out the road, but because of the amount of dust created he probably didn't see us behind him, or didn't care, after all he was bigger and occupied the whole road.

The soil changed color to a kind of rusty brown. We had to keep the windows up, it caked on the windshield, it was in the air, being sucked into the air filter, all over the car - "Don't give into the temptation to use the windshield washer".

      After what seemed like an eternity we came off of this road and back onto solid pavement. We should have remembered to take a picture for the Subaru Magazine "Drive" because we looked like a Subaru should look out in "nature". Looking back on the map it looks like the road we took was the one from "Counselors" to the town of "Turley", a distance of some 40 miles. Was it a shortcut, yes, did it take off considerable distance, no but some, did it take off time, no. Was it interesting, absolutely yes and the little car proved its mettle.

      We now arrive at the town of Aztec and the nearby Aztec Ruins, a National Monument. Interestingly enough, when the first so-called "white" explorers came to this part of the country and found the ruins they thought them the work of the Aztecs, which they are not, but that is the reason for the name; the builders were the Anasazi. It is a most interesting place, full of lore and history. Here are several links with lots of information. There are many more links available and the information available is fantastic.
http://www.nps.gov/azru/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec_Ruins_National_Monument
http://www.americansouthwest.net/new_mexico/aztec_ruins/national_monument.html
http://www.nationalparks.org/explore-parks/aztec-ruins-national-monument
http://www.desertusa.com/azrnm/aztecnm.html

 A view of some of the Aztec Ruins.

 A view of the ruins, the circle in front is a kiva.

 On the grounds of the Aztec Ruins.

Norma is sitting way back there, several walls away.

 The Anasazi were smart people, though perhaps not very tall.

Small opening meant they were easy to defend against possible invaders.

 A view across some of the ruins, and inside an ancient Kiva.

 Here I am inside the great Kiva, the only reconstructed one in the South West.

I am out of focus, not a function of the "stuff" that I may have smoked

to commune with the spirits, but a function of the camera.

Norma in the great Kiva.

 

     We found the tour very educational thanks to a young National Park Ranger who gave a good talk about the history and the custom of the people. This young person only seemed to get a bit upset when I asked what they put in their pipes when the men went down into the Kiva's to have spiritual encounters. It appears that my question wasn't politically correct.

 

      We are now off to Farmington which will be our "home" for a few days. When we arrived at the La Quinta they looked at the car and asked, "where have you been?". We must also remember that this is a rather dry area, with little rainfall, so when I asked for a water hose to wash off the car and the bikes (which were now rust colored) I was politely given one, but with one of those "don't you know any better looks".

 

      A long and interesting day comes to a close. There will be more to follow later.