Bandelier

Back to another of our favorite places for a few days. This National Park is a great place to get up close to the ancient dwellings of an old pueblo. The weather continues to be nice except for distant thunderstorms in the late afternoon. They no longer allow vehicles on the steep and winding road down into the access trails and visitor center so we take the shuttle bus that starts in town a few miles away and stops by our campground. Wonderful. Wish more parks would do this. It runs every 15 minutes and you can get on and off wherever you like. No parking, no hassles, more peaceful.

We hike to Alcove House, a place that we missed on our last visit and their are 3 ladders up the cliffs to reach it. First one is 20 rungs and we both head up. Next one is 40 rungs and I wait below. Last one is 30 rungs and Steve continues on for beautiful views and a buried ceremonial Kiva. Hard to imagine families living here and the daily chores of hauling up water and supplies and trying to keep young children safe. I am thankful for the modern guard rails on these ancient trails. But the recreations show that they had incredible systems and pens for wild turkeys and fences for kids, and food growing below on the creek side so  it must have been a good life.

It is so beautiful here on this fall day, the Shasta daisies are still in bloom everywhere and we are enjoying the warmth and sights.
We encounter a way too bold coyote on the trail. He got within 3 feet of us, which I thought was a little too close, then Steve accidentally dropped his hiking pole as he fumbled with the camera and the coyote spooked and moved a few feet off the trail to go around us. Glad that this was the only wildlife encounter we had.  Because of all the fires here in the surrounding forest the last few years there has been a significant bear problem. Boy scouts being mauled in their tent a few years ago, and just a few weeks ago a bear ripped into a tent at night and scratched a young girl. Glad we are no longer tent campers!

By accident we are here for their October Fiesta, a celebration of the local culture. So after our hike we visit the booths of local crafts, smell the aromas of greasy looking fry bread,  tacos, and something called a 'reservation dog' ... fry bed wrapped around a cheap hot dog. Hmmm...no thanks.

But we did get to watch the Zuni Dancers perform. Later that evening their was a mini-performance from the Santa Fe Opera under the stars in the amphitheater next to our campground and a spectacular sunset. Good luck all around!