Valles Caldera

Ever since the first time I saw Valle Grande over 40 years ago, I love going there, and especially taking visitors there. The sight of the immense volcanic caldera (over 1 million years old) is stunning. After visiting Los Alamos, I went there with Jake and Debbie on Sept. 10.

On this visit, for the first time, we went down into the caldera on the paved road that goes back a little ways to allow visitors to actually enter the basin.

The views, as always, are just spectacular, but on this visit, we had an added bonus -- we spotted a herd of elk, with the male elk guarding his herd of probably 50 females as they grazed in the caldera. It was really something interesting to see!









The elk herd:




Watching the elk herd with a nice young family we met:




Areas of burned trees were all over the Jemez area near Los Alamos; it was a heartbreaking sight to see:

Oh those Santa Fe sunsets!

There is nothing like a sunset here in northern New Mexico to lift one's spirits.

This is a recent sunset behind the Jemez Mountains, looking from my backyard.

The Las Conchas fire just never ends.

I just took these pictures tonight at sunset. The Las Conchas fire in the Jemez Mountains is still sending up a huge plume of smoke.

The Las Conchas Fire.

This huge wildfire in the Jemez Mountains (largest fire EVER in the State of New Mexico) has been burning for less than a week now, and is now up to nearly 114,000 acres, affecting the town of Los Alamos, Bandelier National Monument, Santa Clara and Cochiti Pueblos, the Dixon Apple Orchard, and the Valles Caldera, as well as many other scenic forested areas and canyons throughout the Jemez Mountains.

The fire was believed to be started last Sunday afternoon when a tree limb hit a power line on private property near mile marker 35 on N.M. 4.

1,200 firefighters are now battling the blaze, which has resulted in the town of Los Alamos being evacuated and the National Lab being closed for the entire past week. Smoke from the fire has been settling over many areas of northern New Mexico, depending which way the wind is blowing, and dealing with the smoke smell and ash has become a common occurence for us.

Containment as of this morning is only about 4%. The firefighting experts are telling us the fire is likely to burn until the summer monsoons arrive, hopefully very soon.

An announcement from The Los Alamos National Laboratory this morning said: "At no time were nuclear or hazardous materials in harm's way, thanks to immediate and effective action taken by fire and emergency crews, apart from safeguards in place before the conflagration."

Watching this fire has been fascinating and heartbreaking. I can get a clear view of the smoke plumes and even flames from my west window of the house. The Jemez Mountains are one of my favorite places for sightseeing and visiting in the state, and I dread seeing one day how things look up there, and imagining how long it will be for the forest to regenerate.

I took these pictures last night from my house:

The Jemez at sunrise

John took this picture yesterday morning from our backyard.

The view is looking west towards the Jemez Mountains under a sky of low clouds.

Bandelier National Monument

Bandelier National Monument is located in the Jemez Mountains several miles south of Los Alamos. It is in an area of incredible beauty.

Humans have lived here for 10,000 years. Nomadic hunters lived here originally, but around 1150 BC ancestral pueblo peoples built more permanent homes and settlements. By 1550 the pueblo people had moved on to pueblos along the Rio Grande (Cochiti, San Felipe, San Ildefonso, Santa Clara, Santo Domingo).

In the 1700s Spanish settlers made their homes in the area on Spanish land grants. In In 1880 Jose Montoya of Cochiti Pueblo brought Adolph F. A. Bandelier to Frijoles Canyon, and showed Bandelier his people's ancestral homelands.

In 1916 legislation to create Bandelier National Monument was signed by President Woodrow Wilson. Bandelier is a wonderful place to explore ancient pueblo ruins, both cliff dwellings and a traditional circular vilage.

Here are some pictures of Bandelier National Monument from our visit several weeks ago.

Scenes around Los Alamos

We were in Los Alamos, New Mexico two weeks ago during Susie's visit. The setting high in the Jemez Mountains is scenic. We got some pictures:

Fuller Lodge:




Rose Garden:




Scene of old forest fire from several years ago:



The view from the Jemez Mountains looking east towards Santa Fe and the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range:





Storm clouds gathering over Los Alamos:

The road to my house

Looking west towards the Jemez Mountains in the distance.

I love this view.

From Abiquiu to Cuba New Mexico

We took a trip last week up to the northwestern part of the state. It was a magnificent journey through some spectacular places and a chance to learn so much more about the history of this state. John got some gorgeous pictures all along the way.

It will take me many posts to include all the pictures, so I will do it in sections. The first leg of the trip was from Abiquiu NM, across the Jemez Mountains, and into Cuba, NM:

ABIQUIU LAKE:


REDBUD TREE AT ABIQUIU DAM:


CERRO PEDERNAL:




LA IGLESIA DE SAN PEDRO in Youngsville, NM:







DESCANSO ALONG THE HIGHWAY:







DEL BRUNO RESTAURANT IN CUBA: