Bandelier National Monument

I recently had a few short adventures in Bandelier National Monument in white Rock, NM which is next door to Los Alamos, NM. I ran the Jemez Mountain Trail 50 Miler last month and decided to visit this nearby park. Parking is limited so they require you to take a free shuttle bus at the White Rock Visitor Center. Since I was saving my legs for 11,000’ of elevation gain the next day, I decided to walk the short main loop trail to see the cliff dwellings and out to the Alcove House (2.5 miles total). 

Frijoles Canyon with the Jemez Mountains in the background

Visitor Center

Big Kiva

I started my hike at the Bandelier Visitor Center that sits adjacent to cliffs of tufa or volcanic ash. The cliffs are pocked with honeycomb like weathering known as tafoni. Some of the holes were enlarged to create cavates (pronounced CAVE-eights) by ancestral pueblo peoples who lived in the cliffs and surrounding area. This indigenous population also built structures beside the caves where they thrived for many years by hunting and growing bean, corn and squash. 

Jemez Mountain 50 Miler 2019

This past Memorial Day Weekend I made my annual pilgrimage to Los Alamos, NM to run the Jemez Mountain 50 Miler. This race is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get. In this area, there can be unpredictable weather, drought, wildfires and even a bear attack. These types of events have forced the race to alter the course almost every year. This year was no different. Although we weren’t allowed to run in the Valle Caldera National Preserve where a woman was attacked by a bear during a marathon several years back, the National Forest Service allowed us to run on previously burned trails that have since been restored.

Valle Caldera National Preserve

The morning weather was a pleasant 50 degrees where about 110 of us started out in the dark with headlamps. In just 30 minutes or so the sky began to lighten and we passed some honeycombed cliffs of tuff (volcanic ash). Close by is the Bandelier National Monument with similar cliffs where ancestral pueblo people built homes carved into the tuff. The beauty of the Jemez is what keeps me coming back year after year.