Bandelier National Monument

A walk through the past

We stopped to check out a little bit of New Mexico on our return to Arizona and got quite a treat. Our stop in Las Vegas, NM brought us to a campground that served green chili cheese burgers that were scrumptious.



We pulled into Juniper Campground in Bandelier National Monument near Santa Fe, NM with almost any site for us to chose from. There was plenty of  room for us and a few sites big enough for a big rig. It was so peaceful listening to the wind blow through the trees and birds singing after spending time in Colorado Springs that has gotten increasingly congested. We could just take a deep breath and relax.

The campground was dry camping and no internet. We were happy to hike and read our books for a few days.

As we walked through the canyon with Swiss cheese type holes in the walls, I expected Fred and Wilma Flintstone to walk out and yabba dabba do us at any moment.

Our first day after setting up, we took the shuttle to the visitors' center and hiked along Frijoles Creek to the Alcove House under the shade of the trees. It was afternoon and warming up but we climbed the 4 ladders and several sets of stairs to the Alcove.

The Pararito Plateau was formed more than a million years ago when the Jemez Volcano erupted. Two eruptions were six hundred times more powerful than the 1980 eruption of Mt St Helen. It ejected enough material to cover a 400 square mile are with volcanic ash up

to 1000 feet thick.

The average life expectancy of Ancestral Pueblo people was 35 years. Arthritis and bad teeth were common ailments. Childbirth was a dangerous process, taking many women's lives. Many children did not survive to adulthood.

We could see Petroglyphs along the homes.

After our hike through the ruins, we stopped for a snack while waiting for the shuttle to take us back up to the campground.

 There were tour groups with Rhode Scholars, Gate 1 and VBT. The VBT group were taken up to the same trail that we hiked down earlier that morning. Other than the tour groups, there weren't many people on the trails. This is one benefit to visiting the lesser known National Parks.

The next morning, we woke early and enjoyed the cool breezes as we walked down the Frey Trail at the campground down to the Pueblo area.

Before leaving on our last morning, we took a couple mile hike to the Tyuonyi Overlook.

The long house was three stories high.

The holes in the walls were carved in the soft tuff that was from the volcanic ash. The park service provided us with opportunities to climb up into a couple of the homes that had been preserved for this purpose.

Stone buildings were made in front of the caves after they were carved out.

We have not spent much time exploring New Mexico but see that there is plenty to do when we return.

A visit in Highland Ranch and Colorado Springs

Colorado

We left Arizona 6 months ago with a list of people to see and places to go as we traveled across this country. Many of the plans changed and new plans added as we went along. We saw grandkids in South Carolina, Mike's family and class reunion in Vermont and spent time working at a boys youth camps in Maine. There were so many stops along the way, we have to refer to the blog to remember it all. Now we are heading back to the southwest earlier than planned but had to make a stop in Colorado first to see Deb's family first.

Sorry Kyle and Tyler. I got you with the sun in your face. These boys are growing so fast and have so much energy.

We loved watching Kyle play soccer as he got a score for the team.

Tyler loved our bike ride along the river, especially when his parents and brother turned around and we went further without them. 

Kyle getting ready.

This trip has far exceeded our expectations. We got pretty tired at times but met some very nice and interesting people and saw some great places, hiked and biked many trails.

Sometimes a person has to be responsible instead of playing all of the time.
When we sold our home, it was easier to place the items we weren't sure we were ready to let go of into storage. Now after 2 1/2 years, it was time to see what was in there and was it worth paying $55 per month to store. We could only remember a few things that we had in it. We had planned to spend a week in Colorado Springs and decided it was the perfect time to go through things and see if we could clear it out.

It was a bit of work with a few trips to the Habitat Restore, Goodwill and Criterium Bike shop. We managed to only keep a few boxes of things that were important to us.

After getting everything done over 4 days, we got to take a walk in Red Rocks Park on our last morning here, one of our favorites in town. No horse poop like the Garden of the Gods trails. Both are beautiful and close to where we were staying.

Red Rock Canyon on the west side of Colorado Springs has many trails for hiking and mountain biking. There are rock walls for rock climbing.

Many of the buildings in the Manitou Springs area were built with the red rock from this quarry.  Five carloads a day of the rock was also shipped by train in the 1880s. 

We knew it was time for a new truck. Our current truck was a 2008 and getting quite a few miles on it. Mike had been watching the websites in AZ but the 2017 F150s with a V-8 and all of the things he felt were important had sold out. We had taken a wrong turn while in town, ending up near Motor City in Colorado Springs and stopped in to see if they had what we needed (wanted). Mike gave the sales person his list of what he wanted.

I told them that the topper on our truck had to be able to go on it if we were going to buy something, even if it did not match. We didn't want the stuff (our bikes) in the back stolen. If not, it was a deal breaker. The topper did not fit but the manager called Timberline Toppers, just down the road. They had one that had been special ordered for someone that changed his mind. It matched two trucks on the lot that met our criteria. We checked it out and bought a bright blue truck and topper. The dealership had the topper and tires we wanted on and ready to go the next morning.

It is definitely "Lightening Blue".

The $6000 incentives and $1200 off the topper were a bonus. Now we (Mike) have to figure out how all of these options work. Why would any vehicle need 12 computers? It seems to have a mind of its own.

The ghost town of Mystic

The Mickelson Trail

Imagine a path where the ghosts of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane still roam; where bicyclists, hikers and horseback riders can explore spruce and ponderosa pine forests; and the very young, the very old and people of all abilities can enjoy.

The George S. Mickelson Trail is in the heart of the beautiful Black Hills. Its gentle slopes and easy access allow people to enjoy the beauty of the Black Hills. Much of the trail passes through National Forest Land, but there are parts of the trail that pass through privately owned land, where trail use is restricted to the trail only.

The trail is 109 miles long and contains more than 100 converted railroad bridges and 4 rock tunnels. The trail surface is primarily crushed limestone and gravel. There are 15 trailheads.

We had ridden part of the Mickelson Trail towards Crazy Horse the last time we were in Custer. Our neighbor from Florida was familiar with the Mickelson Trail because he had ridden the entire 109 mile trail in the past on his bike with the help of a shuttle. He mentioned that the most interesting section in his opinion was from Rockford south to Mystic.

Most of the Mickelson Trail is without shade. We decided to wait until a cold front came in and drove to the ghost town of Mystic. Mystic was established when gold was found. There were several active mines along the way.  It was down a dirt road with very little traffic or buildings. Since it is an old railroad track, the grades are not more than 3-5%.

There were trestles.

Three tunnels on our section

The old church that was part of the gold mining ghost town of Mystic.

Beautiful walls that had been blasted for the train tracks.

and a waterfall to keep our interest and our peddles turning.

We enjoy geocaching but some of our favorites are caches that are gadgets. This one was easy to find but took a bit to figure out how to get the combination for the lock so we could get the log out and sign it.  I think it is ok to post this since I am not identifying where this cache is or which one it is.

Below are the instructions.

This is no normal bird house though. This bird house has metal objects protruding from it. What do I do you ask? Well first let us look at a few FACTS:

FACT: This cache uses electricity.
FACT: Electricity WILL flow through your body in order to complete the circuit.
FACT: You have to make the choice of which two bolts to grab and squeeze! Being afraid to squeeze will result in no smiley!
FACT: DC voltage can be felt at as little as 5mA! How much will this cache produce?
FACT: Calling 911 will get you medical emergency help if needed.
PLEASE ATTEMPT THIS CACHE AT YOUR OWN RISK !
Before attempting this cache, ask yourself this! Is there enough electricity (voltage) in this cache to cause me pain! After completing the circuit, the cache will provide you with the necessary combination to the lock, as long as you are looking at the cache correctly! To complete the circuit, you will need to select two of the protruding metal objects and squeeze one with each hand. Continue to choose combinations of metal objects until the cache reveals the hidden code. The combination lock can be opened by entering the first 4 letters of the middle color the cache revealed when you completed the circuit.

No pain was felt and we did find the two bolts to grab that show the middle color to get the cache.