"The sun sucks" - Butt-Head, from Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
In the shadow of one of the world's foremost scientific laboratories lies a former cultural center for the ancestral Puebloan people. The average visitor fails to go 1 mile beyond the visitors' center, but with over 70 miles of trail, I figured there had to be something else worth seeing in Bandelier National Monument.
History
Bandelier National Monument (and please stop spelling it "Bandolier") was established in 1916, and in 1976 the Bandelier Wilderness area was established within the park. The monument is named after Adolph Bandelier, a Swiss archaeologist who excavated the ruins and reconstructed some of the cliff-side houses, the latter of which probably would not be acceptable today. The most famous part of the trail, which I have hiked twice, is a leisurely 2 mile stroll if one decides to hike to the Alcove House, but the actual Main Loop Trail is only a mile round-trip. To most visitors, the park begins and ends there, but much of this probably has to do with the sad recent history of devastation by fire that plagues this region of New Mexico. Bandelier has been severely affected directly by at least two major fires, and indirectly affected by several more due to extreme flooding caused by fires in the mountains that feed the streams found in canyon bottoms. Additionally, climate change, whether man-made or not, has resulted in a generally drier, hotter climate than would have been experienced in the past, only compounding the issues brought about by the fires. Trails in canyon bottoms were destroyed, if not by flooding sweeping away any semblance of a navigable path, by immense log jams and rock falls. In fact, it was only last summer, thanks to the Los Alamos Mountaineers, that the park's "feature" canyon, Frijoles, was made navigable again.
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| An example of burn damage in Upper Frijoles Canyon |
Yet Bandelier still attracted me, so it must have something going for it. First, some slightly superficial reasons. 1 - I just drove over 27 hours in a soft-top Jeep from Raleigh, NC, to Los Alamos, NM. I am tired of driving, and Bandelier is only a 20-minute drive from White Rock, where I am staying for the summer. 2 - I initially planned this trip ages ago with the thought in mind that mid-late May in Los Alamos tends to actually be a little moderate in temperature, but this did not turn out to be the case. 3 - I have actually never done a solo backpacking trip before, and I figured this would be a good opportunity to comfortably get my feet wet. In addition to these reasons, though, part of what drew me to Bandelier's backcountry is that it seemed so enigmatic. For such an accessible park in terms of proximity to towns and amenities, I could only find a handful of trip reports online, most for day hikes. There was virtually no info on the park's primary backcountry attractions: Frijoles Narrows, Painted Cave, and Yapashi Pueblo. What info I could find was primarily from before the fire devastation. As a result, part of my motivation for hiking here was to actually publish some info about these trails and attractions so others may decide if they'd like to hike here.
Another reason for fewer hikers could be the red tape. Of course, since it is a National Monument, a fee is required for entry, $20/car as of writing this blog. Also, overnighters must have a backcountry permit, only obtainable in person at the visitors' center by an hour before closing, which itself is only open from 9-5 or 9-6, depending on the season. Adding to the confusion is that the park has signs everywhere saying that shuttling to the park via White Rock is mandatory, but in reality if you are getting a backcountry permit you can drive right in without taking the shuttle. Finally, in addition to all the red tape, campfires and dogs are strictly prohibited. My plan was to do a deformed lollipop and devote a day to each of the three major backcountry attractions. However, while the map is true to the trails I took, my camping locations differed greatly. Virtually unmentioned on the website, many areas are off-limits to camping, including every planned campsite I have marked. Additionally, the greatest challenge to hiking in Bandelier is water availability. On this itinerary, water is only guaranteed available at Frijoles Canyon and Capulin Canyon, which means that a hiker has to plan on only having one fill-up opportunity after leaving Frijoles Canyon. I was lucky in that Alamo Canyon had water flowing in it, but at this point I had only drunk half a liter since filling up at Upper Frijoles Crossing. Otherwise, despite having a gallon of carrying capacity, I was nearly empty both when getting into Capulin Canyon and returning to the trailhead.
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| Frijoles Canyon after entering wilderness area |
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| Frijoles Canyon |
Day 1
I pulled into the vistors' center at around 6:00 AM with the goal of hiking up Frijoles Canyon, leaving the canyon at Upper Frijoles Crossing, and then playing it by ear as far as where I was going to camp, since I discovered the day before that camping is banned in my planned campsite in Upper Alamo Canyon. I hiked quickly past the Main Loop Trail, barely stopping to notice it was there, and entered the wilderness about a mile in. Here, the direct burn damage is minimal, and most of the damage is from piled-high log jams that have thankfully been removed from the trail. Despite more or less following the flowing stream, the trail surprisingly has a few significant elevation gains and subsequent losses, as shown in some of the following pictures.
This scenery is described by the website as being "a little slice of Utah in New Mexico" (paraphrased), which I would agree with. The large rock structures and curved, towering rock faces unquestionably gave that feel. In particular, the Narrows evoked the Zion Narrows, though obviously the Frijoles Narrows were not nearly the same caliber. While the Narrows do not go on very long, they are worth stopping at to take some pictures and maybe eat an early snack.
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| Entering the Narrows |
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| For scale, this boulder is about 7-8 feet off the ground at its highest point |
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| In less arid times the canyon bottom can be filled with standing water, so I've heard |
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| Looking back at the Narrows |
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| Frijoles Canyon opens up after the Narrows |
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| Rather disappointed by the Honey BBQ flavored Tuna Creations; first one that has been underwhelming so far |
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| Climbing out of Frijoles Canyon, looking upstream |
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| Climbing out of Frijoles Canyon, looking downstream |
The climb out of Frijoles Canyon was surprisingly tame except for the sun. The high for the visitors' center was 89 F, which means that the high on the exposed mesa tops was probably in the lower 90's F. Honestly, the heat was not as bad as the sun, which is much more powerful at 6000-7000 feet like in Bandelier than it is at sea level. I did bring an entire bottle of sunscreen with me, which was probably overkill, but it was what I had on hand. From here I had a short hike until I descended into Alamo Canyon, where camping was forbidden. Here, I will say that if you want to do this hike in 3 days, which I'd recommend, you should do it in spring, winter, or fall. I made it to the top of Frijoles Canyon at about 10:00 AM, and though I could have camped before Alamo Canyon, I thought I would be bored out of my mind waiting 10 hours for the sun to set while baking in the exposed heat.
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| Looking towards Alamo Canyon |
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| Not many trees for most of this part of the hike |
This mesa top was one of the areas significantly burnt in the 90's, and as a result there are almost no trees for much of the hike. Thankfully, this portion of the hike is virtually flat, making for an easy stroll between canyons. After this I began my drop into Upper Alamo Canyon. Both crossings of Alamo Canyon are the most beautiful parts of the hike in terms of natural beauty, though the southern slopes of each respective crossing afford the best views. The trail at the bottom of Upper Alamo was easily navigable, and I was lucky in that water was flowing the entire length of the trail. The drop in and climb out of Upper Alamo were actually relatively easy as far as canyon crossings go. The climb out (southern part) was especially nice, but this might have been due to the magnificent views that undoubtedly looked like they belonged to Moab, UT, rather than Los Alamos, NM.
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| Dropping into Alamo Canyon |
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| First look at unique structures in Alamo Canyon |
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| Bottom of Alamo Canyon |
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| Climbing out of Alamo Canyon, with "tent rock" structures |
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| For scale, the Ponderosa pines are probably 30-50 feet tall, on average. |
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| Pictures don't do justice to the scale of these structures. They are probably about 10-30 feet tall. |
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| Looking down into Alamo Canyon while climbing out |
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| Leaving Alamo Canyon's no camping zone |
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| On the mesa top after Alamo Canyon |
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| My campsite for the night |
I arrived to camp at around 3:00 PM, which meant that I had 5 hours until sunset. I could not lay in my tent, since the sun basically made it an oven, and the few comfortable shaded areas only lasted about half-an-hour before the sun moved far enough to bake me again. I danced from shaded area to shaded area listening to my audiobook, "One Summer: America 1927", by Bill Bryson, which is a very enjoyable non-fiction book. I regretted not bringing any tobacco or alcohol. I was nervous about my first night solo camping in the wilderness, but it went off without a hitch, probably partially in thanks to the sleeping pills I took before going to bed. All in all I hiked about 11.4 miles, according to my phone.
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| Sunrise in camp #nofilter |
Day 2
Since I had covered so much ground on Day 1 I had two options. I could finish my hike in one day, or I could hike to Capulin Canyon, set up camp, and day hike to Painted Cave, saving the Yapashi Pueblo portion for the following day. The former would be strenuous, to say the least, but the latter had the potential to bore me out of my mind, leaving a lot of down time in an exposed, frankly ugly canyon with nothing to do. Camping past Capulin Canyon was not an option because Capulin Canyon is the last place to get water before the long hike to the trailhead, and the previous day taught me that even a gallon of water was not enough in this hot, dry climate. I opted for the latter. Along this route I got probably the third best view apart from the two Alamo Canyon crossings when the scenery opened up to look over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The clouds and slight haze (possibly from a small fire) gave everything a great color, and this view to me felt like something I would have seen in Big Bend.
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| Canyon starts to open up to look out at the plateau |
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| Looking towards the Sangre de Cristos |
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| Ortiz Mountains in the distance |
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| Going towards Capulin, Cochiti Lake in the distance |
Capulin Canyon was perhaps worst affected by fires in the region. Most of the canyon was burnt and destroyed by flooding, and the trail at the bottom was nonexistent. Route-finding is relatively simple since the trail would have followed the stream, but most of the route is soft gravel, sand, or medium-sized rocks, all of which are awful to hike on. I filled up my water after getting to the canyon floor and left my pack to find the Painted Cave. I could find no info on the Painted Cave online aside from a handful of pictures and info from the park service website, so I was especially interested to see it. It is at least a 15-mile round trip from any trailhead, and the lack of a true trail probably scares most people off, but I did see boot prints on the canyon floor.
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| Sandy trail to Capulin |
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| First view of Capulin Canyon |
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| Walls of Capulin canyon with potential cliff-side dwelling remnants |
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| What most of the canyon bottoms looks like |
Finally I came upon Painted Cave, which was imposing and impressive. For reference, the bottom of the cave is at least 30 feet off the ground, which should give some sense of scale to the size of the paintings. Most interesting to me were the subject matter of the paintings. There is one which to me looks like a Godzilla creature rising out from behind mountains. I don't know if attempting to interpret these paintings is polite or not, but perhaps this symbolizes a fire in the Pecos? There is one painting that looks like a set of "tent rocks" to me, and a great Zia-like kachina face, plus shadowy figures that I think also represent kachinas. Most haunting were the cross on the hill and a man on a horse chasing something down, indicating that some if not all of these paintings were of a post-Spanish era. Imagining what a world-changing event it was for these people was sobering. I was able to find some close-up pictures after posting in the "Petroglyphs, Pictographs, and Rock Art of North America" group on Facebook, and discovered that unfortunately many of these have been vandalized upon closer examination, so perhaps the difficult trail conditions are a blessing. Also, I will add that the Star of David shape would probably fuel conspiracy theories that ancient Hebrew settlements existed in pre-Columbian New Mexico.
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| Large obsidian stone placed here by human hands. Proof that "leave no trace" works, as I really enjoyed this huge piece of obsidian, which was very important to the native peoples. |
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| Deer carcass that gave me a fright |
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| Spotting the Sandias while leaving Capulin |
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| Back on top of Capulin |
Capulin Canyon itself is partially a no camping zone, but flooding and burn has likely washed away any sign saying where such a zone begins or ends, so if you would like to camp here it's probably best to carefully consult the rangers. The creek dried up about a 1.5 miles south of the trail junction. I climbed out of Capulin Canyon, which was a little rough, and made way to the Shrine of the Stone Lions and Yapashi Pueblo. Before I go any further, I would like to say that these places have very special meaning to the Pueblo people. Similar places have been described as "Gettysburg meets the Sistine Chapel" to the Pueblo people, so don't walk on or otherwise disturb things even if you think you're "helping". Don't pile up potsherds or dig up dirt. I don't know much about these sites, but the Shrine of the Stone Lions is an active shrine for the Pueblo people, and I wondered if the white and black rock carefully placed between the "stone lions" was placed there as part of a ritual.
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| Shrine of the Stone Lions |
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| Zoomed-in look at the Stone Lions |
A short distance from the Shrine is the Yapashi Pueblo, an unexcavated Pueblo site. One thing that struck me about this site was the amount of potsherds and obsidian flakes that were strewn everywhere. I would have thought a place like this would have been picked clean, but thankfully the long trail seems to have provided yet another favor. Most of the pictures might look unimpressive, but I was in awe of how wide an area this site covered. Keep in mind that while this may look like mere piles of rocks, this is an authentic look at an undisturbed site.
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| These piles of rocks were once walls for houses, presumably |
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| Potsherd and obsidian |
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| Potsherd that once displayed an impressive design, I imagine |
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| Talk about a room with a view |
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| Looking toward St. Peter's Dome and Boundary Peak |
After seeing Yapashi, all of my "boxes" were checked, and I began the long hike back to the trailhead. One thing my map doesn't well convey is that there are two canyon crossings in addition to the Lower Alamo Canyon crossing that are relatively deep and strenuous to cross. While they weren't as hard as Lower Alamo Canyon, I was sore and tired by this point, so they were no fun.
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| The trail after Yapashi Pueblo |
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| First canyon crossing |
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| Best view of St. Peter's Dome and Boundary Peak |
The hike from Yapashi to Alamo Canyon provided the best views of the nearby Dome Wilderness mountains (including St. Peter's Dome, which made an appearance in this blog last summer). The Lower Alamo Crossing is the steepest canyon crossing of the entire hike, and the sheer beauty of the canyon is only eclipsed by the immediate dreadful realization that you need to hike up after hiking down. Lower Alamo Canyon has a large number of tent-rock structures, which is unsurprising considering Tent Rocks National Monument is close by in Cochiti Pueblo. The bottom of Lower Alamo Canyon has no trail due to flooding, and as such I hiked on a dry, sandy stream bed until I saw a large cairn which is impossible to miss. I then began the long hike out, cursing the whole way as I walked up literal stairs made of stone.
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| Once again, sense of scale is important here. These are probably 40-50 feet tall. |
After leaving Lower Alamo Canyon, I was sufficiently tired and lumbered back to the visitors' center, but not before crossing Lummis Canyon and making the long descent into Frijoles Canyon, spotting the families on this beautiful Memorial Day weekend. I enjoyed a green chile bacon double cheeseburger from Sonic with a couple beers from Bathtub Row Brewing Co-op in Los Alamos. My phone said I had hiked over 16 miles this day, and one day later my right ankle and left knee are feeling it.
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| On the mesa between Lower Alamo and Lummis Canyons |
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| Home stretch to the visitors' center |
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| Looking down at the Main Loop Trail |
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| Lunch |
Conclusion
Bandelier National Monument was a very fun hike, even in the warm weather and brutal sun. The water and camping situation means that one has limited options when it comes to overnight trips, however. Admittedly, I would say that this is not a destination hike unless you are especially interested in the ruins and cave art. Perhaps, if this were your first trip to Bandelier, you would spend much more time on the Main Loop Trail and Alcove House, resulting in much less "down-time" and making a three-day trip more reasonable. As far as natural beauty goes, while much of the hike was nice, the burn and flood damage made certain parts of the trail, particularly Capulin Canyon, downright ugly. Both crossings of Alamo Canyon are beautiful, however, and they were certainly the highlight of this trip. The total hike distance was 27.4, 25.2, and 24.2 miles, according to my phone, posted mileage, and the map, respectively. Hopefully my trip report can help other people who might be considering a backcountry trip to Bandelier better understand the current conditions of the park and what to expect scenery-wise.
With the proximity to Los Alamos, I would be a "regular" at Bandelier if I worked at the lab due to its reasonable elevation and relatively easy terrain, aside from the brief canyon crossings. However, I would probably buy an annual national park pass to make it more economical. I plan on taking advantage of my weeklong pass by going to the Tsankawi site near White Rock later today.
Miscellany
As you might have noticed, I have not posted since early March. As you might also have noticed, I am in New Mexico! I have been quite busy finalizing my M.S. thesis edits and preparing for conferences, and I was actually in Cancun, Mexico for the PHYSOR 2018 conference to present my work in mid-April, where I saw the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. I also went to Missoula, MT, for my brother's college graduation. Two days after that I was heading to Los Alamos by way of Memphis, TN, Pampa, TX, and Taos, NM, with my mom. I was so busy that I had few valuable weekends to spend time with Lindsey and friends, so I did not do any trips since Linville. I am currently in New Mexico for the summer for another internship, and I have made it my goal to do an overnight trip every weekend, if possible, so expect a lot of posting (I hope)!
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| Me at Chichen Itza |
Love this.
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