Yesterday we went to The
Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.
WOW! It is an amazing place. And, if you decide to visit – wear good
walking shoes and bring water (there is none to be had once you enter the
gates). If it’s a sunny day, you might
want a hat. And, a camera because there
are about a million picture opportunities!
Tent Rocks isn’t far from
Albuquerque but you want to plan to get there early because in the summer, it
fills up with visitors quickly. And, they
only allow so many people in the park at a time then, you just have to wait
until some leave.
Kasha-Katuwe comes from the
traditional Keresan language of the Cochiti Pueblo and means “white cliffs”. The rock formations are the products of
volcanic eruptions that occurred 7 million years ago. They are made up of ‘tuff’ (a relatively
soft, porous rock that is usually formed by the compaction and cementation of
volcanic ash or dust) and pumice and a bunch of other things.
It’s on the Pajarito Plateau
and ranges from 5,570 feet to 6,760 feet above sea level. And for those of us that live in places where
the highest “hill” is the freeway overpass, that’s waaaay up there!
We took the Tent Rocks Slot
Canyon and Cave Loop (about 3.1 miles) which is rated as moderate. Hahahahahahahahaha
– moderate – giggle, giggle. It’s a
loop through a slot canyon with hoodoos (tent rock, fairy chimney, or earth
pyramid) and striated rock formations.
And the climb is about 750 ft (seven HUNDRED and fifty) to
the top. And, the whole loop is uphill –
even coming back, I swear it was uphill too!
And there are great big rocks you have to crawl over that get bigger on
the “down” side.
Now follows picture dump
The grandgirls were standing
amongst the roots of that tree.
amongst the roots of that tree.
Yep – had to crawl under that
And this. BTW –
that’s not a fallen tree
it’s growing that way
it’s growing that way
About 3/4th of the
way up, the trail turned into a wash filled with very large rocks. That would mean – spider crawling up to the
top. Hmmmmm – pass. My oldest granddaughter took on the challenge
and went all the way to the top
I do think I might need this
tree in my yard. Looks like an Ent
sitting around keeping an eye on everyone.
18 May 2019
wow! all the times you have visited I can't believe you never went there before.
ReplyDeleteI visited Albuquerque when they have the balloon festival in the fall. I've never been to the rock formations. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteGood job you had grands to boost, push, entice. Set the bar, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteComing down I was especially glad to have them as there were no hand-holds and the rocks that had to be climbed over, just got bigger.
DeleteWow, I would have loved that hike. One thing though, I bet it would be scary if a storm came up, looks like a lot of rainwater could be dangerous. I want to visit our West very badly!
ReplyDeleteThe park has posted signs to advise visitors to keep an eye on the weather. The canyons would be very dangerous with any rain.
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