Images of Bandelier National Monument – North Central New Mexico, taken in March 2016.

Bandelier National Monument preserves the villages and cliff dwellings of the ancestral Pueblo People. The Tyuonyi (QU-weh-nee) Pueblo and surrounding cliff dwellings were inhabited from approximately mid-1200 through mid-1500 even though people initially came to this canyon over 10,000 years ago.

Because of the composition of the Frijoles Canyon walls, compacted volcanic ash called tuff, the peoples that settled here found it fairly easy to build homes into the canyon walls as well as on the canyon floor near Frijoles Creek. A settlement of this kind was developed as the population of the area grew and people started coming together. Once the people started to settle along the Rio Grande River pueblos like this one were abandoned.

The hike through this area was quite simple until you made your way to the Alcove House. Once there the only way to view this ceremonial cave was to climb four ladders 140 feet up the side of the canyon. The wooden ladders, much like the ladders that the ancestral peoples used when this area was inhabited, seemed strong enough but were slippery from use. Add to that the fact that I was wearing a backpack and carrying all my camera equipment and the climb became even more strenuous than it needed to be. It was an interesting ascent and well worth the trip; thank goodness that the 30 to 40 mile an hour winds that we’ve had in this area 4 of the last 6 days were nonexistent or I might’ve missed out on experiencing the climb that the ancient peoples here had to do on a daily basis.