I did it, well almost.....

We were up early and at KKTR by 7:44 this morning, ready to hike through the canyon and climb to the mesa (yeah right.)  We were the first people at the Monument this morning and had the rocks all too ourselves. We walked the 1/2 mi to the Canyon cut off and decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, sun had not reached the canyon while we were there so pics are not as colorful as they could be, but I did get some.

With Bruce's help I was able to ,climb over the rocks in the trail and get through most of the canyon.  We stopped short of the last climb to the top with probably 100 vertical feet to go, but I will make it next time. The picture of me without a face is a Bruce normal, but it is truly me coming under the rock. So our first walk of the morning was about 2 mi round trip with an elevation change of about 500' up and of course back down. We then drove back to the Veteran's Memorial Overlook at 6500' and walked the mile trail around the mesa. After 3 ibuprofen and a snack of jerky and pistachios I felt good enough to come back to Tempy and sit in the sun and nap for awhile.  Boy, talk about a rough day.

We leave tomorrow for Homolovi Ruins State Park right above Winslow, AZ.  Plan to spend Monday in the park, seeing the ruins. Then Tuesday it is on to Jacob Lake and Wednesday the North Rim. We are getting everything put away now so we can leave right after Bruce's Huevos Rancheros breakfast tomorrow.  We want to get thete early since once we set up camp at Homolovi, it will be back to Winslow for groceries.  Don't think we will be running out to the convenience store once we reach the Grand Canyon.  So I will make this short and leave you with this last fact.

The waters of the Rio Grande River flow through Cochiti Dam without any slowing of the speed they  normally flow or any reduction in water volume unless there is the potential of flooding.

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument

Kasha-Katuwe means "white cliffs" in the Pueblo language Keresan. Yesterday we visited the KKTR National Monument early in the day. The Monument lies on the southeastern edge of the Jemez volcanic field, a volcanic system that has been active for the past 15 million years. As a result of that activity over the years, the ash and sediment have fallen in layers so bands of grey/white are interspersed with pink and beige rock. Makes for a beautiful view of the weathered cliff sides. Add wind and water action and canyons and arroyos (deep gullys/dry stream beds) have been created, holes have been scooped into the soft rock and the ends of small, inward ravines polished into smooth semi-circles. This area is very much like the Moab area in Utah.

We walked the 1.2 mi cave loop trail around the base of the monument. It is labeled easy, but to me even that is questionable. The trail is sand, up and down hills starting at 5700' elevation to about 5900'. For a girl from 0' elevation, catching my breath was the worst part. When we reached the cut-off to the Slot Canyon Trail (1/2 mi into walk) I didn't even want to go the additional 300' to its start/rest area because I would have to come back and still do the other .7mi of the cave loop. What a wimp. One of the interesting things to see on the "easy loop" is a cave sitting above our reach that was used by ancestral Indians. Apparently they preferred their housing high to avoid animals, inclement weather, floods,, etc. There are obvious  smoke discolorations on the roof,{soot) indicating use for prolonged periods.  The real gems of the walk are the "tent" rocks, spires of soft pumice and tuff created by the volcanic activity, often topped with a mushroom hat. Where the hats are missing, the spires have begun to deteriorate.

Slot Canyon Trail is 1mi one way, up a 630' climb to the top of mesa. I am sure it is beautiful, but I sure wasn't ready for that activity yesterday. Instead, once we returned to the truck, we drove the additional 3.5 mi on the winding, gravel, uphill road to the end of the monument and Veteran's Memorial Scenic Overlook - which was definitely worth the bumpy road.

This small monument is a great place to visit and walk. As Bruce said, it is good for me to get out and get more fit. So, we are going back tomorrow morning, early since Saturday will be 71° and likely very busy at the monument as the day warms. I may not climb to the mesa, but I am definitely going to walk the slot canyon part. Hope to have some pics to share later.

Today we never made it to Bandelier, instead had a wonderful breakfast at the Stone Kiva Bar & Grill at the 18 hole golf course owned by the Pueblo de Cochiti. Huevos rancheros with pintos, hash browns, eggs om over flour tortillas and covered in cheese and some of the best homemade green chili we have ever eaten. Bruce could not get the recipe or even get them to sell him some. Seems we may need to visit again Sunday before we leave so he can try again.  We picked Hazel up from the camper and drove to the other side of Cochiti (emphasis on CO) Lake to visit the Tetilla Peak Campground. It is  quiter, older and only 30amp service but the view across to our side includes the rock ridge that surrounds the lake. All of this property is part of the Pueblo de Cochiti, with the COE taking care of the dam and recreational areas in trust for the Cochiti. We will be back to stay in this area again and probably at this camground.

Laundry called this afternoon and then because the park will be full this weekend, I decided on an early, leisurely shower while the bath house was empty and there was still plenty of hot water. Bruce may regret waiting, although he has already complained to me that he thinks they give the female side of the bath house preferential treatment and most of the hot water so it won't matter.

Enough of my ramblings for today. Later....

Its another dam site.....

We arrived at Cochiti Lake early this afternoon (MDT), set up on our nice rim site, fed ourselves leftovers and then went exploring. Cochiti Dam, is one of 4 COE dams built to manage flood and sediment on the Rio Grand.  It is one of the 10 largest earthen fill dams in the US and is the 11th largest in the world.  The dam is located within the Pueblo de Cochiti Reservation. Hope to make it to the Visitors Center tomorrow or Friday to learn more. 

We intend to visit the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks (KKTR) National Monument and even do one or more of the hikes. We drove out today but found out that because it is on BLM land, no dogs are allowed and Hazel was with us. I had never had that happen before but it is probably because KKTR has been designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern.  More on that area once we visit.

We had thought some scenic driving around Taos might be in order, but the weather is perfect for visiting some of the ancient Indian ruins so we may save Taos for another trip and instead run up to Bandelier National Monument.
I am definitely in a ldarning mode on this trip.

Will leave you with a few pictures of the area.  And yes, we did have to work on getting level on our site, as evidenced by all the blue leveler blocks under the tires.  Later....

No Man's Land..

Fort Supply was originally called Camp Supply or camp of supply. It was established Nov. 1868 to supply General Sheridan in his winter campaign against the Southern Plains Indians.  By 1890 the Indian wars were over so Fort Supply was officially closed in 1894.

In 1908 Oklahoma's first insane asylum was established at the old post and is still there, but now called the Western State Psychiatric Center. In 1988, the state legislature designated the remaining buildings at the old fort as the Fort Supply Historic District and 5 are being restored by the OK Historical Society. Additionally,  the William S. Key Correctional Center was opened at the site.  Although we were unable to tour the site while in the area as it is only open Tues-Sat, we did get a reaction from the correctional part when we pulled to the gate to look, I guess because there were inmates out and about. As we turned around and left, a white van came speeding towards us but we will never know what they wanted...maybe they just had info to share.

Today we are heading into the Oklahoma Panhandle, driving west out of Fort Supply into No Man's Land, on what, in our opinion, are the worst roads we have driven to date.  The land out here is what I would consider high plains. For any of you unfamiliar with that term I have attached a picture. Ironically, The Who were singing I can See For Miles as I took this picture. This is what you can see for miles and miles and miles....

This part of Oklahoma was originally part of the Texas Territory, but when Texas applied for statehood as a slave state in 1845,  US law said there could not be slave ownership north of the 36° 30' parallel.  So under the Compromise of 1850,  exas surrendered the 170 miles along the 36°30° parallel that is now OK.  At the same time, the eastern edge of New Mexico Territory was established as the 103 meridian so the "surrendered" area became "The Public Strip", part of no official territory.  Unofficially it was called No Man's Land.  It was not surveyed so could not be homesteaded, only "squatted." It had a brief history trying to become the Cimmaron Territory and twice petitioned to make that official, but in 1890 No Man's Land was assigned to the new Oklahoma Territory.  Interesting how that little strip called the Oklahoma Panhandle came to be.

Well, we are now in New Mexico, staying the night at Ute Lake State Park. Tomorrow we are off to Cochiti Lake, outside Santa Fe, NM. Never having been to Santa Fe or Taos, we are looking forward to those 4 days. More later.....