Hiking

Read more about the article Wire Pass/Buckskin Gulch

Wire Pass/Buckskin Gulch

Some days you just don’t know how your plans are going to work out.  Well, today’s plans beat all expectations!  We hiked Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch…both are amazing slot canyons in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area.  To reach the trailhead of Wire Pass you drive 8.3 miles on a dirt road. Wire pass starts out hiking through Coyote Wash and after about a mile you enter the most colorful slot canyon. Halfway through the pass there is a wooden ladder that drops about 10 feet.  Wire Pass opens into the high walls with petroglyphs and meets up with…

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Read more about the article Bandelier National Monument

Bandelier National Monument

We have been in Santa Fe for a couple days, checking out the town and enjoyed a delicious lunch yesterday at The Shed. This morning we checked out the Railyard Farmers Market.  Our winning purchase was a “Hatch Chile Croissant”!  To our surprise it was so good!After the Farmers Market we headed to Bandelier National Monument about 35 miles from Santa Fe and is part of the Jemez Volcanic field. This monument dates back more than 10,000 years.  Native Americans moved in and out of this area following movement of game animals.  Bandelier National Monument consists of ruins of above…

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Read more about the article Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument

After a two hour drive through beautiful desert/forest countryside we arrived at Gila Cliff Dwelling National forest that is the home of the Cliff Dwellings.   The Cliff Dwellings were the home of the ancient Puebloan people.  Archeologists call this the Mogollon area. It is believed that these were built approx. 700 years ago and were most likely home to several different groups.  Evidence suggests that the Apache migrated to the upper Gila River in the 1500s.  Apache leader Geronimo (tribe name Goyahkla) was born in the Gila River area.   To get to the cliff dwellings you hike a…

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Read more about the article The Texas Panhandle!

The Texas Panhandle!

Welcome to Texas!  After our day in Prison outside of Knoxville TN we decided to head west sooner than later.  It took 3 days to arrive in Texas.  We are Caprock State Park in Quitaque TX.  This park has free roaming bison that are direct descendants of the original free roaming bison herd. At one time there were as many as 30-60 million bison free roaming the plains until the “great slaughter” where professional hide hunters killed off so many bison the the herd was down to less than 1000!  We have had the opportunity to observe the bison in…

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