Today it got real! For nearly a year, this is what I’ve been waiting for. We finally got our hiking boots back on. We were alone in nature. Seriously. We did three hikes at our first stop and only saw a handful of people. It was just us, the desert air, and a dead volcano.
Capulin Volcano is probably one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. We got to hike along the rim of the cone and then down into it. We were surrounded by basalt: former lava, and even more former-er magma. Part of the fourth grade science standards I teach is earth’s processes including volcanos and I so wished I could have brought my entire class along to see this. It was amazing standing in the cone and being surrounded by huge boulders of basalt. We ended up hiking about six miles at Capulin and each mile reminded us of the power of the volcanic process.
Our second stop of the day was Fort Union Historical Site. This for was similar to the one yesterday, same time period, same purpose, yet the condition of the buildings could not be any more different. Simply remnants of structures remain at Fort Union leaving a lot more to our imagination as to what life was like here in the 1860s. We did see a mule deer prancing through the ruins.
Our final big stop was Pecos National Historical Park. The land was was home to the Peco Pueblos and many of their structures have been excavated. We were allowed to climb down a ladder into a kiva. We learned a few years ago in Mesa Verde that kivas are the spiritual center of Ancestrian Puebloan homes. We have never been allowed into one and it was so emotional being with my family, surrounding the fire pit, and thinking of all those who did the same thing with their families.
Spanish missionaries settled in the area after centuries of Peco inhabitant. Their goal was to convert the Pecos to Christianity which was deeply confusing. The idea of one God didn’t align with their beliefs and connection to nature. They organized a huge revolt involving Puebloans from the whole area. We made a lot of comparisons to organized religion today.
The girls were sworn in as Junior Rangers for the seventh time in three days and we headed to Santa Fe. We were surprised to find such a bustling downtown area with gobs of cute shops, intriguing restaurants, and street vendors. We were able to locate our first brewery of the trip and had a fabulous IPA. We then wandered to a taqueria for a delightful array of tacos.
