“I got that sunshine in my pocket
Got that good soul in my feet” – Justin Timberlake
Today’s stop, Bandelier National Monument, was one of those parks that left me wanting more. As I mentioned a couple days ago our original plan to backpack here had to be nixed due to the high fire danger. Instead we caught the shuttle into the park and got off at the first stop at the top of the Frey Trail. This trail was the original route into Frijoles Canyon used by the Ancestral Puebloans as early as the 1200’s and by the Frey family when the first settled the canyon in the early 1900’s. Fortunately, the CCC did quite a bit of work improving the trail so we were able to avoid some of the rock climbing required in earlier times.
As we made it to the bottom of the canyon we met a woman who told us she worked at the park. She quickly presented us with a brochure outlining the highlights of the main loop trail and even recommended a route since we were dropping into the middle of the loop. We followed her advice and headed back toward of the start of the trail and the visitor center. Along the way we toured several reconstructed dwellings and read about their inhabitants.
At the visitor’s center the girls once again picked up junior ranger books. I think they’re going to set some kind of junior ranger record this summer with all the parks we’ve visited and still have left to go. We also soaked up a bit of their AC before heading out to Alcove House at the far end of the canyon. There we made biggest/quickest climb of RTXVIII so far. Four long ladders and numerous stone steps brought us up 140 feet to a sheltered alcove with a view of the canon below. Ellie was particularly wary of the ladders, but took them slow and steady to complete the climbs up and down.
After hiking back to the visitor’s center and catching the shuttle back to Fred we headed straight to Los Alamos in search of cold beer and food. We hadn’t planned on being at Bandelier as late as we were, so hadn’t thought to bring lunch along, just some trail snacks. By the time we pulled up to the placed we’d decided to hang out for the afternoon it was after three and we were famished. Sadly, it seems that everywhere serving beer in Los Alamos shuts down from 3-5.
With no beer in sight we turned our attention back to the sites and stopped into the Manhattan Project National Historic Site Visitor’s Center. There we got two great tips. First, that the Bradbury Museum was worth the stop to learn about Los Alamos National Laboratory. Second, that the Bathtub Row Brewery would have the libations we needed. We swung by the museum with the full intention of just doing a quick walk-through and ended up having to pull ourselves out. The museum space was packed with exhibits on every possible aspect of Los Alamos NL and the Manhattan Project.
We’re now sitting it the aforementioned Bathtub Row Brewery enjoying a Grapefruit IPA and goldfish (they don’t serve food). From here we’re planning on heading back to Santa Fe for dinner and quite possibly another late night swim back at the hotel.
