Lost in the Land of Enchantment | Sunday & Monday, November 10-11, 2024
After spending most of the weekend hiking around a snow-covered Bandelier National Monument, we left Tsankawi late on Sunday morning and headed over to White Rock Canyon so we could spend the rest of the day exploring the Red Dot Trail along the Rio Grande. Although I knew there were some petroglyphs in this area, I didn’t know where they were and how many we would be able to find, but we were pleasantly surprised to find quite a few along the way which kept us busy until shortly before sunset. Afterwards, we drove up to Los Alamos and had a nice dinner at the Pajarito Brewpub & Grill. Then on Monday morning we returned to Overlook Park in White Rock at sunrise and hiked a short way down the Blue Dot Trail before we left the Pajarito Plateau and started heading further south into New Mexico where we hoped it would be a bit warmer for the rest of the week. Here are a few photos from our time in White Rock Canyon.
After leaving Bandelier in the late afternoon on Saturday, we had stopped by the White Rock Canyon Overlook on our way back to Española to get our first view of the area we planned to hike sometime in the following days.
Big Sheep Boulder
Trailside Petroglyphs
An unusual petroglyph on a hidden boulder.
Petroglyphs on a Boulder
Two Birds
Exploring the benchlands above the Rio Grande.
Big Boulder Bird Panel
There were so many birds on this boulder!
Petroglyphs and the Rio Grande
Here’s a closer look at the interesting petroglyph on top of the boulder.
Rattlesnake Rock
We had a pretty nice evening in White Rock Canyon.
Big Jaguar Boulder
Could that be a coyote?
We even spotted a few red pictographs along the way.
High Panel
Monday morning in White Rock Canyon.
White Rock Canyon Rim
Exploring the upper reaches of the Blue Dot Trail.
Pecos National Historical Park
After leaving White Rock Canyon on Monday morning we followed the Rio Tesque to Santa Fe and then headed up through the Santa Fe Mountains to Glorieta Pass where we got off of the interstate so we could visit Pecos National Historical Park.
Welcome to Pecos National Historical Park
It was mostly overcast out as we hiked around the Pecos Ruins Trail.
We climbed down into the reconstructed kiva at the Pecos Pueblo.
The ruins of the Pecos Mission Church which was completed in 1717 were very interesting.
After our brief visit at Pecos, we headed south through the Galisteo Basin on our way into the Chihuahuan Desert so we could spend the next two days at Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
>> White Rock Canyon Photo Gallery
>> Pecos National Historical Park Photo Gallery