Fall colors, Gambel Oak
It was a very nice fall day as we walked the trail down from the Bandelier Visitor Center to the upper falls of Frijoles Creek. The fall colours, gold of the cottonwoods, reds of the gambel oaks, the dark green needles and red bark of the ponderosa pines, combined with the perfect temperature to form a beautiful hike. The results of last fall’s flash flood are still highly visible, as there is thick black mud and sand in the creek bed covering many downed trees. The two bridges on the route are just temporary planks, one cut from a tree, and the other made of lumber. You cannot travel past the upper falls, though the trail used to go to the Rio Grande river, since that part of the trail was completely destroyed.
After lunch we hiked uphill to the Frijolito Ruins. This is an unexcavated site of an old pueblo. There isn’t much more visible than a few piles of rocks. Since there isn’t any ice or water here to push rocks around, there could be little other reason for the rock piles to be there. Along the trail we could see very clearly the size of Tyuonyi Pueblo, Long House, and Alcove House across on the other side of the canyon, which we visited two days ago.
When we got back to the visitor center we drove to the White Rock Overlook. Every bus driver we travelled with told us to visit it, and it is a spectacular mesa top view of at least 270 degrees out over the Rio Grande River far below at the bottom of the canyon.
We are writing this in Timeout For Pizza, where we are celebrating Enid’s birthday. There aren’t many restaurants here in White Rock, and this one is right across the street from where we are staying. Unfortunately tomorrow we “officially” start home as we plan to head north into Colorado, and then it will be drive, drive, drive home.