A friend and I got together today for a ride on the quads out to the “Giant Footprint” ruins near La Cueva, (Koo-AYva) on the southwest side of Valles (VAh-Yayz) Caldera, high in the Jemez (Hay-MAyz) Mountains.  Walt has been exploring and studying these mountains and mesas and their histories for over 30 years and is an encyclopedia of information.  It made for a fascinating trip and when we’d stop at a tiny junction of 2 dirt tracks and he’d say, “this is where the abc road meets the xyz road that we’re on now,” and it would be there on the topo map. I could only shake my head.  He really knows this country……and couldn’t resist hamming it up a bit………………

I didn’t get to see him like that very often.  Usually he was far ahead, leading the way and this is the view I had.  I did hold back a way, mostly to let his dust settle.  It gets in the eyes and is irritating.  This road wasn’t the usual ruts - these are solid rock and very rough……………..

Rough enuf that someone who’d gone to a huge amount of work cutting a load of firewood lost ½ of it coming out.  We found many piles like this and many, many single chunks.  How could the guy not have noticed ??……………..

The scenery in these 2 shots is fairly typical of the mesas.  Rocky and un-even but fairly flat until you get to the canyon edges.  The small Ponderosa and (I think) Black Pine are very thick and in some areas the Ponderosa (Yellow Pine, Bull Pine) Pine are very large - 1½ to 2+ ft thick.  The clear, crisp air is filled with the sweet perfume of these trees.  Fresh and great.  It wasn’t long - only about 6 or 8 miles before Walt pulled off to one side and showed me the 1st of the ruins.  This area hasn’t been excavated and restored like such as Bandelier and this is very typical of the 500 year old ruins we found.  These were quite extensive, but the best was yet to come…………….

At the edges of the canyons, some areas are more rugged and rocky.  These sculpted rocks (see the face ??) are formed of Tuff, the compressed ash from the giant volcano - originally 25,000 ft high and now just 9,000 ft - that exploded 1.6 and again 1.2 million years ago to form 14 mile wide Valles Caldera……………

A little farther along, climb up onto the ridge and look north in the huge canyon.  It’s a long way down……………

Turn and look south.  We’re on Holiday Mesa now, looking into Virgin Canyon.  This is about 45 miles west of Santa Fe as the crow flies, but nearly double that by road………………

Walt is one of the few people I’ve ever ridden with who rides at my speed - slow - and it worked very well.  Slowpoke Lar had lots of time to take pictures, climb rocks and generally just look around and I like that.  Usually I’m roaring along just trying to keep up.  As we headed farther south I glanced to my right thru the trees and saw what looked like an artificial, plastic cliff face.  This is common in this country and sometimes looks like it’s been carved by hand……………..

Cool.  I zoomed off thru the trees on the fairly open ground and came to the canyon edge.  This is much smaller Cebollita (Say-boh-YEE-tah) Canyon, but smaller is relative.  This is extremely rugged, rough country and it would be almost impossible to go cross country on foot………or even down the canyon.  That brush at the bottom is just about impenetrable and the whole country is full of Rattlesnakes, tho’ we didn’t see any today………………

Now, far to the south we came to the end of Holiday Mesa………and it’s a loooong way down.  I love it and never tire of it - this is terrific……………..

Looking up and to the south again, the small, almost abandoned community of Gilman shows in the distance.  Over a century ago and up until the 1920’s and 30’s, this was the site of a very large sawmill and roads and train tracks came up these canyons to haul the timber to the mill.  Those old-timers worked incredibly hard………….

A closer look shows the big concrete slab the old mill rested upon.  This side of it there was a large sorting pond to float the logs into position.  Highway 4, from our starting point at La Cueva goes thru just a few miles south…………..

Having a guide who really knows this country was a real pleasure.  Walt brought us up an alternate route on the way back and showed me the extensive ruins of the “Giant’s Footprint” that were abandoned in about 1620 or so.  There were about 3000 rooms here, but for the most part all that can be seen now are huge piles of stones and rubble…………..

They go for a long way.  Look closely here and you can see the divisions of individual rooms and where the main building curves off to the left……………..

This is more or less the same approximate layout as the excavated and partly restored pueblo ruins at Bandelier National Monument…….but Giant’s Footprint is much larger and more varied.  Both ruins were apparently 3 or 4 stories high when built - originally around 1200 AD.  This picture is from 2007 at Bandelier National Monument……………….

It was apparently a tradition among the ”Old Ones,” the ancient Puebloans, that when a woman died, her pottery was broken to prevent her spirit being trapped inside.  The ground here is littered with the sherds.  This is a recognized archeological site and it is illegal to take anything with you……………

  

 We found a section of old wall that someone has apparently partly excavated - a strictly illegal practice that does give a better idea of the place…………….

Also, some of the original timbers, still showing the cut marks of the razor sharp obsidian tools used to work them…………….

>From here, it was a long run back to our starting point and the weather was deteriorating fast into thunderstorms.  As I loaded Suzy into her trailer and Walt loaded his quad into his Toyota pickup, it started to rain, so we headed out quickly, but the adventure wasn’t yet over.  A few miles farther on, Walt pulled off to the side by a guard rail and a precipice looking to the northeast toward La Cueva and the southwest rim of Valles Caldera.  Right below us was another, smaller set of “Tent Rocks” similar to the tourist attraction west of Cochiti (Coachee-Tee) Lake.  ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=98 )  What a view, rain and all……………..

Carefully - very carefully - stepping out to the edge, this is an amazing, jagged formation………………

Homeward bound, across Valles Caldera and starting down the steep, twisting grade from the 9,000 ft at the top to the 7,000 ft at Los Alamos, it had hailed just before and there was an inch of grainy ice on the road.  Interesting driving.  Farther down, with a deep canyon to the right, the narrow road was a river of mud and the rain was pounding……………

Farther down, rocks had been added to the mix and driving was treacherous.  The roar of rain on the roof of the 4Runner was incredible.  You can see the slanting rain in this picture.  The blasting, buffeting wind was no help……………..

Even thunderstorms have their beauty, tho’, and past Bandelier on the downhill grade to the Rio Grande River, the setting sun slanted under the black clouds to illuminate a mesa……………..

Around another curve and a brilliant double rainbow appeared.  Note the reversed colors on the 2nd rainbow.  This made for a very pretty drive in the slackening rain………………

A great trip and return home from vacation and I thank you, Walt, for a great adventure and education. We only drove the quads a total of about 30 miles, but it was plenty.   I’d planned on a run up to the Puyés Cliffs ruins the next day, but I’m not re-acclimatized to the elevation yet and still out of shape from 2 months on the road.  Monday morning I was about as tough as a wet dishrag and there was no question of going anywhere - just laid around all day.  :-)                       Lar.

–
Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog
 

Posted: September 2nd, 2009 under 09 Santa Fe, 09-8-30 Giant Footprint.
Comments: 1