On Monday we had
a beautiful day to explore the area north of Santa Fe around Taos. We started up the High Road to Taos
stopping at Chimayo to visit El Santuario de Chimayo known locally as “Little
Lourdes,” a site considered holy by many area residents. Every Good Friday, as
many as 30,000 worshippers, make a walking pilgrimage here to celebrate the
Easter season.
Next stop was
the Ortega Weaving Compound that sells traditional Navaho weavings made in the
homes of the local weavers. I had
visited here on my last trip to Santa Fe and Taos but did not purchase a
weaving. I kept trying to picture
them in my New England home and I already had the two that my mother had
purchased in the 1930’s. One
already graced her piano and another a side table. Yesterday, I decided I wanted one on my wall, so we now have
a Navaho Tree of Life hanging.
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| View on the High Road to Taos |
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| El Santuario de Chimayo (1813-1816) |
We continued to the US Park
Service Rio Grande Visitor Center.
While talking with a Ranger about the Gorge Bridge, he told us about a
back way to reach the bridge if we did not mind the 14 mile back road that
included two miles of rough gravel road. Feeling brave with our new Rav4 we
headed down the road along the Rio Grande past several basic campgrounds and
over a little bridge across the river. There the road changed to washboard with
lots of bumps and holes. From
there it was a two-mile climb with many hairpin turns and switchbacks up the
Gorge cliff.
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| The Rio Grande River |
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| The Road cut into the Gorge |
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| Still climbing |
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| One of the Hairpin turns |
We felt a sense
of achievement and relief when we reached the top. At the top we met a hiker
who had just hiked 8 miles on the plateau without hearing or seeing any rattle
snakes. On an earlier hike he had
seen a number of big horned sheep.
We continued along the plateau across an Indian Reservation to the Gorge
Bridge. After the gorge climb the
bridge, the 7th highest in the US, was anticlimactic. We zipped across it with no fear.
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| A Dust Devil on the Plateau |
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| The Gorge Bridge |
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| The River from afar |
We continued our drive to Questa
on the “Enchanted Circle.” The
scenery was totally different as we drove through the mountains up to over
11,000 feet. We saw lots of signs warning of falling rocks, elk and big-horned
sheep in the road but saw none.
In the ski
resort of Red River, we stopped for a sandwich at a local restaurant with
“Reubens” as their specialty. We
indulged in one and it was fantastic.
We continued on this route with its constantly changing scenery toward
Santa Fe and our snug little B & B.
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| Falling Rock Zone |
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| Farm Land along the "Enchanted Circle" |
