more mountains, learning about pueblos and revisiting a favorite
After the organ mountains we headed toward the Albuquerque area again and had a couple of days to explore some of the things we hadn't seen the first time (and maybe revisit a favorite…). Our first order of business was to take the gondola up Sandia mountain, do a little hiking, and maybe have lunch or at least a beer at their famed restaurant, the ten 3, a name that seemed incomprehensible to me until I realized the elevation of Sandia peak is 10300’. (We had already decided that dinner wasn't an option, it was outside our “comfortable” price range and I didn't want to go to a nice dinner in clothes I'd been hiking in for hours.) That was a great plan, but we forgot two things, the winds in New Mexico in March are fierce and, surprise, the top and northern facing slopes of this mountain were still covered with snow! Having just been in Big Bend where we were sweltering…this possibility hadn't even crossed our minds. 🙄 As it turns out, there is a ski area on the back side, the gondola is one of the ways to access it and the lifts were running. Haha. It did mess with my head a bit to be at the top looking down the runs instead of at the bottom looking up at the mountain.
So what did we do, in our little sneakers, our medium jackets and no hats? Well, we went hiking on the trails, of course, and we had a great time (although I discussed with myself multiple times about how I should know to check weather conditions of where we were going, not where we were AND we had to be pretty careful where we walked… One wrong step and we sunk in to our upper thighs. I know because I did it.) The other thing was no lunch or beer or anything. The wind was blowing hard enough that they had to close down the gondola and everyone had to leave the mountaintop by the afternoon. Let's just say, it was beautiful and turned out to be quite an adventure!
The next area we explored was adjacent to our campground, the Coronado Historic Site, which is actually a misnomer as it is the site of the ruins of the Kuaua Pueblo. In 1540 when Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, with an entourage of 500 soldiers and 2,000 indigenous from "New Spain", entered the Rio Grande valley, it was somewhere near this site. He was fruitlessly searching for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold. Instead he found these independent indigenous communities he named Los Indios de los Pueblos or pueblo indians.
Literally each village that he came upon he named pueblo whether the inhabitants were the same (ie spoke the same language, had the same beliefs, etc) or not. The Kuaua pueblo was abandoned shortly after first contact and when excavated in the 1930s a remarkable discovery was made. One of the kivas, a square kiva, already unusual because they are typically round, was coated in layers of murals. Fourteen panels were removed and are on display in the visitors center. They also hired a local indigenous artist to recreate the murals inside a restored kiva on the grounds of the site. It was fascinating to ponder the imagery and try to understand what stories and beliefs they represent. There were seeds, birds, animals and people as well as lightning and rain, all the essential items for survival in this hostile high desert environment.
And lastly we went to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. It was part museum, part restaurant, part information center. We wanted to visit some pueblos and see the art, jewelry and pottery and this was a great introduction. New Mexico and the pueblos are a different way of, for lack of a better term, organizing indigenous lands vs those under US government auspices. In many areas of our country, indigenous peoples were grouped together in relatively large reservations, not large enough for them to live their traditional lifestyle moving seasonally to find the food and supplies they needed to support life, but fairly large tracks of land. However, in the New Mexico and Arizona, each Pueblo has its own small area of land interspersed amongst federal, state and privately owned lands. There are 19 Pueblos with 5 different languages and 16 different dialects. That would appear to be either a lot of diversity between these pueblos, ie they had completely different origins and aren't the same at all, or once, they were one people, but separated into communities that were so isolated that over time they developed their own forms of language.
On to pics:
Sandia Mountain, Sandia Pueblo
views from the top
overlooking Albuquerque
hiking in the snow, now that we're over the crest the wind isn't as bad and with the sun it's actually warm.
our destination is a stone hut at the end of that point, but we're not sure whether the trail follows the ridge and will be exposed to the wind or not. So we decided to “just go as far as we wanted”.
Of course that meant going the whole way, hurricane force winds or not. Haha Most of the way was in the trees and protected.
A split rail fence gave us hope that we were approaching the cabin
the cabin, beautiful and interesting as it was, was completely exposed to the wind! (Yikes) We didn't stay too long.
some fellow hikers taking a break on the roof in the sun
views from the cabin
and the hike back
oops, I got distracted by a bird and took a step on the edge of the trail 😳 I'm literally buried nearly to my waist! I thought we might need a winch to get me out, but I somehow managed to belly crawl out, after handing my camera and pole off to Martin.(Of course, he had to stop laughing first.) 🤣
The gondola, note that a person is riding on top of it!
This was our ride down. Note that the wind is blowing the gondola, a very heavy gondola, off to one side. They can't dock it unless it is perpendicular and not swaying. That was one of the last ones up and they were shutting down service. Fortunately, we got on it to come down the mountain. I'll just say it was kind of rough in the beginning.
mountain formations on the way down
bird interlude (note: the birds are from the Coronado New Mexico historic site. That was where the panels from the kiva were found and although they are open to the public for viewing, no photos, sketching or recreations of any kind are allowed. They depict religious imagery and icons that are the basis of what they still believe and practice today. It is very private and sacred.
female house finch
four wing saltbush in earliest spring attire - a juxtaposition of tiny green leaves against last years dried “blossoms”
Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
Some favorite pics
The pottery of the southwest pueblos is world famous and a sight to behold. Each pueblo is known for its own different style. One could take a whole class on the different pueblos art, what the pottery symbolizes, how it is made and what it represents for the whole southwest puebloan peoples.
storyteller dolls
huge painted murals cover the walls facing the inner courtyard of the center
And lastly we revisited Old Town Albuquerque. As much fun as it was being there for los dios de los muertos, many of the stores and buildings were closed. So we thought a repeat visit was in order.
a few of the sights
Next stop: Bandelier National Monument with lots of side trips: Sante Fe, Los Alamos, more pueblos and an official site of a miracle! (at least according to the Catholic Church)
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