Before returning to Phoenix we plan on visiting a National Monument, Kasha-Katuwe, close to Albuquerque that we couldn’t visit before as it always is too hot in summer when we usually visit New Mexico. Now in winter we hope the weather is better and we start the short drive north towards the National Monument passing by pueblos and small villages.
The National Monument is on Indian Lands so after leaving the interstate we pass through a few pueblos as the road twists and turns towards its destination.
To our surprise there are quite a few other visitors but as we start on the trails we meet less and less the further from the parking lot we go even though it is by no means secluded at any time. The major reason to come to the NM as far as we are aware are the rock tents and we see quite a few as we start to meander through the area. Even though the ones at the start are wake to our surprise.
While we can see the rock formations they are far away and we wonder how close we will be able to get. We will be surprised as the answer is quite close.
The Cave Trail that we start on is a loop trail and it is easy walking. A bit unexpectedly we start to see snow on the side of the trail but we there are only a few patches so we are not worried as we continue to enjoy the views and the rock tents that are seemingly everywhere.
After about a mile we veer of on the Canyon Trail which looks easy in the beginning as it starts to follow a narrow, beautiful, canyon. There are old, large trees in the canyon and we start to get worried as there is more and more snow on the trail the farther we go.
And then suddenly the canyon becomes a slot canyon and it becomes covered by snow which in turn is covered by ice. The going is slow as we try to ensure that we do not fall on the hard ice.
The more we advance the deeper the snow becomes, sometimes we just jump from a hole in the snow to another one left by previous hikers. And then as suddenly as it started it ends and the snow disappears as the canyon becomes larger again.
That doesn’t mean that the snow is gone but at least we can avoid the worst of it. Still it was a fun traverse after not seeing snow for years really.
The trail soon starts climbing after leaving the canyon and it starts to pass near some interesting tent rock formations. It is quite beautiful even though again snow patches start to appear on the trail and we have to be careful to avoid them.
And then we pass the most impressive formation, a group of about 5 rock tents that we can observe from different vantage points as we climb towards the summit. The snow is heavy again here and we are happy that we have our hiking stick with us.
As we finally finish the exhausting climb and reach the top of the mesa we are greeted with a nice view of two rock pillars that jut out from the valley floor. A raven on top of the pillar is unhappy with us and makes a few sounds of indignation but gives up in the end and flies away.
The trail ends just a bit further , the views of the area and the valley are great so we stop and have a short lunch at the top enjoying the birds and the views before our return to the car and Phoenix.
The trail down seems a bit more difficult as again we have to avoid falling down the icy trail and this is more difficult when going down. When arriving at the Cave Trail we continue on to finish the loop and notice that there are quite a few of formations near this trail also.
As the trail starts to loop back towards the parking lot the views are still great and there are tent rock formations almost everywhere.
In fact the largest rock tent field is quite close to the parking lot and it extends as far the eye can see up in the mountains. After enjoying the great views we continue on and arrive at the car after a great visit to this more remote National Monument.
And then we start the long drive back to Phoenix after a long weekend filled with birds, snow and interesting rock formations. The only stops along the way is at the Continental Divide, for some photo opportunities and to get gas and we arrive in Phoenix late at night after a beautiful weekend trip that we really enjoyed.
