Natural Bridges National Monument

The farthest west I traveled yesterday was to Natural Bridges National Monument.  I continued westward on Utah route 95 and found route 275, which pretty much exists to connect the monument to the rest of the U.S.A.  The monument features three natural bridges and a set of Puebloan ruins, which all may be visited by following a one-way loop road.  For all three bridges, there are viewing points and trailheads along the road, which may be used depending on how much hiking you want to do.  The first bridge seen from the road is Sipapu Bridge, named after a Hopi word for a small hole or indentation in the floor of a kiva.

Mule Canyon Ruins

Further along Utah route 95, west of the Butler Wash Ruins, is the Mule Canyon Interpretive Site.  This site includes ruins that are much closer to the road than those of Butler Wash, which may be reached via a modern walkway.  The site is not actually in Mule Canyon, but on higher ground above and to the south of it.  A hiking trail about a mile long connects to a side road east of the interpretive site and leads into the canyon and a site called House On Fire.  The largest section of the ruins at the interpretive site are seen here.

Butler Wash Ruins

After I left Blanding, Utah, I continued south on U.S. route 191 and then west on Utah route 95 and found the parking area for the Butler Wash Ruins.  From there, a trail leads to a viewing place to see the ruins.  According to various signs, the relevant authorities want them to be seen from a distance.  Most of the ruins that I saw are in the upper right alcove, as seen here.

Edge Of The Cedars

As expected, I didn't arrive back in Santa Fe until pretty late last evening.  Thus, I processed my pictures earlier this morning, and now they're "submitted for your approval", as a certain TV host used to say.

My explorations yesterday took me around southeastern Utah.  My first stop was the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum in the city of Blanding.  The park includes a museum building and ruins that were inhabited by ancestral Pueblo people from around 825 to around 1225 AD.  While waiting to pay my admission fee, I encountered a bunch of people on a Road Scholar tour, including a couple from my adopted home state.  If you walk out the back of the museum, you see the ruins, modern walkways, and an informational display.

Four Corners

As mentioned in my previous post, I went to the northwest corner of New Mexico.  This is where it meets the northeast corner of Arizona, the southeast corner of Utah, and the southwest corner of Colorado.  The Four Corners Monument is reached by a road that connects to U.S. route 160 in New Mexico, and is run by the Navajo Nation.  As you walk in from the parking lot, which is south of the monument, here is what you might see.  The flags include one from each state.

Salmon Ruins

Today I ventured away from my temporary home base in Santa Fe to the northwest corner of New Mexico - quite literally.  On the way, I stopped at the Salmon Ruins, which I first visited on an archaeological tour in 2005.  This site was built around 1090 AD by people from the Chaco culture, occupied later by San Juan Puebloans, damaged by fire, subsequently abandoned, and later homesteaded by a family named Salmon.  I'm pretty sure that unlike the similar word for a fish, the "l" in their name is not silent.  Part of their homestead is still here, protected by a metal structure.

A Walk In Santa Fe

This morning, I decided to take a walk and get some exercise here in Santa Fe, Mexico, which is now my disclosed location.  I went to a place called Historic Fort Marcy, but it doesn't have anything that looked like a fort, or remnant thereof.  It has a walkway leading up from this street-side entrance.

Salinas Pueblo Missions - Abó

After visiting the Quarai and Gran Quivira units of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, I returned to the town of Mountainair and proceeded west on U.S. route 60 to the Abó unit.  The main structure of the unit is the ruins of a church and adjacent pueblo ruins.  This is a view from the unit's parking lot.

Salinas Pueblo Missions - Gran Quivira

After visiting the Quarai unit of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, I got onto New Mexico route 55 and proceeded southward back to the town of Mountainair and then continued for about 25 more mile to the Gran Quivira unit of the monument.  A ramp leads from its parking up to a small visitor center and then to the large structure seen here.

Salinas Pueblo Missions - Quarai

Today I ventured out of my undisclosed location and visited all three units of Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument.  I started by going to the monument's visitor center in Mountainair, New Mexico, near the intersection of U.S. route 60 and New Mexico route 55.  Going north on NM 55 brought me to the small town of Punta de Agua and the Quarai unit.

I know that this post and others from this trip are very late in the day.  It's not just the time zone difference, but I took so many pictures that I had to recharge my camera before I could transfer them to my computer.  So please forgive me, or just go to bed and read these posts in the morning.  Anyway, here's the Quarai church, most likely built by the local natives under the direction of Spanish missionaries.