Tent Rocks National Monument

Tent Rocks National Monument is part of the Cochiti Pueblo.  Visiting Tent Rocks has been on my to-do list for a couple of years.  Only an hour and fifteen minutes from home, it is an otherworldly landscape of volcanic tuff and ash eroded into cones and fantastic shapes.

 The Cave Loop trail is a little over a mile long.  Branching off that trail is the 1.5 mile Canyon Trail which takes you up through the slot canyon to a high point with 360 degree views.  The sign warns of flash floods.  I'm assuming that the rangers would have closed the park had that been a danger...

 I'm right next to the trail here, but we enjoyed the illusion that I was far up a rock.

 Tent Rocks is a popular destination, and it was the middle of a holiday weekend.  Stephen had to create a parking spot for the truck because there were so many visitors.  This made the last ascent to the top pretty slow as the trail was narrow with stone or wood steps.  We stopped many times for people to come down before we could go up.  Consequently, Stephen didn't take as many pictures of that part of the trail because he didn't want to hold up the people behind us.  At one point he stepped aside to take a photo and I got in the middle of a group of faster hikers.  I stayed with that group to the top, arriving about 8 minutes before Stephen.  I was astonished at the number of people who made it to the top who did not look like seasoned hikers, with inappropriate footwear, impractical outfits, small children, etc. 

 The views from the top were spectacular.  There was just a slight breeze.  The temperature was around 50, and it felt quite warm in the sun. 

 By the time we headed back down the crowds had thinned a bit and we were able to take a little more time for photos.  The light was different by then as well. 

 When we got to the intersection of the two trails, Stephen decided to go straight back to the truck while I did the Cave Loop.  I walked uphill to the cave and took a quick look, then jogged down through the tents to the parking area.  It felt good to stretch my legs after having to go slowly down the steps and through the slot canyon.  I actually made it back to the truck before Stephen.  We had a snack and were on our way.

 We left Tent Rocks and drove out to Cochiti Lake, formed by Cochiti Dam.  There are many more hiking opportunities there, and it's so close to Albuquerque that I'm sure we'll go back and explore the area.