Well, Hello Everyone !!!
You're joining me for a walk today?
Alright !!
Fall in line and follow me as I head into the Dome Wilderness. Don't worry, it'll be a short walk: the Dome Wilderness is one of the smallest wilderness areas of the US southwest.
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| I better start with an orientation, in case you get lost along the way. Here is a view of the San Miguel mountains (the heart of the wilderness area) from the area I usually visit. Below us in the canyon is the Rio Grande. The light colored rock on the far side is Bandelier Tuff. And the area between the canyon and the mountains is the Bandelier Ntl Monument. |
These San Miguel's are one of six New Mexico ranges called the San Miguel Mountains. I don't know about the others, but these look rather bleak from this distance of about 15 miles.
And now, if you've been keeping up with my brisk pace, we come to our first view in the wilderness: St Peter's Dome, the highest point in the photo above.
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| A fire lookout at the top, with evidence below of the Conchas Fire 10 years ago. Even before the fire, this was a fairly treeless area. The lookout is on the boundary between the wilderness area and the Ntl Forest to the west. |
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| And looking the other way, here is Boundary Peak, the other notable peak in the overview picture above. Boundary Peak marks the eastern edge of the area, where it meets the Bandelier Ntl Monument. So now we've seen the both the east and west boundaries of the Wilderness Area. I told you it was small. |
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| Now looking north across a couple of canyons, we see Rabbit Hill. In the distance is the Jemez Mountain and the Valles Caldera Ntl Monument. |
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| Looking down one of the canyons towards Bandelier. This one is called Capulin Canyon and, like all the canyons here, is filled with ruins and artifacts of the Ancestral Pueblans. |
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| A closer look at one of Capulin Canyon's side canyon walls. This again is Bandelier Tuff, which is relatively soft and easy to excavate, making it a favorite dwelling location. I don't know if the caves visible in the center were dwellings. We could go look, but it's 1,000 feet to the bottom of the canyon and several hundred back up to these formations and I don't want to tire you out. |
And now I'll be quiet as we examine a few more pretty things.
Excellent! We are back where we started.
I'm happy.
How about you?