After our aborted attempt Wednesday to see Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, we decided to give it another shot today (Kasha-Katuwe means “white rock” in the local Pueblo language). As soon as David wrapped up his work, we drove out to the NM. Its only a 20 minute drive from Santa Fe. This is the nicest BLM NM we have been to so far. The facilities at the trail head were very nice. We arrived at 2:45 and were told the Rangers started clearing the trails at 3:30. The basic geology of the area is Volcanic Tuff with a cap of lava for the 20 or so volcanoes in the area 2-3 million years ago. As the tuff erodes due to weather, some parts are protected by the solidified lava, others not so much. The Tent Rocks are formed by a piece of overlaying solidified lava protecting the tuff below it from erosion while the surrounding tuff is washed away.
We decided to do the slot canyon trail (1.5 miles). It was a really fun hike. There were spots where we had to turn sideways to squeeze through and other places where we had to crawl under boulders or fallen trees! The trail continued through the slot canyon and climbed up to an over look. David made it to 100 feet of the overlook when the Rangers stopped him and sent him back down the trail (Drats!) as they began clearing the trails. So we worked our way back down the canyon hoping to make the junction with the cave trail and then do the cave trail. Unfortunately when we got to the trail junction they had already closed the cave trail so all we could do is head home. We will need to come back to this BLM NM on our next visit.
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| Entrance Sign |
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| Entrance to the narrows |
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| Leslie in the narrows |
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| Tent Rocks |
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| More tent rocks |
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| Looking down into the canyon |
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| A tree root crossing the trail |
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| Low headroom! |
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| The Narrows |
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| Tree roots! |
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| David at the entrance to the Narrows |
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| Tent Rocks |
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| Tent Rocks |
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| Osprey Nest |
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