A week ago, Nick and I made a weekend trip down to New Mexico for a quick holiday. I’ve been wanting to make it to the American South West for a while and as someone who loves desert landscapes, New Mexico was high on my list. Since we only had really 1 full day there (flying in to Albuquerque Friday evening and leaving mid-day on Sunday), we found a few spots we really wanted to see to get a taste of the State.
We stayed Friday evening in Albuquerque, had breakfast there Saturday morning and then headed out into the desert to explore the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Park which is about 45 minutes North of Albuquerque and only about a half hour South of Santa Fe. The Tent Rocks had intrigued us when we did research on the area, though we didn’t do enough research to fully realize the immense offerings of the park. We ended up doing a 3 mile hike (spontaneously) into the canyon and back, which ended up being really beautiful. We walked through tiny slit canyons into open spaces full of the incredible tent-shaped rocks and finally 600 feet up the rocks (literally climbing at some spots) to the beautiful view of the entire area from the top.
To be honest, it was a really hard hike (not just walking, but climbing and maneuvering throughout the path). Anyone that knows me personally knows I’m not an outdoorsy person and I’m not one to usually trek through the wilderness. I’m still not sure that had I known the trek ahead, we would have gone forward with it but I’m so glad we did. The landscape in this part of the country is just stunning and so unique and I’m so glad to have experienced it.
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| Photo by Nick |
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Jenna says
Absolutely beautiful! Sometimes ignorance is bliss – especially when it comes to innocently embarking on really difficult, but gorgeous hikes through national parks 😉
Casey Martin says
Totally, personally for me, I’d rather not know what’s ahead on a hike like that because it would give me a reason to back out.
The Happy Type says
Way to take those chucks off road!! I love the South-West and you are totally right about how beautiful it is.
Casey Martin says
I know! 🙂 I didn’t know we were going to hiking through the wilderness on this trip, otherwise, the chucks would not have made an appearance 🙂
Jamie Gunter says
I miss driving through New Mexico and I love seeing your photos. I miss living there sometimes…it’s like living on another planet. Have you been to the White Sands yet? It’s pretty amazing!
Casey Martin says
It really is beautiful! And no, we didn’t make it to the White Sands. It looked beautiful from photos, but was sort of in the opposite direction we were headed. Next time!
Melanie Fontaine says
What a gorgeous canyon! I think sometimes it’s better to not really know just how long or hard a hike is – it would be sad if that kept us from exploring places that we otherwise wouldn’t have seen! 🙂
Casey Martin says
It was gorgeous!! And yes you’re right, I liked not knowing how hard the hike was because I for sure wouldn’t have done it had I known… but I’m so glad we did!
Cassie Lee @ Sage the Blog says
Great place to explore! I’m from Arizona and a huge southwest fan 🙂
Casey Martin says
Such a fantastic area of the country to explore, we loved it!
Quyen Nguyen says
Wow, these rocks look absolutely incredible! Looks like a fun day exploring the park.
http://liveitinerantly.com/
Casey Martin says
It was so gorgeous!
Ella Morgan says
This looks fantastic…. great pictures!!
Ella | http://www.towanderandtoroam.blogspot.com
Casey Martin says
Thanks!
Aryn Hill says
Dang those are crazy! I only had a day in New Mexico on our road trip which we split between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. They both seemed like such lovely towns so I really want to go back!
Casey Martin says
Totally!!! You could spend a ton of time just taking in all the amazing places in the state!