( Writing this from Leasburg Dam State Park, New Mexico on December 20. Hi, Mom. )
One of the day trips we made from Vista Linda, on November 1, was to Bandelier N.M. This was our first time at seeing ancient Cliff Dwellings. They are so beautiful and you can really feel the spirituality of the ancient ruins as you climb into their homes carved into the mountain.
As you approach Bandilier from the top of the crest, you curve around to the bottom left hand side of the picture you can just make out the road as it descends into the valley. Looking in the the middle, the cliffs have a vertical line with a reddish color near the top of the cliff and getting whiter toward the bottom.
After leaving the visitor center is is a very nice walk through the villages communal buildings ruins and then up to the cliffs. The views down the valley were especially beautiful with the fall colors.
The trail follows along the cliff with many dwellings and pictographs and goes down to the floor of the valley where you walk along the area that floods in the spring melt. The tree debris are washed down from the floods. Can you see the row of dwelling openings above the vegetation line on the cliff side?