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The Tsankawi loop trail sits in a detached unit of Bandelier National Monument. The
parking lot was nearly full when we first arrived, but by the time we started our
hike it had thinned out a bit, and we hardly saw any people on the hike.
I picked up a very informative pamphlet about the trail. Unfortunately it's hard to
hike and read at
the same time, so I could only read parts of it during the hike. The pamphlet covers
20 numbered signposts, and is highly recommended.
Similar to yesterday's hike, we passed through low bushes. There's a bit more vegetation
in the area, however. Soon we came upon a wooden ladder which we used to climb up onto
the first level of the plateau. Soon after that we saw a large petroglyph carved in the
rock in front of us. It was just one of many -- they're common all over the southwest,
carved by the native Americans who lived here years ago.
Petroglyphs
We climbed a second ladder onto the upper plateau. We walked along until we came to the
ruins of the pueblo. The pueblo was built sometime in the 1400's and inhabited until
the late 1500's by Pueblo Indians. There's not much left now -- decaying rock walls,
mostly. We had to imagine the 350 rooms and hundreds of native Americans. Their
descendants may now live in the nearby San Ildefonso Pueblo.
Tsankawi ruins
The wind blew hard at times but it was very quiet as we pondered their existence over
400 years ago. Sections of the trail have been etched deep into the stone by thousands
of feet going back and forth to and from their homes. They did have a great view of the
surrounding area -- of view of mountains and mesas.
Jean descending one of the ladders
Jean on the trail
Petroglyphs in the cave
Notice the blackening of the cave roof
We descended another ladder on the backside of the plateau and continued on the loop
trail. We encountered a small cave with a couple petroglyphs. The top of the cave was
darkened by fire. After passing the cave, we became increasingly aware of the
petroglyphs, which we spotted near and far along the trail. Stars, animals, even a
person playing a flute.
A rock ladder used by Tsankawi's inhabitants
Petroglyphs
We saw a row of holes about 8 feet above the ground. We'd later learn these were for an
ancient roof. We continued hiking along the edge of the plateau before descending the first
ladder we'd taken and going back to our cars, still trying to imagine what it must have
been like to live here hundreds of years ago.
Petroglyphs
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