Land of Enchantment

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I believe New Mexico is my favorite state in the whole country. Going there just fills my soul with wonder and an unbelievable beauty, it is truly refreshing.
My uncle lives in an adobe house in bernallio, just outside Albuquerque so we started into town the first day to look at some high end pottery shops we cant afford!! Sandia Peak tramway is a must do adventure because it's one of the longest in the world and offers some truely fantastic views. The ski lift is also great because it gives you yet another beautiful view of the surronding countryside.
The next day it was off to Tent Rocks which is one of my favorite places. It has a truely fantastic and short hike that takes you through canyon like formations and then up and over to the top for a great view once again. We did some caving down at El malpais and went to El Morro to see the spanish inscriptions dating back from the 1600's and on. You can also climb on top of the mesa which offers a unique experience.
Our main goal of the trip was to ascend Wheeler Peak, the highest in NM at just over 13,000 ft. THe trailhead starts in the Taos ski valley and we stayed in the area the night before to get an early start up. We got on the trail just before five so we could be the first up the mountain, which we were. The views once again, are spectacular and the wildlife is abundant. We saw several deer, bighorn sheep and marmots all over the trail and hillside.
On the way back to bernallio we stopped at Taos pueblo. It was a truely moving experience and completely fascinating to see the historic homes these people lived and worked in. It is still a inhabitated pueblo and many people open their homes to sell items and their fantastic bread. My uncle knows many Native Americans and we stopped by a home for a meal on the way out. They are very warm and welcmoming people but exceedingly private and do not allow photographs in their homes or sacred places as is to be expected. When asking someone about this they mentioned that the atrocioties experienced in the past are to be learned from and that their history shall remain private from now on. While there, a feast was going on and a dance as well. Indian time isn't like the rest of the country and 12:00 is around 2:30. We were getting ancy after waiting for so long and I asked a young indian boy if he knew when the dance was to start. He replied very soon although i dont know how he could have known! He then proceeded to tell me that the men had just come from the kivas and sure enough a line of them came out to the grounds and began to chant. The boy ran off to join his family on the roofs of nearby houses while we stayed to watch the historic festival take place.
Althogether New Mexico made for a magical and enchanting trip. I hope to come back yet again and discover more of the beautiful state!

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