First stop for today was the Sandia Peak Tramway, a cable car the takes passengers from the outskirts of Albuquerque suburbs up to the heights of Sandia Peak, over 10,000 feet above sea level. We were fortunate to arrive just in time to leap on the cabin as the doors were closing, which was very fortunate as A. it didn’t give us time to baulk at the exhorbitant costs of the exercise ( US$50 for the 2 of us, Ouch! ) and B. it didn’t give Neil time to take a good look at the height above ground that the cable car would travel on it’s journey.
Neil not looking too comfortable!
The car was pretty full on the way up but we still had an excellent view of the sprawling metropolis of Albuquerque spreading out below us. The commentary given by the young woman on board was a little echanical but useful , because it gave scale to the sights we could see. e.g “The rock to your left that looks about as large as a creek pebble is actually 3 stories high!” etc
At the top it was pretty chilly and we hadn’t had time to grab jackets from our car so we took in the views and several photos and then jumped on the return car which left only 15 minutes later. We had the return ride almost to ourselves and I was amazed at how well Neil coped with the trip. Taking up photography has been a boon for his difficulty with heights!
The ride was very smooth except when we went through one of the the 2 towers when the car dipped and swayed enthusiastically. We passed one other car on each le, they run 2 in tandem all day.
After coming down to earth we drove back across the northern suburbs and headed west to Jemez Springs via the Jemez Mountain Scenic Byway. I hadn’t really expected much of this drive but you think by now I would know that the USA always surprises me! The scenery along the drive was spectacular, winding through a vivid red rock canyon whose slopes towered up on either side. The road followed the path of the Jemez River and at one point we stopped to see the Soda Springs which remided us strongly of Yellowstone National Park – that sulphur smell, Phew.
Further north we headed into the city of Los Alamos, the town that was built during WWII specifically to house the Manhattan Project – run by the scientists and engineers who developed the atomic bomb. The Los Alamos National Laboratory remains there today as one of the premier locations for research into a wide range of scientific fields. Much of the work they do is still classified and security is evident when you are stopped at the outskirts of the town for a security check. They examined our passports and warned us not to take photographs on US Government property, all very exciting!
Driving up to the security checkpoint
In the centre of the town is the original attractive ranch style building which was Manhattan Project Central and out front is a statue of the projects leaders, scientist Robert Oppenheimer and General Leslie Groves. WE dropped into the Bradbury Science Museum and watched a movie about the setting up of Los Alamos and the development of the project, and then took a look at the exhibits outlining the work being done today at the labs.
Me and my friends, Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie Groves
Having seen the Moderns it was on to the Ancients at Bandalier National Monument. This park preserves the remains of extensive cliffside dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloan people who lived in the area over a period going back 11,000 years. They carved homes in the soft cliffsides that were, in some cases, several stories high! They also built huge dwellings on the ground, the foundations are still there today. We walked about 1.5 miles around the site and climbed up into the cliffs where we could see petroglyphs and even some preserved paintings that they used to decorate the back walls of their homes.
We stumbled across some small wildlife, a few squirrels and a snake who really just wanted to get away from us as much as we wanted to get away from him.
Neil taking photos of the snake!
After that we drove back down the mountains to Santa Fe where we are based for the next 2 nights. We arrived to late to explore the town, that’s a treat for tomorrow.