In early December last year Bosque Bill and I went to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, New Mexico’s newest national monument. Because of my work and travel schedule I never managed to put a blog post together on the trip. Kasha-Katuwe is a fascinating geological landscape of wind erosion, water erosion and hoodoos. The area’s striking geology is the result of layers of volcanic rock and ash deposited by a volcanic explosion. Over time, weathering and erosion of these layers created canyons and tent rocks, or hoodoos. The tent rocks themselves are cones of soft pumice and tuff beneath harder caprocks.
The day was fairly overcast, but I did get some photographs to share.
Cliffs near the entrance to Kasha-Katuwe
You can see the Sandia Mountains from the foot of the trail.
We got closer to the hoodoo formations as we started up the trail.
This large hoodoo was really impressive.
Sedimentary rock layers showing volcanic tuff and rhyolite.
Starting up the trail.
Close view of tree roots showing water erosion from periodic flooding through the canyon.
White-breasted Nuthatch
Starting up the slot canyon trail.
Continuing up the slot canyon trail.
Looking up from the slot canyon trail.
Looking up a little farther along the slot canyon trail.
A beautiful swirl in the rock.
Emerging from the slot canyon.
Manzanita shrub, a closer view.
A view up the cliffs.
Close view of a hoodoo.
Going back down the trail, a view of the slot canyon from above.
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