Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site

 From Bent's Old Fort we headed east into Lamar where we got some sandwiches for our lunch at Safeway. Then, we headed northeast to Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. 

It is a very out of the way place where a group of peaceful Cheyenne and Arapaho were slaughtered by US troops under the command of Colonel John Chivington. It is a somber location to say the least. 

After our lunch in the picnic area, we set off on the trail that leads to an overlook of the massacre site.

It appears that there once was a small monument at the overlook site, but it is no longer there. We continued our hike on the bluff trail with views down to the dry Sand Creek and surrounding plains. 

Interpretive signs along the way help to explain the events of the day of the massacre, November 29, 1864, and the events leading up to the event. 

At the end of the 1.25 mile long Bluff Trail, we turned around and made our way back towards the start of the hike. We stopped near the overlook to use the restroom and take a break. 

Then, continued on the finish our hike 

and prepare to drive the rest of the way home. 

Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site

 We had a nice stay in La Junta and made the short drive out to Bent's Old Fort this morning. Unfortunately, due to structural issues with the fort it is completely closed to the public. The short trail that heads around the fort and down along the Arkansas River is still open though. So, we set off for the short hike.

Montezuma Hot Springs

We left Santa Fe this morning. We didn't have a whole lot planned for the day's drive to La Junta, Colorado. However, I did want to make one quick stop to soak in the Montezuma Hot Springs just outside of Las Vegas, NM. I enjoyed a short soak in the series of tubs closest to Las Vegas.

Then, we got back on the road for the drive to La Junta, with a short stop in Trinidad, CO for lunch. 

Pecos National Historical Park

Today would be our last full day in New Mexico. We opted to go to Pecos National Historical Park. We had visited before, visiting the old mission and pueblo. However, today we would check out the Forked Lightning Ranch and Glorietta Battlefield which we had never visited before. 

We started our visit on the Ancestral Sites Trail,

 hiking to the mission and pueblo.

A highlight of the hike, as always, was going into the kivas along the way.

After exploring the Ancestral Sites Trail, we headed over to the Glorietta Battlefield area. In order to hike this trail, you need to get a combination for the lock at the trailhead parking lot. Luckily, we had a ranger with us who unlocked the gate for us. We hit the trail and enjoyed the pleasant, easy hike through pinyon and juniper.

From the battlefield trail, we had two more related stops: the Trading Post and Forked Lightning Ranch. We parked outside the Trading Post and explored a bit.

Then, we made the drive back to the Forked Lightning Ranch House and walked around the interesting building a bit. 

We even made the short walk down to the Pecos River to have a look.

We returned to the cars and drove out with a quick stop at the monuments for the Glorietta Battlefield

 on our way back to Santa Fe. 

Dale Ball Trails

Merry Christmas! To celebrate we went on a hike today on Santa Fe's Dale Ball Trail System, a nearly 25- mile system for hikers and bicyclists. We started our hike at the Cerro Gordo Trailhead off Upper Canyon Road. The hike started with a jump across a small stream. (We later learned we could have skipped the stream crossing by walking the road.) We then followed a raised dike past some old irrigation structures.

The trail followed a drainage for a bit and headed into some woods.

At the start of a short loop, we hiked a spur trail out to a nice overlook and took a short break.

Then, we made a short loop past the trail that leads up to the summit of Picacho Peak. Sierra wasn't feeling up to a climb and I wasn't either. I've been dealing with really bad heartburn the past few days, possibly from the Indian food we got in Raton. Still, it was a pleasant .83 mile loop and a nice walk in the ponderosa pines.

Soon enough, we were back to the trail we started on, 

making a nice short hike of just under 2.5 miles. 

Santa Fe's Sun Mountain

Our Christmas Eve hike would be a nice short one inside Santa Fe city limits, the popular Sun Mountain Trail. Luckily, we arrived at the roadside trailhead and found two parking spaces. Then we set off on the trail.

The trail starts off with a pretty gentle climb. Pretty quickly the ascent gets pretty steep though. 

One advantage to the steep, rocky trail was the views. There were lots of great views looking out over the City of Santa Fe.

Soon enough we reached the small summit area where we took a break and admired the views.

Then, we started to make our way back down the mountain. It was a relatively fast descent!