New Mexico
May 1998
All images ©2021, Jeff Tucker
The Sandia Peak Tramway, 4000 feet above Albuquerque, reaching an elevation of over 10,300 feet.
The Gila National Forest, near Silver City.
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument, home to the Mogollon people, ca. 1300 A.D.
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.
Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument.
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a.k.a. Chaco Canyon, the center of Anasazi culture from 850 A.D. to 1250 A.D.
Chaco Canyon.
Chaco Canyon.
Chaco Canyon.
Fajada Butte, Chaco Canyon.
Chaco Canyon.
Chaco Canyon.
Chaco Canyon.
El Morro National Monument.
A small section of Inscription Rock, El Morro National Monument. The oldest of the inscriptions are Anasazi petroglyphs dating back centuries. These are followed by the names of Spanish explorers in the 16th & 17th Centuries, followed by the carvings of American pioneers in the 19th Century.
El Morro National Monument.
Water-eroded rock above a pool in El Morro National Monument.
The view westward from El Morro National Monument.
El Morro National Monument.
A precarious rock formation in El Morro National Monument.
El Calderon cinder cone, over 100,000 years old, in El Malpais National Monument.
The view eastward from El Calderon cinder cone, across the lava beds of El Malpais National Monument.
Bandera Volcano, roughly 10,000 years old, and over 800 feet deep.
Sandstone cliffs above the eastern edge of the lava beds, El Malpais National Monument, where the McCarty's lava flow is only about 2000 years old.
The eastern edge of the lava beds, El Malpais National Monument, with 11,300 foot Mt. Taylor in the distance.
The eastern edge of the lava beds, El Malpais National Monument.
La Ventana arch, El Malpais National Monument, which spans 135 feet.
La Ventana arch, El Malpais National Monument.
The Bisti Wilderness, south of Farmington.
Strange rock formations in the Bisti Wilderness.
More strange rock formations in the Bisti Wilderness.
Aztec Ruins National Monument, home to groups of Anasazi between 1100 A.D. and 1300 A.D.
The Great Kiva at Aztec Ruins National Monument (reconstructed).
Aztec Ruins National Monument.
Brazos Peak, east of Chama.
The Gorge of the Rio Grande, 650 feet deep, west of Taos.
The Route 64 bridge over the Gorge of the Rio Grande.
Tyuonyi, in Frijoles Canyon, Bandelier National Monument, near Los Alamos. This Anasazi settlement reached its peak around 1400 A.D.
One of the series of ladders leading to Ceremonial Cave, Bandelier National Monument.
Ceremonial Cave, Bandelier National Monument.
On the banks of the Rio Grande, Bandelier National Monument.
On the banks of the Rio Grande, Bandelier National Monument.
The Very Large Array radio telescope, stretching over 22 miles across the San Agustin Plain. Each of the 27 telescopes is 94 feet tall, and 82 feet in diameter, and moves along railroad tracks.