DESTINATIONS -
New
Mexico
Dates 2006
May 05 - 16 (12 days, 11 nights)
Trip Overview
If the land and pueblos were books, New Mexico might just be one of the central libraries to the fascinating Pueblo culture.
New
Mexico is place of solitude, rich with an enchanted land of ancient
culture, diverse landscape, red rock, peculiar erosion and petrified
formations and recent lava flows. About 700 years ago, farmers from the 
Ancestral Pueblo culture were drawn to the well-watered canyons and to the
juniper woodlands on the mesas. These Ancestral people built thousands of
living quarters, ranging from summer farming huts to 5-hundred room
pueblos. High above the canyon floor on the geological feature known as
the Colorado Plateau, the Ancestral people also settled in homes scattered
throughout the region. Their culture reached a glorious pinnacle in the
colossal pueblos at Chaco Canyon. Inexplicably they abandoned their homes
and gathering places, many of which are now protected and preserved and awaiting your arrival. Hiking on the Colorado plateau itself provides a magnificent
display of horizontal sedimentary rock, stripped mesas and powerful
buttes.
The
thought that Christopher Columbus discovered this continent is often
laughed at. As the Europeans grappled in the Dark Ages, the Ancestral
Pueblo people were well advanced, constructing intricate structures such
as Chaco Canyon
in NW New Mexico. The Ancestral Puebloans are thought to have come to the
Santa Fe area around 1200 or 1300 AD. The first Spanish settlers claimed
New Mexico in 1540 and made Santa Fe a provincial capital in
1610. In 1821 Mexico and New Mexico fought and gained independence from Spain.
New Mexico
became a full American state in 1912 after it was ceded by Mexico in 1848.
Many people feel the lands around Santa
Fe are sacred and semi frequent supernatural occurrences are reported as
straight news. Among the many great artists depicting New Mexico, Georgia
O’Keeffe is perhaps the most celebrated. Her works capture brilliantly, the magic light and intense colours of the land. See
her art and discover the New Mexico that influenced her.
What's
Included
▪
Pre-trip informational packet
▪ Return ground transport from Calgary
▪
Van support throughout the tour
▪ Meals (8 breakfasts, 8 lunches, 8 dinners)
▪
8 days of incredible desert hiking
▪
11 nights hotel accommodation
▪
Two professional guides
▪
Informal hiking instruction
▪
Park
entrance & trail/hiking fees
▪
A daypack
▪
Hiking boots & hiking equipment
▪
2-3 water bottles/hydration system
▪
Hiking clothes &
personal items
▪ Food on 4 travel days
▪
Bottled water
▪ Alcoholic beverages
Fly in option available (please call)
Map to come
ITINERARY
Origin
– Calgary, Alberta
Day
1 and 2
Ground Transport to Cortez, Colorado
Day
3
Day Hike in Cortez area
Day
4
Hike & explore Mesa
Verde National Park
Day
5
Day hike in Bisti Badlands
Day
6 Day hike in De-Na-Zin Wilderness
Day
7 Day hike and explore Chaco Culture National Historic Park
Day
8 Day hike and discover Bandelier National Monument
Day
9 Morning in Old Town Santa Fe, afternoon hike
Day
10
Morning hike, afternoon in Old-Town Albuquerque
Day
11 and 12
Return
drive to Calgary, Alberta
After
a brief visit in Durango and Mesa Verde in Colorado, we will spend the
remainder of the trip in New Mexico hiking in the Ancestral regions of
Chaco Canyon, Bandelier and Petroglyph National Monument. We will be
mesmerized by the formations of Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, south of
Farmington, New Mexico. We’ll explore the old towns of Santa Fe and
Albuquerque along with Los Alamos, which is home to the science museum
that must be visited! If you choose to fly, you will fly in to Durango,
Colorado and out Albuquerque, New Mexico; otherwise, the tour originates
in Calgary, Alberta.
A detailed itinerary is part of the custom information package prepared for every Nomadic Routes Tour. (See What’s Included). Also included is a detailed description of how to get to the point of origin of each specific tour. Just email us at info@nomadicroutes.com or call (403) 807-3700.
