On Tuesday the 26th we moved to Grants NM. Our plan was to visit El Morro National Monument but we ended up visiting other sites suggested by an Indian lady at a roadside rest. When we got to the campground the owner suggested the same place. It's called Sky City and it's the longest continuously inhabited Pueblo village in the US. The Acoma Indians started living on a mesa 370 feet above the desert floor. The history of the Acoma people dates back to 1100 A.D.
There are over 300 structures made of Adobe and sandstone. Only a few families live on the mesa today but each year they have a major festival and thousands of people visit the village. This was a very unique place, with beautiful views and wonderful history. A great tour.
The next day we were met with the monsoon rains which we were told was unusual for this area. We met a couple from Sweden who were biking from Banff Canada to the Mexican border. We asked them to join for a ride to The Ice Cave. It is located in a collapsed lava tube and the temperature never goes below 31 degrees. The deepest ice in the cave has been dated at 1100 A.D. There is also a green tint on the ice which is caused by an Artic algae. A unique place owned by one family for over a hundred years. The rain stopped for about twenty-five minutes which was exactly the time we needed to view the cave.
We also visited a museum which has an underground mock up of a uranium mine. Uranium mining was big in the area just north of Grants for many years. This was a unique experience.
We didn't do all we wanted to do here because of the rains so we will have to stop here again. The KOA was a great campground with great people. Highly recommend a visit here.
I'll Be Back!!
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| Great Campground! Free Continental Breakfast! |
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| Museum and start of tour. Good historical movie! |
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| The Mesa from about four miles away! |
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| Stephen "our guide" is an Acoma Indian. He lives in the Pueblo in his mothers home! The Acoma women own the homes! |
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| A typical street in the Pueblo! |
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| This cottonwood tree is the only tree in the village. The guides refer to it as the Acoma National Forest! |
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| This is the area where the annual festival is held! |
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| Some of the homes! |
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| Our Tour Guide!! |
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| Irvin Louis, I bought this vase from him! |
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| From the Pueblo! |
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| View from the top! |
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| Beautiful day on the Pueblo! |
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| From four miles away! |
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| Double Rainbow from the church! |
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| Ice Cave gift shop! |
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| Over 40 feet thick and hundreds of years old! |
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| This guy wandered off the trail into the lava fields! |
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| A spectator from above the cave! |
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| Andreas and Maria from Sweden! Biking the Continental Divide! |
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From the viewing platform!
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| Tootsie Rolls everywhere! Both these guys worked the mines! |
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| Drilling dynamite holes! |
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| This is how we get the ore out! |
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| Good looking miner! |
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| Nice museum! |
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