Robert Walsh Photography - New Mexico 2024

We did a 10-day trip to New Mexico starting on 10/28/24. We flew into and out of Albuquerque. We drove over 1,300 miles. We stayed two nights in Albuquerque, Taos, and Santa Fe. One night each in Alamogordo, Carlsbad, and Socorro.

On 10/29/24, our first stop was Rio Grande Nature Center The Rio Grande Nature Center is a New Mexico (NM) State Park in Albuquerque.

The Rio Grande Nature Center is a 38-acre urban wildlife preserve established in 1982. The park is a habitat for wildlife. There are four constructed ponds for birds and other wildlife. The Rio Grande is one of the borders of the park.

Belted Kingfisher

Coyote

The next stop was the Albuquerque Museum. The museum preserves the art of the American Southwest and the history of Albuquerque and the Middle Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico.

The next stop was Albuquerque Old Town. Old Town was established in 1706 by New Mexico governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdés for the provincial kingdom of Santa Fe de Nuevo México,

The present-day district contains about ten blocks of historic adobe buildings surrounding Old Town Plaza. On the plaza's north side stands San Felipe de Neri Church, a Spanish colonial church constructed in 1793.

Old Town is a popular tourist destination (I would call it a tourist trap).

On 10/30/24 we drove the Turquoise Trail on our way to Taos. The Turquoise Trail is a National Scenic Byway between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. It is believed to be an ancient path, used by Native Americans.

Next, we went to an Earthship Community near Taos, NM. The community includes more than 300 acres of shared land, and is fully off the grid, using solar and wind power.

We went to a bridge over the Rio Grande for sunset.

On 10/31/24 we started with the 84-mile Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway. The byway encircles Wheeler Peak (13,161 feet of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. It is the tallest mountain in New Mexico.

The movies Easy Rider and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were filmed in the area.

While on the Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway, we stopped at Elizabethtown Ghost Town.

We visited the Taos Pueblo. It is an ancient pueblo belonging to a Taos-speaking Tiwa tribe of the Pueblo people. The pueblos are one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States.

Taos Pueblo has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We revisited the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge to see the gorge in better light.

On 11/01/24 we started our day at San Francisco de Asís Catholic Mission ChurchRanchos De Taos, NM

On the church grounds is the painting "The Shadow of the Cross" It was painted in 1896 by French-Canadian artist Henri Ault, Jesus is the subject of the painting.

When lights in the room are turned off, the life-sized image of Jesus standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee fades to a shadow as the white clouds in a pale blue sky and green water begin to glow around him, as if all were bathed in moonlight.

Soon the silhouette of Jesus grows three-dimensional and appears more like a dark statue than a flat image. His robes seem to billow in a breeze. Over his left shoulder, the shadow of a cross is distinct to most visitors. Some can see a halo over his head and the bow of a small fishing boat on the shore.

The church docent claims that the painting glowing in the dark can not be explained by numerous scientists who have investigated the painting.

The Shadow of the Cross was the sensation of the 1904 World's Fair in St Louis, Missouri. It was exhibited at the Dore Galleries of London and also shown in other European cities. In 1948, a wealthy Texan, Mrs Herbert Sidney Griffin, bought the painting and donated it to the church in her second, chosen hometown of Rancho de Taos.

We did not know about the painting before we visited, but thousands of people come to view it every year.

We could not take pictures of the painting. These are images from the internet. One shows the painting. The other shows what one person saw when the room was dark. Everyone sees something different when the room is dark.

We then drove the High Road to Taos. The 56-mile route is a scenic, winding road through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains between Taos and Santa Fe. It winds through high deserts, mountains, forests, small farms, Spanish land grant villages, and Pueblo villages. It has been recognized by New Mexico as a scenic byway.

One of the stops was El Santuario de Chimayó . It is a Roman Catholic church in Chimayo, NM. This shrine is a National Historic Landmark. It has been called the most important Catholic pilgrimage center in the United States.

It receives almost 300,000 visitors per year.

Many visitors to the church take a small amount of the "holy dirt", often in hopes of a miraculous cure for themselves or someone who could not make the trip.

The last stop of the day was the NM Capitol. in Santa Fe.

On 11/02/24 we started at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.

The cathedral was built by Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy between 1869 and 1886 on the site of an older adobe church,

The Cathedral of Saint Francis of Assisi was officially elevated to a basilica by Pope Benedict XVI on October 4, 2005.

The next stop was Loretto Chapel. The chapel is a former Roman Catholic church, that is now used as a museum and a wedding chapel.

It is known for its unusual helix-shaped spiral staircase (the "Miraculous Stair"). It has been the subject of legend, and the circumstances surrounding its construction and its builder were considered miraculous by the Sisters of Loretto, who credited St. Joseph with its construction.

The stairs are 20 feet high. The staircase is built mostly out of wood and is held together by wooden pegs, with no glue, nails, or other hardware used. The inner stringer consists of seven wooden segments joined together with pegs, while the longer outer stringer has nine segments. The exact wood used to build the staircase has been confirmed to be a type of spruce that is not native to New Mexico and is scientifically not identified anywhere else in the world.

There are 33 stairs, which has been noted to be the age of Christ at the time of his death.

The handrails were added later, in 1887, and an iron bracket was later attached to a column to add additional support. The staircase is supported by an inner wood stringer.

The next stop was San Miguel Chapel, Built around 1610, it is often referred to as the oldest church in the continental United States.

On 11/03/24 we went to White Sands National Park. The park covers 145,762 acres. This gypsum dune field is the largest of its kind on Earth,

On 11/04/24 we drove the Cloudcroft Scenic Byway on the way to Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

On 11/04/24 we went to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Carlsbad Cavern includes a large limestone chamber, named simply the Big Room, which is almost 4,000 ft long, 625 ft wide, and 255 ft at its highest point. The Big Room is the largest chamber in North America and the 32nd largest in the world.

In 1930, Carlsbad Caverns was established as a national park and was also recognized as a World Heritage Site in 1995.