Again, we traveled through familiar territory, one that
held so many family memories. Betty still rode with us. We entered Dark Canyon,
a place where the ground on the right side of the road fell away sharply,
giving only glimpses of the Jemez River rushing below. We passed an area where
what we called “hippies” at the time bathed nude in the cold waters and then
climbed the hill on the other side to find exposed spots to sunbathe. My sons always
made sure the binoculars were at hand as we approached the place, but we never
stopped, despite their protests.
This was the road where one August day we came barreling
down the mountainside to find the left side completely washed out,
eaten away by the monsoon rains. August was when we got most of the annual
rainfall at the cabin. During that month, I often had to find a place to park
my car in the lowlands. Betty and the boys would drive down to meet me in the
Blazer. We had a winch on the front bumper and figured we could go anywhere in
that plucky vehicle.
As J and I emerged from the canyon, we encountered larger
numbers of aspens shimmering among the dark evergreens in the light breeze.
They are always a delight, whether they quake with the gold of autumn or the
two-toned green of spring and summer. I say two-toned because their leaves are
dark on top and pale on the bottom.
Then we had our first glimpse of the massive grassland of
the caldera. As we rounded the curve, the depth and breadth of the place was
revealed, and I knew I hadn’t made a mistake. There was no way to oversell this
place. As I’ve said, it is the most beautiful spot in the world…at least to me.
The Grand Canyon and a hundred other places might be more dramatic, but for
pastoral peace and serenity, the Valle Grande (the front portion of the
caldera) cannot be surpassed.
When my family and I had passed by the place on the way to and
from the cabin, Valle Grande (as it was known then) had been a privately owned
ranch, so we were unable to visit the place. Now it is a National Preserve open
to the public. Finally, after all these years, I was able to nose my automobile
down the long, winding (and somewhat rough) road onto the property to a modest
visitor’s center in the middle of Valle Grande. And “modest” is an appropriate description
since it leaves little imprint on the place.
 |
| The Valle Grande Portion of the Valles Caldera National Preserve Source: Wickipedia |
The Valles Caldera (or Kettle) is a volcano fourteen miles
in diameter (175 square miles) that exploded some 1.2 to 1.4 million years ago
and then collapsed in upon itself. The eruption spewed up 150 cubic miles of
rock and blasted lava and ash as far away as Iowa. It was estimated to be 2,000
times as powerful as the Mt. St. Helens explosion. The cabin my family and I
owned was on the back side of the caldera, meaning over a mountain range or
two. Often, as we walked the forest, we’d come upon huge boulders that had no way
of reaching there…unless they had come from the sky.
 |
| The Bear Paw as seen from above Source: Wickipedia |
The caldera is made up of a vast expanse of grasslands
free of any trees and mountain country covered by Ponderosa pine and Douglas
fir. The grasslands had been badly overgrazed in the past, but seem to be
recovering well. The timber had been heavily harvested for some time, but many
of the old growth trees still remain. As you approach the visitor’s center, an
odd knoll appears in front of you...a 250-foot, pine covered bump sitting in
the middle of this vast meadow of yellow autumn grass. This is Cerro La Jara, a Rhyolite
dome created by the pressure of magma underneath area. It is one of several such
domes that, when viewed from the air, create a pattern resembling a bear’s paw. The area remains geologically active, as demonstrated by these building domes and numerous hot springs in the vicinity.
Archaeologists tell us the Jemez Valley has been occupied
for 4,500 years. Camps have been found where natives of the area came to work
the obsidian stones thrown up by the volcano. The local Santa Clara Pueblo
Indians still come to collect these stones and consider the area…particularly
nearby Redondo Peak and the adjoining Redondito…to be sacred.
Recorded history begins when a sheepherder named Baca in
the vicinity of present day Las Vegas, NM complained to authorities that his
large Royal Land Grant was being encroached on by others. The dispute dragged
on until after the old man’s death. In 1876 his five sons were given 500,000
acres in five different, non-contiguous tracts in exchange for permitting
others to graze their original land grant. Each son took one
tract. The 100,000 acres encompassing the Caldera was designated as Baca 1. The
son who took this tract grazed sheep here until he traded the property to another
sheepherder named Otero. In the 1930s, Otero traded the tract to Frank Bond,
an Espanola sheepherder, who grazed as many as 30,000 sheep on the place.
In 1963, the Bonds sold the property to Pat Dunigan, a rancher from
Abilene, Texas. While Dunigan ran cattle on the caldera, his primary interest
was in developing an electrical power plant using the geothermal activity
beneath the surface. Several wells were sunk, but he could never develop sufficient
power to support such a plant. He began to look for a buyer for the property,
and considered the federal government as the most likely purchaser. The feds
finally bought 95,000 acres (5,000 acres were deeded over to the Santa Clara
Pueblo), paying over $100,000,000. In July of 2000, the Valles Caldera Preservation Act created the
Valles Caldera National Preserve and opened it to the public on a limited
basis.
 |
| Cerro la Jara, a Rhyolite Lava Dome Source: Wickipedia |
For the princely sum of $5.00 each, J and I boarded a van
with nine other sightseers and enjoyed a forty-five minute tour of a small
portion of the property. (These guided tours are conduced only on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). The ride-along was worth every minute and every penny. We saw the
homes of all four of the owners, one of which was being used as headquarters
for elk hunts going on at the time. Permits are extremely limited and by
lottery only. That particular house is currently being used as the home of the
sheriff on the TV series Longmire.
Scenes from the program regularly feature vistas from the caldera. Several
movies and TV programs have been made in part or in whole in the caldera.
In July of 2011, the Las Conchas Fire, which ultimately
consumed 158,000 acres, burned 30,000 acres of the Valles Caldera. Rows and
rows of trees to the west of the Valle Grande stand black and naked as a result
of the wild fire. Some of the grasslands were burned, as well, but recovered
quickly. That same fire consumed about 60% of the Bandelier National Monument
in nearby Frijoles Canyon.
I do not have the words to adequately describe the beauty
and serenity of this magical place, so I encourage readers who live or travel
in this part of the country to experience the place for themselves. On the way
to the caldera, J and I talked more or less incessantly. On the return to
Albuquerque, the cabin of the car was silent more often than not. I attribute
that to our awe of the Valles Caldera.
Next week: Nostalgia
No comments:
Post a Comment