So have I peaked your curiousity?   What an amazing and magical place this was and I had an amazing stupid grin on my face almost the entire time (okay not on the last 1/4 mile straight up but hey who's counting).

I have never had the opportunity to hike slot canyon trails before and as I kept an eye on the sky above and seeing other fresh (remember it had rained earlier) footsteps I decided to go for it.  I was there after all and would kick myself in the behind if I didn't at least get part way up it.

I promised you some information on this place so here goes (taken from the BLM site).   The monument/park is on the Pajarito Plateau and ranges from 5570 feet to 6760 feet above sea level.

The formations are the products of volcanic eruptions that left deposits of pumice, ash and tuff over 1000 feet thick. In close inspections of the arroyos you can see small, rounded, translucent obsidian (volcanic glass also known as "Apache Tears").

Perched on top of many of the hoodoos are boulder caps that protect the softer pumice and tuff below.   Some tents have lost their hard, resistant caprocks and are disintegrating.   The tents vary in height from a few feet up to 90 feet.

You can see what a cool hike it is up the canyon.  See the numerous boulders in the way.  The trail for the most part winds around them but there a couple of slots that require scrambling up and over some.

Bands of gray are interspersed with beige and pink rock along the cliff faces.   All volcanic material which wind and water has cut through making the the canyons, arroyos and scooping holes in the rock.

A magical place indeed and I'm going to save the shots from the top and more of the slot canyon pics (most taken on the way down for the next post.