PHOTOGRAPHY
NEW MEXICO
A favorite drive north of Santa Fe for lunch at Rancho Chimayo along with visiting the Santuario de Chimayo, the shrine that is built on the site of what many believe to be a miracle associated with the crucifix of “Nuestro Señor de Esquipulas” (Our Lord of Esquipulas). El Santuario de Chimayo is also the site of “el pocito” the small pit of Holy Dirt which many people attribute as possessing remarkable curative powers.This shrine, a National Historic Landmark, is famous for the story of its founding and as a contemporary pilgrimage site which has been called “no doubt the most important Catholic pilgrimage center in the United States.” The present church was built in 1816.
The Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, on the Pajarito Plateau in north-central New Mexico, ranges from 5,570 feet to 6,760 feet above sea level.
The cone-shaped tent rock formations are the products of volcanic eruptions that occurred 6 to 7 million years ago and left pumice, ash and tuff deposits over 1,000 feet thick. Tremendous explosions from the Jemez volcanic field spewed pyroclasts (rock fragments), while searing hot gases blasted down slopes in an incandescent avalanche called a “pyroclastic flow.”
Fall in Santa Fe, New Mexico is one of nature’s gifts. Late September is the time to smell the roasting hatch chili, relish the golden aspens and recharge one’s batteries for the winter ahead.