Pueblo Alto. Balcony House. Alcove House.
We're now triple crowners of lofty historical sites.
On Tuesday, we explored Bandelier's dwellings carved into the sandstone cliffs of Frijoles Canyon. Down the canyon, at the end of a peaceful trail marked by huge pines nurtured by the Frijoles Creek, we came to Alcove House.
At Chaco, we scaled a mesa to reach the Alto ruins. At Mesa Verde, we descended ladders along sheer drops to see the Balcony community.
But Alcove topped them both. To stand in the cave 140 feet above the canyon floor, we would have to negotiate three long, steep, wooden ladders -- no rails, no nets, nothing to keep you from bouncing to the bottom. The original residents likely scrambled up using scooped-out hand and foot holds, but for modern, overfed Americans, nearly upright ladders made from tree limbs present enough of a challenge.
Ladders, schmadders: Slowly but surely, we got to the top. From the cool shade, the view was glorious. A ladder dropping into a kiva provided another reward for the boys.
After a while, we made our way back down -- three points on the ladder at all time, no looking around. At the bottom, we all felt proud of ourselves. Nobody would have won gymnastics medals, but we walked away in one piece.
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