December is an underrated time of the year to travel. The crowds have dispersed, the sun no longer bakes the energy out of you, and the sky is often a perfect blue. Much to our pleasure, in December of 2009, we were welcomed with all three as we departed our favorite Albuquerque hotel (we know we travel quite a bit when the front desk person says "The Cales are back!" upon arrival....). Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is sweetly tucked behind the Sandia mountain range, but are a brief drive from Albuquerque. After turning off in the pit of Belen, NM, the scenery took a beautiful turn for the better as we headed for the entrance to the first of three monument stops of the day.
These three mission ruins sites are distinctly different, as the stones used for each were dependant on the area they were built upon. Here, in the 17th century, the Ancestral Puebloans again were living their lives happily until the clueless Spaniards once again came in, attempted to turn them from Heathens to Christians, and forced themselves upon the land building three missions. As beautiful as each of the sites are, one cannot help to feel the plight of the Natives. There are other pueblo ruins present on the sites, but the missions loom largest as though the larger the space built, the more devout the builders and inhabitants should become.
The Ruins at Abo is the first stop for any visitor coming due east, and is on a turnout so hidden, we had to double back the first time we drove by. This small site, was established in approximately 1598 and at one time, housed over 2,000 inhabitants. Considering the size of this ruin, this is an impressive number indeed. The ruin is easily traversed in less than ten minutes.
Salinas Pueblo Missions is an ideal location for Passport Stamp enthusiasts. Each ruin has its own visitor center and stamp, and the monument headquarters are located in the central town of Mountainair, NM.
That is...........if the visitor centers are open.
Our first horror-filled moment of the day came when Matt sauntered up with the passport book at Abo, only to find the door locked. He pressed his nose against the glass and yelled in a distressed voice, "I can see the stamp right there!! Why is there no one monitoring the site??" The sign on the door stated that the person would return in 15 minutes, and was time-stamped at 9:00......It was now 10:00 and there was not a soul in sight. We waited, knowing that retrieving this stamp would be impossible via mail, and decided to brave the elements (although cloudless, it was 35 degrees that morning). Finally, when the wait became too long, we decided to proceed to Mountainair with words prepared for the ranger on duty.
The Mountainair Visitor Center serves as the central location for all three ruin sites. You can find information about the different stones used, along with the differing tribes that fell subject to Spanish interference. We picked up our stamp (along with a beautiful 100 years special stamp) and asked the ranger about Abo not being open.
The ranger explained that staffing and budget cuts force all three of the visitor centers to be open on an "At Will" basis. Basically.....when the ranger can make it there, they will. When not possible.......screw your chance for a stamp (and licking the window won't help). He mentioned that he thought, "Maybe...there might be someone at Abo in about an hour, but I cain't say for sure". Great.
We decided to bury our sorrow and head to the second mission ruin, Gran Quivira. This ruins site is the most remote of the three, but is so striking in its difference to Abo and Quarai, that the drive absolutely needs to be taken.
Gran Quivira was inhabited from 1370 through 1670 by the Tompiro Puebloans. By far, the largest of the three ruins, it too housed over 2,000 people, before and after those pesky Spaniards showed up again. The scope of the site is amazing. Upon exiting the car, we decided to get the stamp first before exploring the ruins, so let's just go into the visitor.........LOCKED.
Not again.
We shook our heads and started to laugh, as the Mountainair ranger assured us that Gran Quivira was staffed. We did a silent meditation that the ranger would some how appear by osmosis after our exploration of the ruin. A long wheelchair accessible planked walkway headed up the back of the ruins and brought the visitor to the center of the site.
Gran Quivira is large and exceptionally impressive. The grey stone used provided a contrast against the rolling hills, and each room was quite well preserved.
Pottery shards (in exquisite black and white patterns) were visible in almost every room as you walked along the dirt path. As the years continue on, these pieces of everyday life come floating to the surface with every visitors footprint, or torrential downpour. The temptation to pick up these pieces of history is overwhelming, but we aim to protect these national treasures and leave everything as it lies.
The wind had picked up considerably as the exposed hills offered little shelter. Two other visitors joined us at the top of the ruins, but we essentially had this large site to ourselves.
We headed back down the walkway and tried the visitor center door again......No dice. This was getting a bit depressing. We both retreated to our respective restrooms, and upon exiting, much to our delight, the NPS ranger was visible inside the small window. He informed us that much of Gran Quivira has never been excavated, so the treasures that lie beneath have only yet to be discovered.
This kind man also alerted us to the fact that he believed that Abo was indeed now open as he had just spoken to the person on site. Operation Abo Stamp was now back in full effect. After the 55-mile backtrack, we happened upon Abo again. The door was indeed open, and a teenager was manning the desk. This child appeared to have been just woken up from his mid-morning nap, and completely puzzled us why he was there in the first place......But alas, the stamp was obtained.
Passing Mountainair once more, we headed to the last of the three sites, the ruins at Quarai. Tucked away behind a small residential neighborhood (if you could call it that....dirt roads and a few trailers here and there), lies the best of the Salinas Pueblo Missions ruins. Visible from the small highway, Quarai looms large and impressive in the distance.
Along the flanks of the Manzano mountains, the Spanish Franciscan mission church of La Purisima Concepcion (1630) is the most complete example of the larger Salinas churches. The small trail from the visitor center to the ruins is wonderful and the views spectacular. But about that Quarai stamp, let's just open the......LOCKED.
We resigned our fates at this point. It was evident to us that something was awry this beautiful December day. The sign on the door stated that the ranger was out to lunch. Of course he was. We began to think that each site was alerting the next to tell them of the Cales impending arrival and locking the doors out of spite.
But much to our delight.....we met some fellow Stampers. A couple were noticed peering through the window with a worried look upon their faces, much like ours. We quickly struck up a conversation about our travels, which segued into talk on the most remote stamp received, the best stamp in the book, the hardest to obtain stamp, etc., etc. These people got us. We shared the same passion for not only the sites of the National Park System, but the unrelenting obsession and drive to get you to the next site. They introduced us to a newer obsession for us - the State Capitols book. When the gentleman retreated to the car excitedly yelling, "DO YOU COLLECT STATE CAPITOLS???", I said (after seeing the gleam in Matt's eye), "We do now".
Lunch obviously was going to take a bit longer in the New Mexico winter, so we decided to explore the Quarai grounds. This ruin is quite simply, spectacular. The walls, still intact, reflecting the shadows of the day make for a blissful walk.
The trail winds around the ruins and near the stream that supported the lives here for hundreds of years. In the winter, the trees were bare, but the view no less inspiring.
We saw our fellow Stamp fanatics literally running towards the Visitor Center, which led us to the realization that the ranger finished his 25 Subway sandwiches, and we were able to secure the final stamp of the day. Our visit to Salinas took us approximately 2 1/2 hours longer than we anticipated, due to the closing of the sites at various times, which highlighted the need for more money and resources to been given to the National Park Service sites. New Visitor Centers are popping up all over the nation, which is splendid, but without the manpower to staff these sites, the American public will pay the price.
FINAL RATING
7.5/10
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