In all my years of traveling, all my miles in the car and on foot, I have never been tired of saying "that's something I haven't seen before." The tuff cliffs comprising the Frijoles Canyon of Bandelier National Monument are certainly in this category. Tuff is compressed volcanic ash, deposited in this area by two enormous volcanic eruptions more than a million years ago. Over time erosion carved canyons and mesas into the land, exposing tuff in places like the cliffs picture above. It's density depends on how quickly it cooled, and tuff can range from very hard to incredibly crumbly. The cliffs of Bandelier National Monument err on the side of crumbly, which, in addition to the perennial water source, attracted ancient Pueblo people to populate the arid land. The bigger caves in the cliffs above aren't all natural - most of them have been enlarged by hand to provide living spaces for the ancient dwellers, and most of the post-holes pecked into the walls to provide roofs over the shelters still exist. Look closely at the picture and you can see masonry in the bottom third, leading up the slope to the cliff, as more evidence of ancient civilization. I truly hope I never get tired of seeing new things.
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