05/26/2025 Taos Pueblo & Rio Grande Gorge

For over 1,000 years, Taos Pueblo 

has been the only living Native American pueblo 

that is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site 

and a National Historic Landmark. 

The mission churches are just one of the many historical 

and cultural features that make Taos Pueblo a World Heritage Site

 and a National Historic Landmark. 

The ruin of Mission San Geronimo and the rebuilt church 

are physical reminders of the turbulent history of the pueblo 

and the resilience of the Taos people.

Ai-thloo's (Grandma's) Cafe,

open for business thanks to her coveted Frito pies, 

Fresh Frybread, Red and Green Chile,

and Tara's favorite Pinon coffee.

The Sacred Mountain

(Taos Mountain or El Monte Sagrado)

The slopes lead up to Blue Lake,  

for spiritual and cultural traditions

and resting their ancestral dead. 

Taos Pueblo Cemetery

What possessed us to leave the warm and dry shelter 

of our van in pelting rain and a driving wind 

strong enough to blow us into kingdom come 

for a chance to take some photos 

of the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, a steel-deck bridge 

565 feet above the river, with a 50-mile chasm 

dramatic vista plunging 800 feet?

These Bighorn sheep 

weren't bothered by the weather in the least.

 

Not far from the bridge was the strangest thing 

most of us had ever witnessed. 

Unfortunately, the weather worsened, and it was a challenge to take photographs of the "Garbage Warrior," Michael E. Reynolds'

Earthship Biotecture History.

For a wonderful biography of his life, check: https://earthship.com/earthship-history/