Under a sky heavy with clouds, we drove to Monastery of Christ in the Desert, at the end of 13 miles up a dirt road. The drive along Rio Chama was beautiful, with the sun peaking through a bit, and the striated colors of the rock cliffs taking our breath away. We saw three small deer bucks that stood to pose for my camera. We arrived at the Monastery, and soaked up the quiet, as we were the only guests. The chapel is beautiful, in such a unique setting. "The Monastery was founded in 1964 and is Roman Catholic Benedictine. The chapel was designed by George Nakashima and was praised by Thomas Merton as the most perfect monastic chapel he had ever visited."
We left the Monastery, drove back about four miles to a bridge over Rio Chama, and hiked about four miles on the Continental Divide Trail, in the Chama River Canyon Wilderness. The Continental Divide Trail extends over 3100 miles from Canada into Mexico, along the Rocky Mountains. It was designated a National Scenic Trail in 1978. Gorgeous and quiet!
The drive along Rio Chama, back to the highway was just as beautiful driving south as north. As we approached the highway, the striated cliffs of Ghost Ranch were in front of us. A wonderful day!
