Road Trip - The Picacho Peak Trail, the De Vargas Street House, and San Miguel Chapel (Santa Fe, NM)

**** Not much food in this one, but if you want to read about the supposedly "Oldest House" and "Oldest Church" in the US read on....

Breakfast was provided by our accommodation at the attached bar/restaurant named El Charro. The Inn of the Governor's also provided a drink voucher for the place. We had walked in the previous evening after dinner for a nightcap, but the two women working were really rude and unwelcoming, something that shocked us, because folks in Santa Fe and especially at the hotel were so nice. We decided not to deal with that so we left. Luckily, the breakfast crew was efficient if not especially friendly. 

Breakfast was fine, more than enough to hold us for the day.

Of course the Missus wanted to make sure I made use of all those calories and wanted to do a hike. While doing a bit of research, I came across the Dale Ball trails. This network of 25 miles of trails is named after Dale Ball, the founder of the Santa Fe Conservation Trust. The Missus decided on the Picacho Peak Trail, which didn't seem to be too bad, less than four miles. What I failed to read was the 1200 foot elevation gain! Sigh.....

Anyway, we drove on out and found the main trailhead. A really nice local couple and their trailblazing Labradoodle ("we do this a couple of times a week and he already knows the way") helped to point out where the peak portion of the trail began.

 It was a nice day and a good hike, though I was kinda huffing along at the top of the peak. Considering that Santa Fe is at 7,000 feet and adding another 1200, it's no wonder.

Regardless, the scenery was quite nice and I especially liked all of the rock formations near the entrance.

Other than the nice locals with the pooch we ran into only one other couple during the entire hike.

We also came across this.....

And this sign details what we were looking at.

This article from Audubon Society is quite interesting and goes into how climate change is affecting these communal irrigation systems.

After finishing our hike, we decided to head on over to the local Whole Foods and pick up salads for lunch. We also found an interesting snack that we ended up really liking.

Not overly sweet, great peanut brittle with just enough "zip"! We actually found one of the Senor Murphy shops in downtown Santa Fe, but it turned out that WF was cheaper! We'd drop by on our way out of Santa Fe and bought a couple more packages of this.

After lunch we returned to the hotel and decided to spend the rest of the afternoon (before "siesta time") doing a bit of exploring. Santa Fe was established in 1607, so there's a lot of history here. We parked at the hotel and took a short stroll down busy East Alameda Street, then turned south on the Old Santa Fe Trail.  Taking a left on East De Vargas Street we came across this.

    This is the De Vargas Street House which is one of the claimants of the oldest house in America, the west portion of the structure is said to have been built in 1646. And of course it must be haunted. 

It's pretty small, half dominated by a gift shop. But there are some old drawing, photos, and a small museum.

Oldest House Museum
215 E De Vargas St.
Santa Fe, NM 87501

We were a bit underwhelmed, but right across the street is the San Miguel Mission.

Which claims to be...drum roll please....the oldest church in the Continental United States having been established around 1610. The two oldest church structures in the U.S. actually reside in Puerto Rico.

The date inscribed on the beam dates to 1710.

The Bell is said to date back to 1356 and was originally cast in Spain. It was installed in the 19th century. 

There's quite a controversy about the actual date of when the bell was cast. In 1914 a Historian named Benjamin Read tracked down a Santa Fe native who remembers the bell being cast in 1856. So it is said that someone had come in and "modified" the date on the bell from 1856 to 1356. You can read more about it here.

Or perhaps even the sign in front of the bell. Which of course skews toward the 1356 date.

Many religious icons have been attached to the frame of the bell.

The Reredos (Altar Screen) is quite beautiful.

For even more controversy, the two paintings on each side of the Reredos was claimed to have been the work of Cimabue dating back to 1287. This was has been debunked.

You gotta love it! We enjoyed our visit here....especially all the "stories".

San Miguel Chapel
401 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, NM 87501

From the miraculous staircase of the Lorreto Chapel  to the oldest house, to San Miguel Chapel and controversy of the bell, we were enjoying the stories and the folks here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Comments

[kat]

interesting sights!

[Kirk]

We really had fun learning the "history" whether it was true or not Kat!