DOUBLE FEATURE

Make the drive to Ramah and discover two sites that are rich in natural and cultural history

Among the many beautiful things in New Mexico are its history and rugged idealism, coupled with an unmatched setting.

Those all come together near the small community of Ramah, home to the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary (wildspiritwolfsanctuary.org) and El Morro National Monument (nps.gov/elmo).

The wolf sanctuary “provides permanent and safe sanctuary for abused and abandoned wolves and wolf dogs,” said Molly Shaw, an animal care volunteer. “We educate the public on the wild wolf and promote the proper treatment of all animals.”

Set on a forest-covered 110 acres, the site houses about 65 animals, ranging from arctic wolves, wolf dogs, Australian dingoes, New Guinea singing dogs, coyotes and a fox.

“We give them a permanent sanctuary and educate the public,” Shaw said. “We tell all of their stories and try to convince people that wild animals are not pets.”

The Wolf Sanctuary, started on the abandoned Candy Kitchen Ranch, began in 1991 as the Candy Kitchen Wolf and Wolf-dog Rescue Ranch.

Since then, it has housed numerous animals in separate enclosures, the smallest about 1,200 square feet. There are an average of about two animals per enclosure, which cover about 30 acres altogether.

The wolf sanctuary offers four standard tours a day, six days a week, as well as customized spe--

cialty tours. The standard and group tours are low-exertion encounters that last about an hour as a trained guide leads visitors past various compounds.

Visitors can help serve breakfast to the hungry animals.

“You will learn how we feed them, what we feed them and what each animal’s routine is for feeding,” Shaw said.

The photography tour is a chance to get up-close and personal with several animals within an enclosure. The tour guides work to ensure the best photo opportunities. Guests will have an average of four enclosures they can enter with a tour guide, with more enclosures possibly added depending on time.

“This is for serious photographers who want to get really good photographs of wolves,” Shaw said.

Overnight camping is available, allowing visitors the rare opportunity to be lulled to sleep by the haunting howls of the pack.

A short distance away, El Morro is steeped in times past and wonder, park ranger Wendy Gordge said.

“It’s a place that’s fascinating for its history, but it also has really beautiful natural landscapes,” she said. “The sheer sandstone cliffs at El Morro provide a canvas for more than a thousand years of cultural history, framed by a natural setting that is stunningly beautiful.”

Known for its signature rock, El Morro is a sandstone promontory rising about 200 feet above the valley floor near a natural water hole. More than 2,000 inscriptions and petroglyphs dot a half-mile stretch of rock at the base of the promontory, signifying human passage in the area for more than 1,000 years.

The original markings of pueblo residents, Spanish explorers, early surveyors and pioneers scratched in the rock face in the form of symbols, signatures, poetry and prose are a testament to the passage of time.

El Morro, Spanish for headland, is a rock formation that slopes upward gently on one side and drops abruptly on the other and was a natural landmark on the east-west trade route between pueblos. The pool at its base, a natural catchment for snowmelt and rainfall over the cliff, has provided reliable water for generations of residents atop the rock and relief for travelers crossing high desert.

Accessing the rock via the Inscription Loop Trail is a fairly easy, half-mile walk on a paved sidewalk. It skirts the base of the promontory, meandering past the historic pool and the etched cliff face.

“There is so much to discover here,” Gordge said. “No matter how many times I walk the Inscription Loop Trail, I always see something new. Often, it’s an inscription I hadn’t noticed before, that seemed to be waiting for the light to be just right to reveal itself.”

The longer, two-mile Headland Trail winds its way to the top of the promontory. Crossing a high, rolling landscape of sandstone bleached white from ages of geologic processes, the trail curls around a deep box canyon to the ancestral puebloan village site of Atsinna.

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Spanish for headland, is a rock formation that slopes upward gently on one side and drops abruptly on the other. It was a landmark on ancient puebloan trade routes.

The natural pool at the base of El Morro has provided a welcome respite for travelers and locals for centuries.

Teton is an arctic wolf, one of many breeds that can be seen on the tours at the at the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary.

Powder and Dakota are wolves at the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary. They can be viewed on tours of the sanctuary.

COURTESY OF WILD SPIRIT WOLF SANCTUARY Bowie, a New Guinea singing dog, is one of about 65 animals sheltered at the wolf sanctuary near Ramah.

Uluru, an Australian dingo, has found a haven at the wolf sanctuary.

More than 2,000 inscriptions and petroglyphs, some over 1,000 years old, mark human visits to El Morro.

Spanish explorers and local settlers found the time to etch their names in history.

COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE The two-mile headland trail winds up the backside of El Morro to the site of the Atsinna Pueblo ruins.