Back on the Trail of the Ancients - Chaco Canyon

A quick 80 mile drive back on the Trail of the Ancients and we were ready to tackle another Ancestral Puebloan site - Chaco Culture National Historical Park (NHP). One has to REALLY want to visit this NHP, as it is at least a two hour drive from anywhere! But, the effort is well worth it.

The Chaco Canyon was the center of a thriving culture a thousand years ago. The monumental scale of its architecture (We saw the architecture up in Colorado at the Lowry Pueblo and at Mesa Verde.), the complexity of its community life and its far-reaching commerce (traces of cocoa from South America were found in pottery remnants on the site) created a cultural vision unlike any other seen before or since.

The cultural flowering of the Chacoan people began in the mid-800’s and lasted more than 300 years! This can be seen clearly in the grand scale of the architecture. Using masonry techniques unique for their time, they constructed massive stone buildings (Great Houses) of multiple stories containing hundreds of rooms and many stories high.

The largest of the Great Houses in Chaco Canyon is Pueblo Bonito, center of the Chacoan world. Planned and built in stages, Pueblo Bonito was occupied from the mid-800s to the 1200s. The structure towered four stories high and contained more than 600 rooms and 40 kivas! The access to this ancient site was extensive and made the adventure a real wonder.

Approaching Pueblo Bonita

Old wall, new wildflowers.

The recent rock slide in the foreground wiped out about 30 rooms in the complex.

Pueblo Bonita covers more than 3 acres. You can see the plaza behind these walls.

Amazing how these large structures blend into the surrounding landscape.

Gary had to duck a lot to get through the doors.

Chetro Ketl is another Great House adjacent to Pueblo Bonito. It was begun about 1020 and contains an estimated 500 rooms and 16 kivas. The Great Kiva included at Chetro Ketl is a wonderful example of the Kiva.

The Great Kiva at Chetro Ketl.

There are several additional Great Houses and sites within the Chaco Culture NHP - all sites to see and experience.

Portions of the three story walls at Hungo Pavi still remain.

This opening is only about 2 x 2 feet - shows the building architecture.

But, after about 4.5 hours we were again maxed out on our attention span. AND, we had a good hour to get out of the park and back to Magic.

Perhaps you remember the statement at the beginning of this posting that the NHP is two hours from anything! I mean ANYTHING! We found some ‘RV sites’ (a questionable description) behind a ‘trading post’ about an hour from the park entrance in the middle of nowhere - and this was the closest thing without driving back north 2 hours or on to Albuquerque. We were prepared for what we got - and the space did the trick for the evening. We had an electric hook-up to prepare dinner and there were NO trees so the satellite worked just fine for Monday Night Football - thank goodness for satellite!!

The best view we could find from our parking spot.

Here is the actual view of our surroundings.

Tomorrow - The Balloon Festival!! We are sooooo excited!!

Ready to Fly - Elizabeth & Gary from the Middle of Nowhere

We'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain

The month of September was ushered out in Durango, Colorado - visually similar to our own Park City - and the leaves are changing daily. The United Campground (great place to park!) just north of town is our ‘home’ for the weekend - and we have quite enjoyed a little down time after the hectic schedule of the first 10 days.

Our camp spot.

After our delightful drive of 36 miles on Thursday, September 29th, we did our usual ‘investigate the town’ routine. And, guess what is here this week-end?!? The Cowboy Poetry Gathering! Since we will be missing the one in Park City, we will enjoy this one;-) And, of course, there is the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. This is where we shall start.

By the early 1950’s, Denver &Rio Grande Western rail freight traffic in Southwest Colorado was reduced to a trickle as shippers started using the new highways. Line after line was scrapped. But, for some reason the PUC denied the request to abandon the Silverton Branch. Thank goodness. After a couple of sales (in 1981 to Bradshaw, a citrus grower, and again in 1997 to the Harpers) and a lot of work on upgrading the rails and equipment by the committed buyers - the Denver & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad (D&SNGRR) emerged as a world famous tourist line. Elizabeth rode these rails about 40-something years ago and wanted to relive the experience giving Gary the same thrills. Gary’s camera trigger finger was in constant action!! And, the sights and tree colors were fantastic -

The Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Train builds up steam before our departure.

Lots of beautiful sights along the way.

We'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes......

.....toot - toot!

Silverton in the distance.

Downtown Silverton.

Not producing much silver these days.

Heading back to Durango.

October was ushered in with a round of golf (sorry no pictures of this course) and the Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Now this may sound like a yawner. BUT, you couldn’t be any more wrong. If you ever have the chance to attend one of these sessions - you should do it. They are REALLY funny, entertaining and ALL AMERICAN!! Can’t be beat. (Also, I challenge you to sit through a session and not tear up at least once!!)

In between these events we walked Main Ave., found that ever searched for Family Mexican restaurant (Tacos Nayarit - GREAT food!!) and enjoyed the sights and sounds of our campground as we watched football on Saturday and Sunday;-)  Oh - did I mention that our campground is right on the D&SNGRR tracks!! So - we got to wave and enjoy the train four times a day when we weren’t on it;-)

and  they don't run through the camp at night.

Love to All - A relaxed E & G

The Anasazi or Ancestral Puebloans

What a FUN round of golf! No wonder The Hideout in Monticello is such a highly rated Muni course in Utah - it is fun to play, it is incredibly well maintained and the views are beautiful -

The mechanical man attempts a round of golf with dismal results.

After this wonderful morning, we packed up, said good-bye to our little cat friend and were ready to tackle our LOOOOONG drive of 70 miles to Mesa Verde and our new ‘camping’ spot - which is really peaceful -

A great spot just outside Mesa Verde National Park.

A storm squall rolls into our neighborhood.

For the past several days we have been traveling “The Trail of the Ancients” (apropos, don’t you think???) and will continue along the Trail to Albuquerque.

No, not my trail..the trail of the Ancestral Puebloans.

This Trail encompasses sites in the Four Corners region that ‘exemplify’ the Native People who inhabited the area since about 200 BC and their ‘homes’ and communities. Some of the sites included on this trail which we have already written about include the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum and Pueblo and Natural Bridges National Monument (NM).

Since arriving at Mesa Verde we have traveled the Trail to see the Anasazi Heritage Center, the Escalante ruins, the Lowry Pueblo NM in Canyons of the Ancients NM, Hovenweep NM and Mesa Verde NP. We are overwhelmed with the sites and history - and could write volumes on what we have seen. It is interesting to have a little of the background on each of these sites - so I will try to give some information BUT keep it short?!?!? Gary’s pictures will also tell the tale.

The Anasazi Heritage Center and the Escalante Ruins - The Anasazi Heritage Center was an outgrowth of the largest archaeological research project ever carried out in the US. This work began after 1968, when the federal government authorized the damming of a river. The required environmental impact study resulted in archaeologists finding more than 1,600 sites! The Escalante ruins, a 20-room pueblo built around 1129 A.D. and occupied, except for two short periods, until the early 1200’s, were excavated and stabilized as part of this study to become part of the Center.

A view of the Escalante Pueblo outside Cortez, CO.

Back to the Anasazi in a minute - but on a lighter note - a fund raising project by the San Juan Mountains Assoc. had artists ‘decorate’ pumas for Public Art for Public Lands. This puma was done in the ‘style’ of the Puebloans of black on white and resided in front of the Center. I loved him and wanted to share -

Puma On Parade at the Anasazi Cultural Center.

Now, back to the Anasazi. Although the pueblo above was built in the early 1100’s, the Anasazi (a Navajo term given archaeologists, referring to the former inhabitants of abandoned cliff dwellings and pueblos), or ‘Pueblo ancestors’ (the two terms are now used interchangeably), emerged more than two millennia ago from a seminomadic hunter-gatherer tradition to practice agriculture and live in villages. From about 5,500 B.C. to 500 A.D., small scattered bands or family groups roamed the Southwest hunting small game and collecting edible plants, seeds, nuts and fruit. The acquisition of corn from southern Mexico shifted these people from nomadism to agriculture and was the genesis of the Anasazi culture.

As they progressed from a hunting society to an agricultural one, their architectural skills also changed as they became more tied to the land. They advanced from sheltering themselves in shallow pithouses under rock overhangs to building multistoried masonry pueblos.

Because of the many finely woven baskets found at their pithouse sites, the first Anasazi are referred to as Basketmakers. By 700 A.D. these early farmers were building above-ground attached masonry dwellings, or pueblos. Then the term Basketmaker is dropped in favor of Pueblo. SO -

Lowry Pueblo, part of Canyons of the Ancients NM - The Ancestral Puebloan people constructed this Pueblo around 1060 A.D. and inhabited it for about 165 years. Lowry began as a small village with a few rooms and a kiva. By the time the last families left Lowry and migrated to the south, the pueblo had grown to 40 rooms, eight kivas, and a Great Kiva. Access here was wonderful as we were able to walk the perimeter and enter several rooms.

The Lowry Pueblo.

The Kiva was a very important part of the life of the Ancestral Puebloan. It was a central gathering place for the family, storytelling and religious activities. It was always circular, below ground, had a place for a fire in the center and was entered through a hole in the roof via a ladder. (The ruins no longer have the roof in place - on occasion the roof has been replicated.) It appeared that each family would have a Kiva and there might be a larger one for the community. The picture below shows the Great Kiva of the Lowry Pueblo, which probably drew Ancestral Puebloans from several hundred square miles to conduct religious ceremonies. An interpretive sign quoted a Hopi woman who recently visited the site as saying that the two rock designs in the floor of the Kiva were the images of Summer and Winter. If you look at the rocks they do have the character of human figures.

The Great Kiva at the Lowry Pueblo.

Hovenweep NM - Here at Hovenweep (which means ‘deserted valley’ in the Ute language) most of the buildings still standing were constructed from 1230 to 1275 by the Ancestral Puebloan and are referred to as the Square Tower group. The stunning Square Tower and an intriguing collection of buildings are clustered along the rim of Little Ruin Canyon. Here we were able to walk the entire rim to view the sites.

The Twin Towers

Hovenweep Castle

Several of the Hovenweep Towers nestled around the canyon. Square Tower sits down in the canyon.

Mesa Verde - The real jewel in the crown of the Trail (at least so far). Cited as one of the world’s top cultural attractions, Mesa Verde was home to the Ancestral Puebloans for more than 700 years! Complete homes and entire villages have survived with many artifacts amazingly intact, providing a unique and thought provoking glimpse into America’s pre-European past. The cliff houses set in rock alcoves or tucked in cracks in the canyon walls do give a feeling of fantasy - a Disneyland of American archaeology!

Although hunter-gatherers certainly roamed these canyons for thousands of years, Mesa Verde was not permanently settled until around 600 A.D. At this time, numerous pithouse villages were home to extended families. By 750 A.D. they had begun building surface rooms of upright posts woven through with slender branches to form walls that were coated with mud. While cool in the summer, these structures provided inadequate protection from the sharp winds and deep snows of Colorado winters. So - small contiguous masonry rooms eventually took their place as living quarters. Mesa Verdeans lived in pueblos on top of the mesas until around 1200 A.D. when many people moved into the canyons to live in the cliff dwellings. By the mid-1200’s, these cliff dwellings housed about half the population of the Mesa. By 1300 these pueblos were vacant! The reason for the exodus is a mystery - but believed to be because after such a long habitation the natural resources were depleted AND a prolonged drought reeked havoc with the agricultural society (global warming in the 1300’s!!). One has the opportunity to see the full range of this historical period - from pithouses of 600 A.D. to cliff pueblos of 1300’s - here at Mesa Verde. Some - up close and personal!

Dwellings built in the alcoves along Mesa Top.

Sunset House.

A distant view of Cliff Palace-the largest cliff dwelling in the Southwest!

Getting closer.

Almost there.

More than 100 Puebloans occupied Cliff Palace.

Amazing to see this from such a close proximity.

As you can see, by the 1300’s the Kiva has advanced to a much more ‘finished’ ceremonial room. Now an air ‘intake’ is included to bring fresh air into the Kiva. However, to prevent the rush of air from blowing the fire out or blowing the ash around the floor of the Kiva, a rock panel is placed in front of the intake entrance. The fire pit is still in the middle of the room. In this picture, the ‘sipapu’ is also easily seen. This is the little round hole in the floor directly below the fire pit. Remember the bridge of the same name at Natural Bridges?? This is the ‘entrance’ by which the ancestors spirits are able to come and go. One can also see the benches and pilasters that held up the roofs. These Kivas were still covered with a roof, which had the entrance ‘hole’ using a ladder. However, these roofs have not endured the test of time;-(

Note the air intake hole at the rear of this Kiva.

We had to climb several of these ladders to get back out of the canyon from Cliff Palace.

Spruce Tree House, our next destination, is the third largest cliff dwelling among several hundred within park boundaries and was constructed between 1200 and 1276 by the Anasazi. This dwelling contains about 114 rooms and eight kivas and housed about 100 people. Again, one can actually hike to the dwelling and climb amongst the ruins;-)

Now we are headed down to explore the Spruce Tree House.

Three story apartments at the back of this section of Spruce Tree House.
(Notice ladder down into the covered Kiva.)

The ladders lead down to Kivas.

The round structure below ground level is a Kiva without its roof.
Look at the red and white 'paint' on the upper back wall.

These last several days have been awe-inspiring. Makes one wonder - why do we talk about history of thousands of years ago only existing in Europe?? As in the Coliseum, Parthenon, etc?? There are wonderful, amazing, overwhelming and ageless sites in our own back yard!! AND - our Federal Government has done the National Park system right. Just hope funding isn’t cut here too;-(

Well - hope the narrative hasn’t been too boring, but maybe a little helpful. AND - hope the pictures have given some feel of what we have been able to experience the last few days. AND - there is more of the Trail to come with a little Balloon Festival in between. But, now we have to pack up for another LOOOONG moving day - 36 miles!!

So - have a great week-end and we will talk to you again soon.

Overwhelmed - E & G from the Trail of the Ancients