road trip     

Sunrise over Gallo campground. Getting to this place requires driving about 20 miles on gravel road. CR 7950 is not too bad for the first few miles, but then it gets washboardy, and the dust flies in a plume behind the car for miles. And then - wait for it - the gravel stops and lo, we are on a rutted dirt road that is apparently impassable after a good rain. At this point there are grip marks embedded in the steering wheel and likely jaw damage from gritting of teeth. And then, just when it seems it could not get any worse, it does, the road experience begins to pass out of human comprehension and one is reminded of that sign posted over Dante's hell: "Abandon all hope ye who enter here." And then, just when all, all is empty striving after wind, the road becomes paved again (oh blessed asphalt) and we drive into the national monument property.

Looking west, this was the view of the canyon walls lit by the rising sun; photo does not do justice to the colors.

To be identified. This little guy and his friend visited our campsite, or rather moved into our campsite. They'd fly into the car and look around, fly into the screen tent and look around. Friendly little birds, maybe, but probably just smart enough to learn that if you hang around campers long enough, they're bound to drop a crumb or two. At least they're not grizzlies...

These were blooming everywhere. I think it's a desert primrose.

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Chetro Ketl is the second-largest Chacoan great house in the canyon, covering 3 acres. It was occupied 650-1250 CE (A.D.). Kivas were ceremonial places. The people who lived here were the ancestors of the present-day Puebloan Peoples who live in the Desert Southwest. Chaco seems to have been a trade/religious/cultural center, the hub of the whole area now known as "Four Corners" (so named because Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet at this point). Who were the Chacoans? Probably the Anasazi, but perhaps even back before the Anasazi. They farmed here and built all of this using hand labor and only stone tools.
     + TD

Doorways. Note the timber used - all of the wood was "imported" from approximately 50 miles away, and carried by the builders. None of the timber used at Chaco Canyon shows signs of being dragged. Some theorize about these being carried in a procession, with ritual overtones.
     + JB

This is the largest Chacoan great house. The builders were apparenty out to impress, and they succeeed. These structures were made with hands and stone tools. These people had no wheels, so the massive ceiling timbers were carred over 50 miles.

Doors and windows line up in interesting ways and consequently get photographed a lot. They serve for entry into rooms, and possibly to capture the wind for air circulation throughout the structures.

Original ceiling timbers, dating to 850-1000 CE (A.D.).

Many doors lining up. This view is famous and apparently one of the most photographed. Thought we'd contribute to the stash.

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One of several "T" shaped doors. No one is sure why these doors were constructed in this shape. One speculation is they made them this way just because they could. Another speculation is that they were designed to accommodate a person carrying in a huge sack of something on their shoulders.

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(to the tune of "Tobacco Road")

Blow your tires out, break your car,
Go too fast and you won't go far...
Gravel washboard, full of holes:
You be travelin' on the Chaco Road...

Snap your tie rods, shake your bones,
Grab the wheel, how the engine groans;
Down to dirt now, ill this bodes:
You be travelin' on the Chaco Road...