road trip     

Mule-ear Daisy.

These happy little flowers are growing all over the place, blossom is about a half-inch across.

Lupine.

to be identified.

So named because of a steep and narrow ancient stairway that led down the side of the cliff to the house. This site is the only one where visitors can hike down and spend as much time there as desired. A ranger is present to answer questions and it's great. All the other sites require the purchase of a ticket, the crowds are large and the tour is kept moving through.

The ancient peope who built these houses and lived here are thought to be the same people who built the great houses at Chaco. We are tracing their journey/migration, in a way.

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Step house kiva.

This is the famous one, and the largest. The crowds are large, and for the excellent reason of preserving the site, kept moving along. This photo is from across the canyon.

This is a cliff rose but the swirly flower parts are different.

Most of them looked like this.

A beautifully kept trail leading to the ancient structures. Most of it was across sandstone, and marked with stones.

The same people - Chacoans, Anasazi, more appropriately called "the ancient ones" by the present day Puebloan people - built these places.

At Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde, the stones were fitted using no mortar. At Hovenweep, the building technique used mortar.

Boulder house is built into a large boulder that just looks absolutely inaccessible from anywhere. This is a telephoto view, not visible in the photo is the pedestal the boulder sits on.

These little guys scooted across the path all the time and then wuld cock their head back in a lizardy way, checking to see who was intruding on their sun-baked desert privacy.

Perched high on the watchtower. This place still lives.