Trip #12: Santa Fe & Chaco Canyon, NM

October 22 - 25, 2008

SANTA FE, NM

CHACO CANYON, NM

The coolest thing on the Santa Fe plaza.

Need more work done on the Touareg -- oh darn, another trip to Santa Fe(!). This time we stayed at Santa Fe Skies RV park south of town – full hook up. Cool days, cold nights: 22 degrees in the am. It was so cold (how cold was it?) that the water line to the trailer froze (lesson learned). More shopping and eating, this time at Tomasito’s, where they use only the HOT chile. I could barely eat my meal, but I managed. wow. Next day more shopping (love this place) and a visit to the Wheelwright museum, plus a stop at Museum Hill (ok, just for their shops). And dinner of course at Maria's. The next day we headed north toward Chaco Canyon. It was a very rough ride on the approximately 15-mile washboard road to the park, so we crawled in. Shook the heck out of the trailer -- a shelf panel fell off inside; in fact, I think the front panel on the refrigerator fell off too... First night did Wijiji hike to ruins not far from the campground, then in the evening went to the ranger talk about how the “ancient puebloans” (not “Anasazi” anymore) had certain members who were experts on the stars which told them when to do what. Luckily in 2009 we have very powerful telescopes and Chaco has some of the darkest star-gazing skies in the US, so we took turns looking at Andromeda and Jupiter and two of its moons. Then a busload of 40 kids arrived so we ducked out for a late dinner. The next day we hiked Penasco Blanco ruin way at the other end of the canyon and did 7.2 miles, great hike. It was 68 degrees but felt like 90 in full sun. In the evening we went to another chat, this time on rock art; a painful experience for B (I liked it). A woman was documenting all the rock art in the park -- and was not a professional speaker. Nights about 22 degrees here too. This campground was "primitive," i.e., no water or electric so you have to come prepared. The next day we hiked Pueblo Alto on top of the mesa. Nice as well, ruins and remnants of the old Chaco roads visible. Did about 4 miles. Very interesting location – they say this wasn’t a place where the ancients actually lived; they just congregated here for whatever reasons (rituals, trade?) for however long, with the wide Chaco roads radiating out in all directions. Another something to google.

Chaco Area History: From AD 850 to 1250, Chaco was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the prehistoric Four Corners area--unlike anything before or since. The Chacoan people combined many elements: pre-planned architectural designs, astronomical alignments, geometry, landscaping, and engineering to create an ancient urban center of spectacular public architecture. 

The view looking NW from Santa Fe Skies RV Park.

Told you it was cold.

A great bronze sculpture display at Museum Hill depicting the end of the Santa Fe Trail.

The new campsite at Chaco Canyon. Again, we were among few campers this late in October.

One of the many ruins you can tour in this huge Chaco Canyon area.

Pueblo Bonito, the most famous and largest of the ruins, has had to be stabilized. Part of the back area it was taken out a long time ago with a rock fall. Richard Wetherill, who is credited with discovering the Mesa Verde ruins and many others we've hiked in Utah, had a trading post set up here against this ruin at the turn of the century and was killed here back in 1910.

A larger view of Pueblo Bonito. It is a D-shape.

To hike Pueblo Alto on top of the mesa, you had to go up through this first.

They say this is the remains of a Chaco road.

One of the more famous pictographs at Chaco; some think it might show their documentation of the year 1054 supernova. Eat your heart out Jack Horkheimer.

The paths you walk along -- look close, you're walking on fossils.

My attempt at time-lapse photography of the ZILLION stars over the sacred Hot Dog. The bump on the horizon is Fajada Butte, another sacred spot in the park we can no longer tour. I read in a book on turquoise that among other things, they might have done stone work up there, judging by all the beads that were found by researchers.

Bill was drooling over this creation. If I remember, the man was from Oregon. I just pray it never goes up for sale....