When you drive 23 miles down a dirt road to enter a park , strangely contrasting between the sublime beauty of the Navajo world and the massive trucks ( the first 5 miles ) draining the dinosaurs out of the ground ... and then driving at a walking pace ( the last 5 miles ) because you are trying to hang onto your teeth ..... you are going to form some strong opinions when you leave !
Chaco Canyon
People have been living in Chaco Canyon for 10,000 years.
Physically it is an amazing place . It's a wide , "gentle" canyon , very much alive .
wiki chaco
Around 800 , for reasons and with influences still being debated , the Basketmaker culture here expanded and went from living in pit house settlements to building enormous multi-storied crescent shaped structures , astronomically aligned , containing large residential suites and numerous subterranean kivas . It was an extremely organized effort requiring the cutting of large timber 50 miles away and getting it there without the wheel . We still don't know how many people actually lived here year round . It is quite possible that Chaco was a ceremonial snowbird destination .
Why ? How ? Who ? How many .... They just sealed it up and left . Really ?
If you get bit by the Chaco bug there is wonderful reading material out there .
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| view of Fajeta Butte from camp |
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| view of me freezing at Fajetta Butte |
( I had run a trail half marathon a couple days before ... brutal course . Bike was all I could handle for a few days .
this is me smiling ... because I had no clue how hard it was going to be )
http://photos.daily-times.com/
The "developed " canyon itself is about 10 miles long , part road, part trail . I biked out to a couple of the pueblos the first day
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| Pueblo Bonito |
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| looking towards the plaza |
Chetro Ketl
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| small settlement against canyon wall behind Chetro Ketl |
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| construction methods changed during expansion |
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| this is a great cross section ! You can see the " core and veneer" method of masonry . |
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| the central kiva was huge |
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| the sun rose along the wall mid-summers day |
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| moon |
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| Fajetta Butte |
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