From BPK to GNP

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

chaco from above ..... Chaco Canyon II

There are 4 Posts on the heritage sites I was lucky enough to visit . With my usual lack of editing it ended up sprawling across 2 pages ..... so if you are liking it , you will have to go to the next page when you finally get to the end of this one !

There is a great loop trail that leaves from behind Kin Kletso (a smaller pueblo towards the NW end of the canyon ). It quickly climbs up out of the canyon through a funky staircase trail to spill out on to the first level of the eastern Mesa , and winds around to 2 of the settlements above the rim . Appropriately named Pueblo Alto and New Alto . Its about a 10k hike with some challenging moments ( steep steep downs ) but worth every skip of the heart . Up top you get the full impact of the Chaco "place" . And even now , you feel the spirit still there .

squeeze thru to the top

any guesses ?


looking out over Pueblo Arroyo through the South Gap to ....	?

kitty tracks

hanging in there

I have an idea about these steps

this particular road ... the North Road .. went all the way to Aztec

on top of pueblo alto

looking north

if you magnify , you can see the steps going straight up

side view of stairway

The pre Columbus cultures in the SW can be divided into 3 groups ... both Mesoamerica influenced . The Hohokam group had "sports" , as did all the Mesoamerican cultures . The Chaco didn't .... according to the archeologists . I think they could be wrong . People , most people , could never have traveled hear by way of those staircases . I think they were some sort of extreme adventure race !!!

coming back down to the canyon

more of the road

yes you do have to squeeze through this one


purple desert antennae

Ketl from above , Bonito in the background

the Ketl kiva collection

back wall where the midsummer sun rises

Bonito from above looking out towards Casa Rinconda

another squeeze job

looking down at Kin Kletso

view back towards whence I came

messages

So many thoughts for this place ....still coming together . Peace

at the center .... the desert is alive Chaco Canyon I

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 .