SPAS, TRAINS, HIKING AND ANCIENT SITES IN CO, NM, UT 2014 day 6

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September 27, 2014

We left for Chaco Culture National Historical Park (also referred to simply as Chaco Canyon) early in the morning after packing water and a picnic lunch (there are no amenities available in or near the park). The park is about an hour and a half from Farmington with about 8 miles of paved road and 13 miles of semi-graded gravel and dirt roads, 4 1/2 of those miles are very rough. We allowed at least two hours to get there and were glad we did as it was pretty slow going at times. As we approached the wide open spaces and the empty dirt roads we could see a few Native American farmers’ homes with horses grazing nearby. Closer to the park we saw two herds of elk with a few bulls guiding their harem. The sun was out but it was hazy and threatened rain so we hoped to get all of our exploring in before the rain forced us to leave.

Chaco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, boasts the “most exceptional concentration of pueblos in the American Southwest.” This unique “ancient urban center” began by constructing pueblos from quarried sandstone blocks between 900 and 1150 AD. The sandstone was relatively close at hand but these people often hauled wood from mountains up to 70 miles away for beams also used in the construction of their buildings. Pueblo Bonito, with its 650 rooms, is the largest great house covering nearly two acres. It was four stories high and had masonry walls up to three feet thick that run north to south with a central plaza at its core. The scale and precision of architecture is thought to rival that of the Colosseum. There are many houses, “great houses” and ceremonial kivas (one kiva was built for every 29 rooms) on the vast canyon floor.
Trading along ancient road systems was not uncommon as shells and other non-native objects were found in Chaco from places as far away as Mexico. Through the trading of objects from other people, the Pueblo people learned about different cultures and adapted some of this knowledge into their own culture. Like other Pueblo people, those who lived in Chaco focused on astronomy. Many of their buildings were aligned to capture the solar and lunar cycles. Over many generations these people studied and observed the movements of the stars and what they observed influenced their daily life including aiding in their ability to support this agrarian people.

It is thought that climate change was the reason that the Pueblo people abandoned Chaco Canyon. A fifty year drought began in 1130 AD and with no water in the mountainous desert highlands that likely forced the evacuation of their homeland but tensions may have arisen regarding lack of water causing tribal wars. What is unclear is exactly why they left. The Hopi and Pueblo people still maintain the stories about their ancestors whose spiritual lives were so closely tied to the land and the rangers in the park work closely with the tribes to preserve the religious and historical heritage of Chaco Canyon.

To fully explore all the ruins (especially considering the long drive to get there) you need to plan an entire day to fully explore this site. We spent many hours in the hot sun walking through the many houses, observing petroglyphs on canyon walls, and trying to understand a culture that would survive in these desert conditions. At the end of the day the storm clouds did appear. By the time we began the long drive out of the canyon it had begun to rain and the muddy roads became even more of a challenge than when dry. But it was well worth the drive to learn more about the Puebloans and explore this amazing site.

If we had only known last night about the St Clair Winery and Bistro we would have had dinner here two nights in a row. In a town of fast food and chain options with few independent eating establishments, there should be no question about where to go to find good, reasonably priced food: St Clair Winery and Bistro!
This place is busy and popular with locals and it is easy to understand why. The place is airy, clean, vibrant and the food is great. My husband had a portobello-bison burger on kale salad with avocado. Beautiful presentation and delicious! I had a huge kale and Brussels sprouts salad with grilled shrimp, slivered almonds and parmesan cheese. It too was delicious but enormous so I ended up saving more than half the salad to enjoy on a picnic at Hovenweep (where there was no food available). Perfect!

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