Fajada Butte & Chaco Canyon

☼ PHOTOGRAPH PARTICULARS ☼

Looking down Chaco Canyon wash, this is the same view the Anasazi would hve had of Fajada Butte. A striking landscape in any era.

This was my third or fourth visit to Chaco Canyon and there is always something new to see and learn. The old visitors’ center I remember from past visits, is no more. It has been torn down. Temporary headquarters for visitors is a Yurt, which somehow manages to look like it fits in. As always the rangers are extremely helpful, courteous, and knowledgeable. I admire these people and they all seem to care so much for the places they are assigned.

I could parrot a bunch of information I find fascinating about Chaco Canyon and the Anasazi (a term now starting to lose favor to who knows what next). There is the story of the immense amount of turquoise (from the ancient hand dug Cerrillos, New Mexico mines - a place we visited); the astronomy of Fajada Butte; the miles of wide (30 feet or more wide for people with no wheeled carts) that ran straight as an arrow for miles like the spokes of a wheel with Chaco Canyon at the center; the pottery and crops; the tree ring chronology of the timbers found at Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl; the later arrival of Richard Wetherill, who ran a trading post in the area but was murdered; or Neil Judd, the archaeologist, who found a beautiful turquoise necklace buried at a door threshold of Pueblo Bonito; or the sea shells, macaw feathers and copper bells that made their way in trade to Chaco - - and on and on.

But the more you read on your own, before and after your visit to Chaco Canyon the better you will enjoy and appreciate your visit to the canyon ruins themselves. Here are some books I have in my library that I would HIGHLY recommend you read (as many of them as you can), before you take your next trip to Chaco Canyon (in priority order):

1. People of Chaco Canyon ~ a canyon and its culture. By Kendrick Frazier. A great “overview” book, well written and covering a wide range of topics well.

2. Men met along the trail ~ adventures in archaeology. By Neil M. Judd

3. House of Rain. By Craig Childs.

4. The Wetherills of the Mesa Verde. Autobiography of Benjamin Alfred Wetherill.

5. Roads to Center Place ~ a cultural atlas of Chaco Canyon and the Anasazi. By Kathryn Gabriel.

Read as many of these books and your visit to Chaco Canyon will literally “come to life”. I promise.

Ed and I visited both Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl on this visit. One can only imagine what the buildings, kivas, roads, and crop fields looked like 750 years ago.
☼ ACTIVITIES DAY FIVE OF TWELVE ☼

After a good night’s rest at Farmington, New Mexico we left at dawn, as was our custom on this trip, with three major destinations in mind: Bisti (pronounced: Biss Tie) badlands; Chaco Canyon; and Bandelier national monument. We had motel rooms reserved at Santa Fe.

The hike into the rock and clay formations at Bisti turned out to be my favorite stop on the entire road trip. I had never been there before. We were the only ones there, the weather was bright and clear, and the formations were absolutely amazing. I used my small Garmin etrex to make certain that we would hike to one of the two “good spots” and back out, in the most time efficient manner.

There is another good section of Bisti that I know, one day, I will return to visit. Same with the De-Na-Zin area. Always something for another road trip. After Bisti we made our way to Chaco Canyon and visited Chetro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito. I had been to Chaco three times before but never in a situation where I wasn’t rushed for time. Ed and I enjoyed our walks to both ruins and took our time.

After Chaco Canyon it was clear (using the ETA on the NUVI navigator), that we weren’t going to make Bandelier with enough light to really enjoy it, so for the first and only time on this road trip, we altered our route solely as a result of “running out of time”. There were several times we altered plans due to weather and dirt (mud) road conditions.

So instead of traveling the highways that would lead us to Bandelier from Chaco, we checked the map and took a scenic but more direct highway into Santa Fe (highway 96 instead of highway 4 that would have taken us to Santa Fe via Bandelier).

We got into Santa Fe right at dark, in time to check out the historic town square, the cathedral, and get a good meal. The next morning would follow a now established and predictable routine: On each and every day of this road trip, Ed and I would load our gear back in the Jeep right at or just before dawn, always looking forward to the new day’s destinations. The way a road trip should be.

☼ 3,875 MILE/12 DAY ~ 4 CORNERS ROAD TRIP OVERVIEW ☼

At the start of year 2011, I made tentative plans to take a two week solo “road trip” through the Four Corners area (The Colorado Plateau), during the last half of March. Then, if my wife could get the time needed off from her part time job, I also planned a “road trip” vacation to the Southwest, in April with her.

When I put the plan together for the March trip, I decided to see if an old friend of mine, Ed (Flickr’s: OldWrangler), might be interested in joining me. I volunteered to take my old four wheel drive pickup truck and split the gasoline expense with him. We would each get an inexpensive motel room on the road to serve as “base camps” to hike, photograph, and explore back roads in the Four Corners area.

Not only did Ed accept but he also proposed that we take his brand new 4-door Jeep Wrangler instead of my old pickup truck. That didn’t take any thinking on my part. I LOVE Jeeps and Ed and I have always got along well (decades ago, I worked for him and we had taken a fun road trip together back in 2008, along with my friend John and my youngest son). The deal was sealed.

We left my house in Central Washington early Monday morning on the 14th of March. We returned 12 days and 3,875 miles later on Friday evening March 25th. We spent a lot of time drinking Diet Pepsi from the ice chest and keeping the hits of the 60s (and occasionally the 70s), cranked up high on the Jeep’s Sirius satellite radio sound system. Sing along music! “Road trip” tunes.

Weather often dictated changes to our proposed route and activities. We stayed flexible, and in the end we visited the large majority of places we had hoped to see, when the road trip began. We had sun and clear skies, snow, dust storms, and high winds at times. Ed’s Jeep had an outside temperature display. We drove in everything from18 degree weather to temperatures in the 70s in New Mexico.

Here in outline form are the places we saw, hiked, photographed, and visited during the 12 day road trip:

Mon 3.14.11
* Interstate travel from my house in Central Washington to Lehi, Utah

Tue 3.15.11
* Scenic back roads ( Hwys: 6, 89, & 31) from Spanish Fork to Huntington, Utah
* Dirt road travel to “The Wedge” and down Buckhorn Wash to I-70.
* Side trip to the Head of Sinbad petroglyph and then on to Moab.

Wed 3.16.11
* Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands NP (Mesa Arch & Upheaval Dome)
* The Shafer “Jeep” Trail down to the White Rim road and back to Moab.
* Hike to Delicate Arch & visit Windows section in Arches NP.

Thu 3.17.11
* Newspaper Rock in the Needles district of Canyonlands NP
* Attempt back road travel thru the Abajo Mountains to Monticello
* Edge of the Cedars museum in Blanding, Utah
* Hovenweep - Square tower group loop hike
* Shiprock and then on to Farmington, New Mexico.

Fri 3.18.11
* Bisti Badlands hike (My favorite hike on the trip)
* Chaco Canyon (Chetro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito) visit
* Scenic highway 96 and then down into Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Sat 3.19.11
* Santo Domingo Pueblo (turquoise & pueblo oven bread)
* Cerrillos and the Turquoise Trail (highway 14)
* Acoma Sky City pueblo
* El Morro national monument hike
* Zuni pueblo then on to Grants, New Mexico

Sun 3.20.11
* Scenic highway 34 through Crystal to Canyon de Chelly national monument
* Canyon del Muerto rim of Canyon de Chelly. Stay in Chinle, Arizona

Mon 3.21.11
* White house ruin overlook at Canyon de Chelly
* Drive through a major dust storm getting pelted with flying tumbleweeds
* Highway 264 across Hopi Mesas to Tuba City then to Page, Arizona

Tue 3.22.11
* Try “walk in” lottery for “The Wave” (failed…….again)
* Visit Upper antelope slot canyon
* Big Bend of Colorado River

Wed 3.23.11
* The Toadstools hike
* Cottonwood wash/Paria River dirt road to Grosvenor (Butler) arch
* Kodachrome Basin (hike “Parade” and box canyons loop)
* Bryce Canyon National Park then on to Escalante, Utah

Thu 3.24.11
* Cancelled all our dirt road travel when we woke up to snow in Escalante
* Goblin Valley State Park then on to Ogden, Utah

Fri 3.15.11
* Interstate (through some serious snow in Northern Utah) back home.

Part of the fun of any “road trip” is the many interesting and wonderful people you meet along the way. We met more than our share but a few honorable mentions:

* Fred (Sawtooth photo) joined us for a Cracker Barrel lunch in Boise
* Al Hamann (a colorful character to say the least) CEO of Sun’s Inc. Passive Solar Products at Cindi’s Café in Huntington, Utah
* 15 year old “life is good” waitress at the Moab, Utah Pizza Hut
* Ana and daughter Tina ~ Santo Domingo Pueblo (turquoise & bread)
* Patricia (owner) at the Cerrillos, New Mexico turquoise mine museum
* “Love’s his job” and knowledgeable ranger at El Morro national monument
* Acoma Indian waitress at Grants, New Mexico
* Young Zuni girl with her special puppy “Angel”

And I just as well get the big confession out of the way. I gained back 6 pounds on this 12 day trip (and it is no mystery how that happened), of the hard lost pounds I from the preceding two and half months (“New Year’s resolution”). We ate a LOT at a LOT of family cafés and had many Denny’s specials. We found a few places to eat that were just flat out fantastic:

1. Homestead Steak House in Blanding, Utah (Order the French dip sandwich, which is served on fresh doughy bread, lots of beef, onions, green pepper, and cheese). Oh my!

2. The Family Hogan in Tuba City, Arizona. They were out of the Navajo mutton stew so I had the open face hot beef sandwich and a pizza sized Navajo fry bread with butter, sugar and cinnamon on the side (a vanilla milk shake too). I enjoyed each and every bite. The food was excellent and portions - generous.

3. Escalante Outfitters café (Pesto chicken pizza). Always good food can be found here and friendly people working there.

* Skip Chu Chu’s restaurant outside the Zuni pueblo. It was worth the view and a try, but the food was just not up to “road trip” standards.

I hope you enjoy some of the selected photographs I post from this road trip.

Oldmantravels 3.27.2011