Rockhounding, Ancient Pueblos July 11-12

Thursday July 11

This morning we headed out to find a few rockhounding sites from the book Anita and Kevin gave us on rockhounding in New Mexico.

We first retrace part of yesterday’s journey  to Eagle Nest and along the Enchanted Circle to Taos. Windy, twisting road through some beautiful mountains and meadows.  We see a few deer, magpies and the ever-present ravens. After taking a picture of these deer, 

I turned around to see the silhouette of this buck watching me from the hill above.   All the antlers are in velvet.

 Amazing how beautiful "weeds" can be!

Noisy ravens along a fence.

We stop for milk and then breakfast at Taos McDonalds, and head to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  A huge steel structure which was quite a feat when built in the early 1960’s.

The low morning sun makes for sharp shadows.

There are some pretty blooming cactus at the rest stop here.

From here, we take several back roads to two different rockhounding sites.  Lots of cattle guards and free roaming cattle.  The first site is an old mine site with lots of mica, calcite and things we liked which we can’t identify for sure – mostly quartz and agate, we think.  I'm a sucker for the sparkly rocks with mica.

 It is beginning to get warm (80) as we head to the second site also on highway 519. Here there is more calcite and lots of red rocks.  We find a few nice ones with agate and then decide to keep heading north on 519…..on the map it LOOKS like it goes to the main road we want to be on.  And it does, eventually, after turning to gravel and dirt for quite a while.  The terrain is dry with scrub brush, sage and juniper.

We head west and north, through the Carson National Forest toward Colorado.  The  elevation climbs, so there is more green, cooler temperature and prettier scenery. 

At the top of one pass there is a gorgeous profusion of yellow flowers!

8 miles past the border of Colorado we stop for the night on Buckles Lake Road in the San Juan National Forest.  The road is rough, but the site is only ½ mile in.  A nice spot on the edge of the forest, so we are surrounded by towering spruce and pines.  We use a variety of "aps" to find sites, or sometimes just come upon them - this one was on freecampsites.com.

This is a dispersed camping site – no facilities other than a fire ring – but it is all ours and we see only a few vehicles pass by during our stay, as apparently the road eventually goes to a lake.  We discover that jeeps and four wheel drive vehicles are popular here for a reason.

 Perfect sleeping weather in the 50’s.

Friday, July 12

 Early this morning, we continue into Colorado.  We stop at Echo Canyon Reservoir, just to look around. The morning light is warm and golden on the lake where ducks and birds are stirring.  A few fishermen as well fishing for trout and perch (I asked).

Interesting ducks, some with little ones. This is a coot, which we've seen all over the country.

This one had a beautiful blue bill!

 Further down the road we stop for breakfast at a little restaurant called Two Chicks and a Hippie. Though I don't like the term "chicks" unless it applies to our feathered friends,  it seems a unique kind of place.   I have a great sticky bun while Greg feasts on a giant Burrito.  I think the hippie was our server and the place was hopping.

Next stop is Chimney Rock. I know there is a Chimney Rock in North Carolina and I’m pretty sure we went to one in Nebraska as well, but here we are in southwest Colorado.  THIS Chimney Rock holds ruins from a 1000 year old Puebloan culture.

 We sign up for a tour that will start shortly and drive the 2 mile road up to a parking area nearer the Pueblo.  Michael is our tour guide and we join a group of about eight other folks.  Michael fills us in on some history of the area.  

This site was built by the Chacoan people whose center was at Chaco Canyon, about 90 miles away.  This “four corners” area (where New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah meet) was once  heavily populated. A larger population than exists today!  Chimney Rock was probably one of over 350 outlying pueblos from Chaco, built for hunting and trading.  There is evidence of trade with Mexico, Arizona,  and as far away as the Iroquois. 

 This is the highest pueblo around and we hike up a hill to get to the main site.

This pueblo consisted of 2 stories and about 35 rooms finished about 1075AD.  The rocks used were carried up from the river, and they estimate that about 500 Ponderosa Pines were used.  There are also many individual pit homes, built about 2 feet into the earth.

 

 Archeoastronomy evidence shows the puebloans knowledge and use of astronomy.  Every 18 .6 years the full moon will rise exactly between the two chimneys for several weeks, before it begins a shift south.  They call this the Northern Lunar Standstill.  The dates of construction suggests this was a lunar observatory and the next event will be in 2023.

This and other sites, like Mesa Verde, were looted and vandalized in the late 1800’s.

In 1888 a Swedish archeologist heard about Mesa Verde and came here.  He removed 6 boxcars full of materials and took them back to Sweden. The locals tried to have him arrested and stopped, but there were no laws that he had broken.  This prompted Teddy Roosevelt to pass The Antiquities Act in 1906.  Other subsequent laws have strengthened protection, but theft and unauthorized access continue to be a problem.

From here we head into Durango for an oil change.  Then we continue west toward Canyon of the Ancients National Monument visitor’s center and museum.  The puebloan people of this area used to be called the Anasazi, but this term is no longer used as it was a derogatory term for enemies in Navajo language.  Now Puebloans is proper. 

 A tour was just about to begin, so we joined Jim, who gave us a quick history lesson as we toured highlights of the main gallery. This included pottery, weapons and other artifacts from the Basketry, Pueblo I, Pueblo II, and Pueblo III eras. 

 When a large reservoir was built in the 1970’s,  archeologist gathered information and materials from 125 sites that would be impacted and much of the information and artifacts are here at the museum, either on display or catalogued and made available to the public. Below are materials from an actual pit house.

 

In 1150 AD the average life expectancy was about 50.  Most lived in pit houses which used  geothermal heating with 2/3 of the building under ground level, 1/3 above.  Most of their time was spend in capturing or collecting, processing, consuming and storing food and water.    

Outside was a pretty desert garden, and a short hike up to an excavation of another pueblo site with nice views of the surrounding area.  They say there were thousands of such sites around the four corners area.

Most of the yucca plants we saw had fruit - we had seen them in bloom and plain at other times but never with fruit! They say it is usually roasted and tastes sort of like figs.  The fibrous spiny leaves were used in weaving,

 McPhee Reservoir is nearby. This allows much of the snow melt and rain from the "monsoons" in late July and August to be stored for the drier times.

Amala and Pam at the Visitor Center desk were enthusiastic and helpful!  Pam showed us a map with several dispersed camping sites on BLM property in the area, so after viewing a short film about Canyon of the Ancients and Hovenweep, we headed to one such site.

It was further than we’d thought, through mostly agricultural land with large irrigation systems. The roads were dirt and gravel and continued to deteriorate as we went on….the road to the first site was too bad to attempt.  The second one was doable and led to a terrific site at the edge of a steep cliff, overlooking juniper and sage covered land. 

The junipers were full of berries.

 A nice breeze was blowing, so we took outdoor showers, then perched on the cliff and took in the view!   Had dinner and watched the moon rise and sun set. Wonderful!