Leslie and David's Wanderings: 19 March 2021 Chaco Canyon

After visiting Aztec Ruins NM earlier in the week, we decided we needed to visit Chaco Culture National Historic Park. After researching the park, we determined our best option was to go in the north entrance. The roads into the park or dirt roads with limited maintenance. There are warnings on the web site that the roads to the southern entrance can be VERY rough if not impassible. The roads to the northern entrance are gravel until the last 8 miles to the park entrance when they turn to dirt. We headed east on US-64 and then south on US-550 until we can to NM7500. We followed the signs for the park. About 2 miles on NM7900, we turned onto NM7950 shortly after we turned onto NM7950 the pavement ended and were on gravel. The road had a LOT of washboard. Leslie was driving and she did not like the washboard. We kept on going, but it really did not get better. About 8 miles from the park entrance, the county maintenance ended and the road turned to dirt. It was a little rough in places not easily passable. We were a bit surprised by the amount of traffic on the road. When we hit the park entrance, the roads turned out to be paved. We stopped to get our entrance sign pictures before heading for the visitor center. We stopped at the first overlook which was for Fajada Butte in the distance. We were surprised to read that there was an ancient sundial on the top of the butte, which along with three large boulder slabs, was used by the ancient Puebloians to identify the spring and summer solstice and the equinoxes. We gave Etta a chance to walk around before proceeding on to the visitor center. The visitor center was closed but they had information on a table out front, including maps and information of trails. But we could not find the park stamp. As we stood there, a ranger stepped out of the visitor center and we were surprised to see it was the same ranger we ran into at Aztec Ruins NM. She went and got the stamp (but it had the wrong date set) for our passport. She also informed us that was a park fee of $25, so we decided to just get a year long passport card. It was a bit of a surprise that they were charging for access to this park considering the horrible roads getting to the park and that the visitor center and store were closed due to Covid. The ranger told us which trails we could take Etta on, so we went back to the Bohemoth to eat lunch and make our plan. Our next stop was Hungo Pavi Ruins along the canyon loop drive. We took turns walking out to the ruins while one of us stayed at the truck with Etta. It was warm enough that we did not want to leave Etta in the Behemoth alone. We then made our way to the Chetro Keti Ruins. We took Etta on the trail to the ruins but not into the ruins. Then made our way along the cliff face to see the petroglyphs . By the time we were halfway along the trail, Etta was beat, so Leslie took her back to the Behemoth while David proceeded to Pueblo Bonito, the largest of the ruin complexes. Pueblo Bonito covers 3 acres and was the cultural center of the Pueblo society from 800 to 1200AD. The different ruin complexes were built at different times and show changes in architecture as time progressed. The building works were very impressive considering they were built by hard labor with primitive tools. At is height, there were 1000-2000 people living in the canyon. They also built roads between Pueblo centers in the region that ran very straight for miles. A very sophisticated society that just disappeared in the late 1200s with no clear reason why. We had planned to do a three mile hike with Etta, but it was clear she was not up to it. So we made one more stop at Pueblo de Arroyo. By now we were getting a little burned out on Pueblo Ruins so we decided to head back home through the south entrance for variety. As we got to the end of the loop road, Leslie spotted the park elk herd lying in a field. This herd had come down from the Rocky Mountains in 1966 and stays in the park year round. The road from the south entrance to NM9 is a dirt road for 33 miles that goes through private land. The road is rarely maintained and can get very difficult when wet. Fortunately it was dry for use and actually in very good shape until the last ½ mile before hitting pavement at NM9. The last ½ mile was a bit rough, but nothing that would stop the Behemoth! Maybe it had been recently maintained, but it did not live up to the warnings on the park website. The drive back to Kirtland was easy. This part of New Mexico is very flat with grassy fields for as far as you can see. In the distance, as we headed north on 371, we could see snow in the mountains of Colorado, and eventually we could see Shiprock to the west.