Chaco Canyon - A visit into the PAST...

It takes perseverance, patience and just a bit of "no pain, no gain" qualities to get you into Chaco Canyon...and it's worth every nerve-racking/body-jolting/expletive-filled moment that it takes to get there. If you are a thrill seeker, these roads are for you! You have two options to get into the canyon.



Fajada  Butte and visitor center

1) From the north you can enter off Hwy 550/44 and eventually hit CR 7950 for 16 miles...and after 13 jaw-jarring washboard miles you will have arrived at the visitor center, or 2) from the South enter from NM Hwy 57 for 20, less body-jolting (according to locals), miles. Either way you will reach the visitor center. (oh, psst - no cell coverage in the park....unless you are in the parking lot).

Cliff dwelling ruins in campground

Gallo Campground is just a mile from there but it is 1st come/1st serve. There is no lodging, gasoline, repair svcs or food in the park and the nearest town is 60 miles away - so come prepared.

 

There are 10 primitive sites to visit, 6 by the paved loop drive and the remaining 4 by hiking trails, not for the faint of heart, (ranging in distance from 3 - 7.4 miles) to visit two of the sites up on the adjoining mesas. Largely due to the immense sizes of the site we covered the park area over several days...using the Trail Guides that are available for a small fee at each site ($.50) or you can borrow and return to be recycled by others.

 

Example of information provided in trail guides



The trail guides not only provided historical facts and information, but artist renderings of layouts of the pueblos, photos of masonry examples, construction of roofs, ceilings and walls, as well as the corresponding & numbered posts-to-text explainations of typical and unique features at each site.

 

 

Occupied A.D. 950-1250s, Chetro Ketl is the 2nd largest pueblo in Chaco. These beams are between the second and third floors of the pueblo. The pueblo covers approx. 3 acres, estimated 500 rooms of which 275 were 2nd/3rd floor rooms. A large portion @ post 1(see map above) of the pueblo is "unexcavated" in an effort to preserve. (We discovered that quite a bit of the ruins are "unexcavated" or were excavated, documented, preserved in some fashion then back-filled to preserve.)




Leading from Chetro to Pueblo Bonito is a short trail along the bluff for petroglyph viewing...a trail guide descibes the 13 in all, it's worth the detour.

 

At Hunge Pavi pueblo complex, circa A.D. 1000-1250's,  examples of the wood beams used for flooring (left)  and the 3' thick walls of slate/sandstone can be found.

Next on the tour is Pueblo del Arroyo - circa A.D. 850-1100, where portions of the site were built using a block sandstone as seen in the photos below.

even, flat outer walls are evident in all of the buildings

cross section of wall of block sandstone and mud mortar made from the nearby Chaco Wash, which during construction was 8' wide by 18" deep.
"Overgrazing and natural cycles of erosion in the last 100 years has increased the wash to 100' wide and 30-40' deep." (WNPA publications)

Which brings me to the largest and most visited pueblo in the canyon Pueblo Bonito (Spanish for "Beautiful Town"). Pueblo Bonito in it's entirety consisted of 600 rooms, with the oldest section dating CE 850 to the late 900s - that being confined to 100 ground & upper story rooms.

This photo is of the oldest vigas (tree beams) in the pueblo and is protected by a small 20th C roof with drainage eave/pipe.

 

Early looting/scavenging of the ruins can be seen by the neatly sawed remains of exposed beams throughout the sites. **

An example of beams, flat walls and a T-shaped doorway.

This ends photos of the pueblos within this posting, however there is a slide show attached to my blog that displays these and other sites within the park.

The short 2 min video here is one that I took as I went down and into Pueblo Bonito where it is permitted. (My apologies, the first 30 sec I had the camera at the wrong angle and then corrected it.)
The stops within this area descend 14 stairs, stooping through 11 narrow doorways that are 20-27" wide, 41-46 " high - so I want to thank my chiropractor for keeping me limber enough to experience this .... this pueblo is 1000 years old and I got to scamper through it. (** Note: Look for the 'sawed off beams' mentioned above.)

Hope you have enjoyed this trek through the past...I know I did.

~Ciao