IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Sunday, June 12, 2011

On Sunday morning I slept in just a bit later than on Saturday…..not because I wanted to, but because I was planning on photographing through the doorways of Pueblo Bonito during the early morning sunlight, and the park would not be opening the gates until 7am…..so there was no use for me to get up earlier than I had to. I arrived at the gate a few minutes before 7am in hopes that it would be opened early. It wasn’t. They actually didn’t come open it until 10 minutes after 7…..which means I was sitting in my Jeep anxiously waiting. Once the gate was opened, I went straight to Pueblo Bonito and started shooting…..I didn’t have much time before the sun would be too high.

Pueblo Bonito T

Nice light through the big T-shaped doorway.

Typical Doors

A typical doorway photo in Pueblo Bonito.

Once the sun was too high, we made our way over to check out the Casa Rinconada Community.

Casa Rinconada Kiva

The large kiva at Casa Rinconada.

Gallo Camp

When we were done exploring there, we went back to camp to pack up. Here’s a photo of the ruin behind our campsite.

Once we were all packed up and ready to go we stopped to take one last hike to Wijiji before starting the drive home.

Wijiji Hike

Hiking along the old closed road to Wijiji….Fajada Butte in the background.

Wijiji Pueblo

Wijiji Pictographs

Faint pictographs near Wijiji. There are a number of faint negative handprints, faint spirals and red lines, plus a couple of zoomorphs that appear to be standing in the middle. I wish I had brought my telephoto lens with me on this hike, but I wasn’t sure how close we would be able to get to these pictographs when we started…

Wijiji Pictographs Closer

A closer look.

Wijiji

A nice sky over Wijiji.

Follow the Old Road

Hiking back from Wijiji in Chaco Canyon.

Thankfully, the drive home was uneventful with no further issues with the Jeep. We both had a great weekend and lucked out with great weather that wasn’t too hot (especially for this time of the year) and are looking forward to our next trip to Chaco Canyon in the future!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

On Saturday morning I got up a little earlier than Amanda and headed out to try and get a photo of Fajada Butte at sunrise (since they don’t open the gates to the main park until 7am). When I arrived there were some nice clouds behind the butte, but they cleared out before the sun finally came up.

Fajada Butte

Early morning sunlight on Fajada Butte.

Once the sun was up, I made my way back to camp and found that Amanda was awake and ready to go. We had a little breakfast and then went into the park just after 7am. We wanted to get an early start since we were going to hike the longest backcountry trail in the park to Penasco Blanco….and we wanted to do it before it got really hot out. Along the way we took the Petroglyph Loop trail and searched the sandstone walls for petroglyphs. We ended up finding quite a few.

Sheep Designs

A well defined sheep petroglyph overlooks some faded designs that are rather unique. I see the heads of two sheep below the designs facing each other, too.

Sheep & Pictograph

A bighorn sheep petroglyph with some more recent scratchings. Above the sheep is a faint pictograph that might represent a rain cloud?

Spiral Serpent

A spiral with a head…plus some more recent scratchings.

Curly Tail Sheep

This one was located high above and hidden. I would have missed it if Amanda hadn’t spotted it!

Chaco High Panel

My favorite petroglyphs along the loop…also located high above us.

Lizard Men Panel

The last panel along the loop trail.

After finishing the loop, we continued on and eventually crossed Chaco Wash. Once on the other side we reached my main destination for hiking this trail; The Supernova Pictograph.

1054 Supernova Pictograph

Some believe that this pictograph in Chaco Canyon represents the supernova that created the Crab Nebula on July 4, 1054.

Shield & Claws?

After passing the Supernova Pictographs there’s another .8 miles until you reach Penasco Blanco. Along the way we passed a large boulder that had this large shield-like petroglyphs on it. Maybe it is more recent as I’ve not seen anything like it before, but I don’t know? I do know I saw some similar claw-like hand petroglyphs near the campground, too…

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Friday, June 10, 2011

Amanda found out pretty last minute that she was going to have a three day weekend from work and she wanted to go somewhere new. I gave her a couple of suggestions for places I wanted to get to this year that we had not been to yet, and she agreed that we should head down to Chaco Culture National Historic Park (just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?) for the weekend. I quickly secured that Friday off from work and our weekend plans were made!

Bright and early on Friday morning we finished loading up the Jeep and headed south. As we drove through the San Juan Moutains over Red Mountain Pass, we got to see how much snow was still up there. It didn’t look like any of our favorite Jeep roads would be opening anytime soon. Between Silverton and Durango they were chip-sealing the road and a vehicle in front of me picked up a rock and cracked the windshield on my Jeep. It started to spread right away and was beyond repairing before we even reached New Mexico. A nice way to start the trip….but just the beginning!

Shortly after crossing the state line into New Mexico we made a stop at Aztec Ruins National Monument. This was just a quick stop for us since it was on the way to Chaco. We walked the short path around the Monument, snapped a couple of pictures, grabbed some lunch in town and then were back on the road to Chaco. The most interesting part of Aztec Ruins was The West Ruin Great Kiva, which Earl Morris excavated in 1921 and then rebuilt in 1934. It’s the largest rebuilt kiva in North America.

Aztec Kiva

A view inside The Great Kiva.

Aztec Kiva Ceiling

The reconstructed ceiling of The Great Kiva.

After driving the very washboarded road to Chaco, we found an open campsite in the Gallo Campground and got ready to setup our camp for the next two nights. When I stepped out of my Jeep, I saw that one of my back tires was almost flat and losing air quickly. I knew I needed new tires pretty soon, but I thought I could get by for a few more weeks…..apparently I was wrong. The tire was actually cracked between the almost non-existant lugs and was losing air from there. Before we setup camp, I had to change the tire to the spare. I knew that when I arrived back at home, I would be buying a new windshield and some new tires…..this was turning out to be an expensive weekend! 😉

Once camp was finally setup we stopped by the Visitor Center to speak to the ranger and get acquainted with the park. Before the day was through we had visited Una Vida, Chetro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito. I also searched out some petroglyphs near our campsite and above Una Vida.

Little Guy

A small pictograph at ground level near our campsite….hidden behind a small ruin.

Faint Boulder Glyphs

A boulder near our camp that had some petroglyphs on it.

Una Vida Petroglyphs

Closer to sunset I hiked up to the Una Vida petroglyphs to get some shots with the late evening sunlight on them.

Turkey Over Chaco

A bird-like petroglyph that looks like a turkey watches over Chaco Canyon and Fajada Butte as the sun gets ready to drop below the horizon.

Steps & Doors

A black & white doorway shot in Pueblo Bonito

Sun-Lit Walls

A view from inside Pueblo Bonito during sunset.

Supported Wall

The tallest wall at Pueblo Bonito still standing, with the supports to help keep it that way.

Bonito Last Glow

The sun lights up the top of Pueblo Bonito and the clouds above in Chaco Canyon.

After it was dark out, we headed back near the Visitor Center to check out the Night Sky Program where we listened to a talk from Ruth Van Dyke. Unfortunately, clouds had rolled in after sunset so there was not much to see in the sky. We headed back to camp early and went to bed since we would be getting an early start on Saturday.

Saturday to be continued…

Memorial Day Weekend, Sunday, May 29, 2011

After a very windy night, I was up early and on my way south down the Comb Wash Road. I crossed through the Comb on US 163 and drove to the trailhead for Lower Butler Wash. I descended down the old wagon road on foot and made my way towards the San Juan River through the thick vegetation. Once I neared the river, I started to come across some rock art.

Connected Circles

At the first large alcove I explored I found this unique petroglyph. I’m not sure what it might represent….any ideas?

Hello

This ‘lizard-like’ stick figure was nearby, too.

Hard to See

Once I reached the mouth of Butler Wash along the San Juan River I came across a bunch of petroglyphs. Many of them were hard to see like this panel, though.

Rider Over the San Juan

A rider and bighorn above the San Juan River.

Man On Shoulder

Here’s one of the larger basketmaker-style anthropomorphs. Even though it’s still hard to make out, it’s a pretty cool petroglyph and it appears there is a smaller figure on it’s shoulder.

Stand Up Riders Wide

Here’s a couple of riders that are standing up on the backs of the animals.

Triangle Man with Small Head

Just a triangle-shaped anthropomorph with a small head.

On the Ledge

Another very abstract figure that has a stick-figure person within.

While I was searching the area for rock art the wind had really started to pickup….I especially noticed it as I hiked out of the canyon on the old wagon road. Once back at the Jeep I crossed the highway again so that I could visit the Wolfman Panel since it has been a few years since I was here last.

Wolfman Panel Vertical

Looking up at a portion of the Wolfman Panel

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Memorial Day Weekend, Saturday, May 28, 2011

Amanda and I have a little tradition of heading down to Comb Ridge and Cedar Mesa for the Memorial Day weekend. In the past she has had no trouble getting the weekend off from work, but unfortunately she was unable to get it off again this year. I had invited a friend or two to join me, but neither of them were able to make it down this weekend. That meant I would be heading down by myself.

After driving down through Moab, Monticello and Blanding , I setup my camp in Comb Wash and got ready to start my first hike into Lower Fish Creek Canyon.

Hands Through Ruin

After finding my way into the canyon from the new trailhead (the BLM has closed a few roads in the area recently), I soon stopped at the first set of ruins I came across. There are a few faint reverse handprints on the ceiling above the ruin.

First Ruins

A closer look at the first set of ruins.

Hands Around a Crack

Reverse Handprints Ruin

After hiking just a little further up-canyon I came across the set of ruins I was most looking forward to visiting on this hike.

Great Hands

Here’s a close look that the very well-preserved reverse handprints above the ruin. Very cool!

Left & Right

Broken Pottery

I normally don’t take photos of potsherds anymore, unless they are very unique, but something about this pile interested me enough to stop and take a photo…

Square Head Snake

Here’s a snake pictograph with what appears to be a square head, or maybe just a square in front of the snake….

Lonely Window

Still further up the canyon I found a small granary hidden in an alcove a little above the canyon. Not much left but this wall with the opening.

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