Whew! What a full day! I’ll preface this post by saying it has been a long day in the 100s and I’m just exhausted, so I’ll be keeping this kind of short.
The morning started with a stop at some visitors center to get information on Yucca House and Canyons of the Ancient. The BLM guy “helped” us by using lines like:
1. The bugs here just drink deet, use Ben Gay Original to keep them away. That’s all the rangers use. (This was later disproven by a ranger who has never heard of that, but suggested, wait for it, bug spray.)
2. Son, you better keep your eyes wide open. There will be monster trucks crossing every which way on that highway. (We, not surprisingly, saw no monster trucks.)
3. Boy, these ain’t no Wisconsin roads. (From experience we learned a dirt road is a dirt road.)
So that was a helpful stop. Then we went to the Colorado Welcome Center to buy tickets for a specific tour in two days. After another stop at a the City Market (we are now proud card-holding loyalty members) and a real Starbucks we were finally ready for the REAL adventures of the day.
We started at Yucca House National Monument. Hundreds of years ago there was a 600 room complex on this site. It is now not much more than piles of ruble, but if you have a keen eye you can make out some foundation lines. As awesome as the NM is, it is the journey there that makes it quite an adventure. It is located on a tiny piece of land surrounded by ranches. Since every National Monument must be accessible to the public you must cut through the ranch properties to get to it. This angers the ranchers and they have put up No Trespassing signs. But we know the government has an easement with them and we were allowed to get through. Geez, they do a lot to deter visitors, including spraying high power sprinklers on the path into the the site, locking gates, and the signs. e had to park right in the front yard of a farm house and we made our way in without getting shot. According to the log book, we were the first visitors in 3 days.
Our next stop was Canyons of the Ancients NM. This was a pueblo site and we did a shortish hike around. It was amazing to think of it as a bustling community. Unfortunately, the girls weren’t in the cheeriest of moods, so that put a little damper on the experience.
On our way to our next stop we saw a sign for a winery. We quickly did a u-turn, and after almost being scared away by three dogs, we had a lovely tasting and bought a nice bottle of wine to enjoy later.
The final destination was Hovenweep National Monument and was it ever transforming. We completed a two mile hike around an Ancient Puebloan site. I’ve never seen anything like it. There were about a dozen structures that have been here for 800 years and are mainly unexcavated. The towers and homes required such building expertise. It is amazing they are still in the condition of which we saw them. But is was hot. So hot, that Zak thought his water bag was leaking and was shocked to find that his back was just sweating that much.
We are camping at Hovenweep NM tonight. There are 31 sites, but we are the only ones here. I think the heat deterred everyone else. In fact, it is so hot that absolutely no fire is allowed. And we weren’t near any town tonight so couldn’t find a pub burger. So we had our dinner of aged sharp cheddar, white wine infused sausage, and olive oil crackers in the running, air conditioned car. Yep, that’s Knott camping.
Our tents are all set up and we’ll soon get ready for bed. I’m particularly excited for tonight as Hovenweep is one of the only International Dark Skies recipients in the United States. It should be a beautiful night.
(No WiFi…pics to come later.)