WHERE
TO GO:
WHERE
TO GO:
Place: Chaco Canyon
Location: The San Juan
Basin of New Mexico near Nageezi.
Weather: Extreme. Weather can vary as much as 60* in a day. The summers are hot and dry. Winters are cold and dry. Elevation is 6200 feet.
Description: The San Juan basin of New Mexico is a high altitude barren landscape marked by tall mesas and horizons extending into the void. Life is harsh here and mother nature unforgiving. In this land, a thousand years ago the Anasazi built an architectural marvel. Occupying the site from 900 to 1130 AD, they built structures up to five stories in height containing hundreds of rooms and dozens of ceremonial Kivas. Well laid out roads lead to the site from other known Anasazi colonies.
Little is really known about the Anasazi and what they did here at Chaco Canyon. Water is scarce and it is hard to imagine an advanced culture living and thriving in this environment. Archeologists can not even agree if the site was an occupied city or a grand ceremonial center. Many of the structures and their alignments suggest an advanced knowledge of astronomy. Existing pictographs tease us with their voices and expressions from a long lost culture.
Chaco Canyon is truly a wonderment to explore. It is difficult to get to, visitors are few and the site is truly an archeological mystery. The Canyon, with its ruins and ancient roads, beckons the adventurer. At night, the stars blanket the sky unobstructed by city lights. Coyote’s howl as the wind picks up and you put out your campfire and retire to your tent to escape the blowing dust and sand. Walking the trails among the ruins and viewing the ancient pictographs offers the perspective that we still have much to learn from those who came before us.
