Aztec Ruins National Monument

Part Five: The Road Not Taken

Wednesday - 12 June 2002: Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado - First, I must make a comment on my erratic journal system: I don't have one. We haven't yet been gone 4 weeks and I am already on "Part Five". I have tried to break-up the pages by "interest or area"... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. After this random thought, let me continue with another. It is VERY dry in this part of Our Nation. The forests are burning and our skin is flaking. Did you know that I have stick-straight hair?  DT and I are also terribly allergic to something in the dessert - probably the sage brush, but possibly the cottonwoods. Whatever, we are a lovely couple with our dry, cracked lips and noses, sneezing regularly!  It is so dry, I can hang clothes from the washer and they will dry faster than if I dried them in the dryer itself! No kidding!

We had planned to head-up to Denver, but sadly, because of the fire, that is not in the cards. We had wanted to spend a few days in Denver and then visit Rocky Mountain National Park... guess we will have to make ANOTHER trip, or keep an eye on the fires. After visiting the Denver area, we thought we would head down to all the National Parks in southern Utah - so we are heading that way today. Tonight finds us at Mesa Verde National Park and we had a lovely, though long, day arriving at this beautiful place. We drove nearly 300 miles today.

Not really sure of our route, we left Taos and drove over that super-scary Rio Grande Gorge bridge on Highway 64 and followed 64 all morning. Just after leaving Taos, the road climbs and we spent most of the day going in and out of beautiful forests, then dipping down to a lush meadow, dotted with cattle and horses and charming ranches and farms... then up again to a pine forest and then down again... all day... occasionally passing through a few miles of sagebrush (sneeze, sneeze). All day, we were awed at every turn at the beautiful scenery. We drove through Apache Country and saw about 50 natural gas pumps along the way. At Bloomfield, we turned north on 550 and stopped for lunch at Aztec, New Mexico.

Aztec is the site of Aztec Ruins National Monument, another amazing site along the way. I think you all may be tired of photos an ancient Indian ruins... but please tell me you read Postcards for the articles and not the pictures!?!? (The same reason DT subscribes to Playboy.) Aztec Ruins is more of the same thing, different people. Same story too - around 1300 AD, these folks abandoned their pueblo. Where did they go? Why did they go? No one is really sure. The ruins are called "Aztec" because early explorers thought they must have been made by the Aztec, because they were so well made, and similar to Aztec ruins. In fact, they were made by the Anasazi People, also called the Pueblo Indians. Just another day, spent around 1,000 year old buildings.

 
View of doorways at Aztec Ruins National Monument

The site itself is huge - the rear wall of the complex is nearly 400 feet long. Over one hundred rooms were included in the Pueblo and they were all inter-connected with these little doors. There was one large Kiva, that could have held over one hundred people easily and also there were about eight smaller Kiva's in the community. When discovered in 1859, the ruins were nearly completely covered with earth. Over the years, the Aztec Ruins have been uncovered - much of it by settlers who took the bricks to use in their own homes, and also by vandals. In 1889 the site passed into private ownership and the Pueblo became relatively safe from looting. In 1916 the American Museum of Natural History began excavation and seven years later it became a National Monument.

Storage space?


Scientists think this could be decorative work in the outside wall


Re-constructed Kiva


Inside ruins of a smaller Kiva

The large Kiva in the center of Aztec Ruins National Monument has been reconstructed. It was amazing that there were four huge log pillars inside which held-up a multi-ton wooden ceiling. There were no large trees in the area, so the logs had to come from miles away. At the bottom of the pillars were 375 lb. sandstone disks - which had to have also come from at least 40 miles away. How did they build this structure? Amazing stuff and scientists confess they will never know the how, who and why of these ruins. It is awe-inspiring to walk in rooms where people slept over 1,000 years ago.

After visiting Aztec Ruins, we continued north on 550 and crossed into Colorado and drove through Durango. Durango is a very nice little town - with beautiful new bike path and city park along the Animas River. They also have a new recycling center and water treatment facility! At Durango, we took a left (west) on 160 and continued on to Mesa Verde National Park - where we will be for two nights, camped across the highway at A & A Campground. Tomorrow we will spend the day in the National Park, but tonight we relaxed and I cooked - salmon steaks, rice, tossed salad and French baguette. I also baked a loaf of bread. It was 90 degrees today, but it has cooled down quite bit tonight, as we are at over 7000 feet elevation. The Lakers swept the Nets for the 2002 NBA championship... but we are watching the Mariners on the satellite.

The View from Here

So, I leave you with this view - from our campsite - and hope you can stand looking at MORE INDIAN RUINS tomorrow, because there are hundreds of cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde!

RV Park: A & A Campground