San Francisco

We drove up Highway 101 from LA to San Francisco, through the remains of the fires that had raged the entire time we were in LA. It was so smokey that we couldn't see the sun set over the Pacific and you could smell the smoke everywhere. We drove through the area that was burned north of LA and where the students at a private religious school huddled in the gym while the fire destroyed several dorms and faculty housing.

Anita is walking, talking a blue streak and is generally a really sweet grandchild. We met her nanny, who speaks Spanish with her, and Jason, the other child she cares for. Anita understands the Spanish completely, though she won't speak it. While Alice and Jens worked, Bob and I took various excursions. Bob played disc golf, we visited Berkeley, we rode the ferry from Oakland to San Francisco and walked through the rehabbed Ferry building which is now filled with upscale food stores. Jens gave us a tour of downtown Oakland and all the urban renewal projects he has been a part of. Mayor Jerry Brown wanted to create housing and move 10,000 people into downtown to revitalize it. That has generally worked, though the condo frenzy has resulted in overbuilding and rental of apartments instead of sale of condos. Along with housing, big new buildings have also been constructed. Among them is another Catholic Cathedral on the edge of Lake Merrick. It is very modern; made of alabaster on the outside and wood wings/panels on the inside. The image of Christ is created by holes drilled through steel and the light that comes through them. It also is a very striking building. Both these modern cathedrals are partly funded by the sale of spaces in the mausoleum below them.

While Bob played the disc golf course in Golden Gate Park, I took a walking tour of China Town. I had been wanting to do this for years. It was really interesting. There were six of us; 80 year old newly weds from Phoenix, a land use planner from Portland, a young man doing his PhD on the sociology of the language used by candidates and politicians related to "green" and "renewable" energy and his dad. The women who guided us grew up in China Town. The Chinese came over during the Gold Rush and then worked on the railroads. Shortly after their arrival, immigration laws prohibited any more Chinese from coming in so the male:female ratio was 27:1. Until 1952 Chinese could not own property and were concentrated in China Town. This pagoda was actually the first telephone exchange in China Town. The operators knew everyone in China Town and you didn't need to know the phone number. If the person didn't have a phone they would send one of their children to deliver the message.

We also stopped in an upscale tea shop where we tasted wonderful tea and saw how it should be brewed (the leaves are quickly soaked in hot water and then drained and then new water is added to steep; only a small quantity is brewed at any time and the leaves can be steeped multiple times while small cups of tea are sipped). The prices were amazing too (up to $380/pound), though a pound of tea will last most of a year. We stopped at a fortune cookie manufacturer (at the request of the elderly couple).

This was a temple to the goddess who is the counterpart of Buddha. The fruits are offerings.

This is an example of a tong, or family fraternal organization similar to the Italian mafia. We finished with a lunch (delicious but not very adventurous).

In addition to visiting Alice and Jens, we went out to dinner with a bronzesmith that Bob met in Guatemala and his new Polish wife who is a painter. He showed us his workshop which is certified green even though it is a manufacturing facility. He makes wonderful things for very high-end clients. We also looked for Markus' passports which he thought he had left in Berkeley (we didn't find them).

On Thursday November 20 we headed up I-5 towards Ashland and a quick visit to the Elizabeth Robinson B&B. We really wanted to get home, but spent a lovely time with Elizabeth who treated us royally (chocolates on the pillows). We arrived home Friday mid-afternoon.

It was a great adventure. The United States is beautiful (even states I never would have thought of as being beautiful). People are wonderful, particularly when you can spend enough time with them to talk and really get to know them. I don't think we will ever again travel for 6 months at a time unless we are living abroad, but there are many places we want to go back to and explore further. In reality we didn't camp that much because we were visiting family and friends and staying in their homes. As a result, I came home with a lot of the food I had left with. We discovered that we could live with very few things, though I am glad to have more variety in my clothes. The space in the house is wonderful, though there are a lot of things that need to be done.

Thanks to all who hosted us along the way.

Ethan Kelly Robinson

Ethan had never been in the Pacific Ocean. Here he is investigating the water, which was a little cold for his liking and where the waves scared him a bit. He's wearing an Obama T-shirt given to him by Sabrina and which eventually got wet as he fell down in the sand.

Bob carrying Ethan.

Max loves the adult-size swings on the beach in Venice. Here he is and Bob is swinging with Ethan. A good time was had by all. Max has to swing high enough to make the swing snap at the top.

A second new experience for Ethan; the merry-go-round. After returning from Venice Beach we went out to eat in Culver City, sitting in a sidewalk restaurant that specialized in salads.

By this time we were getting the bit in our teeth and were heading home.

Joshua Tree National Park

We left the Fountain of Youth and drove towards Joshua Tree National Park's south entrance. On the way we drove through this wonderful dry canyon landscape. Since Joshua Tree prohibited dogs on the trails, we stopped along the way to hike into a canyon designated for off-road travel. It was hot, but in the shade with the breeze it was comfortable. At least Darwin and I got a chance to walk.








Joshua Tree National Park from the south entrance doesn't have any Joshua trees. They occur only in a narrow ecological niche. In the northern half of the park, they were all over, along with other cacti. We drove off into a picnic area, almost getting stuck and not being able to turn around because of where people had parked. We only had time to drive through. There were huge numbers of Joshua Trees, spread across the landscape. In Joshua Tree (town), we stopped to see if we could find an old DOJ friend who now operates an outfitting store. We stopped at a likely candidate, which wasn't the right store, but the owner knew where Gary and Celeste's store was. We walked around the corner and spent 45 minutes chatting with Celeste. They sell rock-climbing gear and also do repair of outdoor equipment. In addition, they repair/modify gear for the military (the stuff provided to the soldiers is terrible and they modify it). Gary works as a rock climbing guide. Celeste does some legal work for various environmental organizations and just passed the California bar. As we headed towards Sierra Madre, where Jens' (our son-in-law) mother lives, we passed through the biggest wind farm I have ever seen. In contrast to all the other windfarms we saw on this trip, the turbines were closer together and in lines instead of being staggered. It was located in a pass where the wind apparently really blows, though it wasn't blowing when we went through.

Ingrid lives in Sierra Madre, up against the mountains of LA. She was a wonderful hostess, showing me around Sierra Madre and taking us by Metro into downtown LA to see the Old Town, the Disney Hall (designed by Frank Geary) and the Catholic Cathedral. The Cathedral is very modern. It doesn't look like a church from the outside at all. Inside, there are chapels around the main church with themes like children and abused women. The church is filled with computer-generated tapestries of Catholic saints from all traditions. It's a very interesting space.

One day we spent with Kirin, Sabrina, Max, Ng and Ethan, who all live within 1/2 mile of each other in Culver City. We went over to Kirin and Sabrina's for brunch, but their stove had just died so we satisfied ourselves with granola, fruit and baked goods. Ethan is 13 months old, walks and is generally really cheerful. Here he is playing piano with Kirin. Kirin works designing movie previews and trailers. Sabrina works on financing housing for the developmentally disabled in California, paid for by a tax on millionaires. Ng has just started her first job with Kaiser as a physical medicine doctor. Max works for a company doing computer work. It was great to see them all doing so well and happy.

We drove to Venice beach and walked up the Boardwalk. We also saw the canals of Venice Beach. Kirin and Sabrina had just bought a new 250 cc Vespa motorcycle, so Kirin led the way on that. Bob took a swim (his last in 2008). The street performers were great, including these two guys who juggled and did acrobatics.

Tucson

While Bob played disc golf I visited the DeGrazia Museum in the sun. This man worked in a variety of mediums - clay, paint, mosaic and he designed his own house. The house was lovely; very organic and made out of adobe with wonderful floors and stone benches. The exterior had a wonderful collection of cacti and some interesting scuptures. The art generally left me cold. He was very successful painting numerous Indian images with faces that reminded me of those cheap pictures that were popular about a decade ago with very large eyes. His abstract work was considerably more interesting. He also built the above Sanctuary to the Virgin of Guadelupe and, like many such churches, it instantly attracts people who place pictures and other momentos around her image. I also spent time in the museum on the campus of the University of Arizona which was devoted to explaining the differences between the 11 different tribes that inhabit Arizona by examination of their baskets, weaving, jewelry, etc.

One day we went hiking in Madera Canyon in the Santa Rita Mountains. Only about 15 miles from Green Valley, the environment is very different. There are trees and water. We decided to hike up to a mine which was described as a short, but strenuous hike. They weren't kidding. The trail went straight up the mountain with no switchbacks and after struggling along for a while with no indication we were going to get to a view point and worried about my ability to get down, we turned around. The first photo is of the flat desert outside Madera Canyon towards Green Valley; the second is of the mountain range.

We had been hearing a clicking, whining sound in the Volvo and took it in to be checked. It turns out that our angle gear, which distributes power from the transmission to the all wheel drive, was grinding itself up. In the process the dealer also discovered that the radiator had a leak and the exhaust manifold gasket was leaking. Sigh..... The stress of pulling Snoopy for 20,000 miles up and down the mountains had taken its toll. We spent a whole day in the Volvo dealer in Tucson getting it fixed. The good news was the dealer had a very nice waiting area with snacks, drinks and free wi-fi and we could bring Darwin in with us. We spent the time reading, blogging, embroidering, etc. This little surprise cost us almost $4,000 and delayed us for a day. We had moved Snoopy to an RV park in Tucson on Monday night and spent 2 days there.

The next day we headed off towards LA. On the way we stopped at Pictograph National Monument. After driving through about 15 miles of agribusiness (huge cotton fields and dairy farms in the desert, all irrigated), we got to this pile of rocks about 300' in diameter, covered in pictographs. Apparently this was a sacred place and Indians for years had stopped and left their mark. Various settlers also carved their names in the rocks.

We continued on towards the Salton Sea with a stop in Dateland, AZ for the best date milkshakes. I've never had one before, but they are absolutely yummy. The Salton Sea is dropping due to over irrigation, causing fish kills. We stayed in our second over-55 RV park where the guard at the gate came from Salem, OR. This park, almost 900 spaces, was called the Fountain of Youth because of the natural hot springs found when the railroad was being built. It had the most amazing variety of activities. We soaked in the pool and hot tubs and Bob played water volleyball. The view over the Salton Sea and the mountains behind it, the sunset and the clear sky were wonderful. I can't ever picture myself spending six months in one of these Snowbird parks, but they are certainly nice for a few nights.

Cacti

The morning after the election in Flagstaff it was 14 degrees. We spent another day (Bob and Darwin playing disc golf - Flagstaff had been the site of the World Disc Golf Competition and I visiting the Northern Arizona Museum). The museum was fabulous. It included two rooms on the geology of Northern Arizona, including the dinosaurs. An unknown flying dinosaur was discovered in shale beds by an archaeologist at the museum. It was a flying dinosaur which fell into the water. Other rooms were devoted to basketry, weaving, jewelry and katsina dolls. The differences between the tribes' in these areas were described.

The next morning we headed off towards Tucson where Bob's cousin Sally and partner Paul live. We took two days getting there, searching for a lower (i.e. warmer) campsite. We found one on the Apache Indian reservation north of Globe. This is copper country (symbolized by the star in the center of Arizona's flag). The open pit operations are huge. We arrived in Green Valley and stayed at our first over 55 Snowbird RV park. They have lots of amenities; pools, hot tubs, rec centers, etc. Green Valley is supposedly one of the most popular places to retire.

We ate dinner each night with Sally and Paul and Sally's daughter Cecily who was helping to care for her mother as she recovered from a fall which broke a vertibrae and her elbow. During the day we would go off and do different things. Bob played disc golf on two courses.

We went to the Sonoran Desert Museum where Bob waited in the car with Darwin since dogs weren't allowed in and it is a crime to leave your dog unattended in a car, even if it isn't blazing hot. The grounds of the museum are amazing; filled with cacti, animals, minerals and other exhibits. I learned a lot about the saguaro cactus. The above photo is of the skeleton of a saguaro.

Saguaros grow very slowly. They will not put out any branches until they are about 70 years old. The cactus has a folded surface so that it can expand when it rains. It consists of about 90% water and can weigh up to 10 tons. The roots spread out in a circle with a radius equal to the cactus' height. The holes visible in the above photo are made by two types of birds which nest in the saguaro. The cactus creates a wall, called a boot, around the bird's nest.

Barrel cacti, of which this is an example, come in numerous varieties. They generally lean towards the south, so that is a rough indicator of direction.

This cactus just attracted me because of its color and shape. The museum had raptors, javalinas, coyotes, snakes and lizards. Even in October it was filled with people.

Monument Valley & Election Day

We drove from Canyon de Chelly to Monument Valley. We decided to stay at the developed RV park in Goulding's Trading Post. Goulding and his wife started the trading post in 1924. Now it includes a hotel, restaurant, museum, grocery store, fast food and gas station, extra houses and an RV park, all to the west of Monument Valley. We arrived about 3:30 p.m., just enough time to do a laundry and take a shower before the place closed up at 5:00. It was Bob's birthday and I went to the grocery store to see if there was anything for desert. The baked goods all looked terrible, so we had chocolate Dove bars. Every evening Gouldings shows John Wayne films that were filmed in Monument Valley. We went over to see "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon," one of John Ford's cavalry films. John Wayne played an older Captain in the cavalry and many of the scenes were filmed in Monument Valley, many times over. The film won an Oscar for cinematography.

The next morning we got up early to take the self-guided 17 mile tour of Monument Valley. There is a rough dirt road with 11 stops along the way. Monument Valley is a Navajo National Park, not part of the NPS. They have built a new hotel overlooking Monument Valley. The museum was closed (that's the problem with coming during the shoulder season). The morning started cloudy, but it got bluer and windier as the day wore on. This is one of the famous "Mittens," which the website assured us is was not falling down.

We were followed by this female dog for several miles. You can only drive about 10 mph, so every time we stopped she was there. I finally fed her some dog biscuits and the next time we stopped we decided to give her some of Darwin's dog food. Here are the two dogs enjoying breakfast. She scarfed the bowl of food, but stopped following us.

This is the three sisters. At each viewpoint there were Navajo jewelry vendors.

By the time we were coming back, the sky was clearer and the wind was really blowing. We saw lots of open pickup trucks with people bundled up and facing the blowing dust. We were glad we had gone earlier and had taken Snoopy down before the wind really got going.

We headed off south on US 163 towards Kayenta and decided to eat lunch in a restaurant instead of opening Snoopy because it was really blowing. We stopped at the Sand's Diner for traditional Navajo food. Bob had mutton stew with fry bread and I had a Navajo taco (fry bread covered with chili beans, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese). Real filling food.

As we continued south towards Flagstaff we passed Black Mesa (on the Hopi reservation) which is being mined for coal. The mining is destroying various sacred sites and is using up the water at a vast rate since the coal is carried as a slurry to the electric generating station. In addition it really began to blow. The views were obscured by the blowing dust and there were numerous large RVs pulled off by the side of the road to wait it out. Since we have a lower profile, we continued slowly on, though it was white-knuckle driving.

When we got to Flagstaff (2,000 feet higher than Monument Valley) we stopped at an RV Park and went in search of the Democratic Party headquarters. We really wanted to watch the election returns with similarly-minded people. We both ended up spending about 2 hours calling registered Democrats to make sure they had voted. By the time we quit, 6:50 p.m. Mountain Time, the returns were coming in and Pennsylvania had already been announced for Obama. The Obama supporters were meeting in the Orpheum theater, an old vaudeville house with various bars. We walked down and joined the mob scene watching CNN on a large screen. Most of the time we couldn't hear what was being said, but every time a state was announced for Obama, particularly Ohio, there were cheers. At 10 p.m., when Obama was announced as President elect, the place erupted. We hung around to hear his acceptance speech and McCain's concession speech. The difference in the crowds at the two events (the Biltmore with its invitation only white, older, clearly wealthy crowd vs. Grant Park with a multi-colored, multi-aged crowd) and the way the candidates kissed their spouses and acknowledged their running mates was stunning. Like so many, we could hardly believe that this day had come.

The next morning we headed off to let Bob play the disc golf courses of Flagstaff, which had hosted the World disc golf contest. The first course, on the Northern Arizona University campus was closed due to construction. The second course was at 9,500' and it was cool (46 degrees in Flagstaff). The third course, in Thorpe park, was perfect. We were also in search of a NY Times (unavailable by 9:30). I let him off and headed for the fabulous Northern Arizona Museum. It had a great exhibit on the geology and dinosaurs (filled with school children) and other exhibits on the tribes, pottery, basket weaving, jewelry and katsinas. An archaeologist from the museum had also unearthed a new form of dinosaur and there was a great exhibit on that. Bob played disc golf all day.

The second night in Flagstaff went down to 14 degrees and we got worried that our pipes would freeze. With our furnace running most of the night and sleeping bags on top of our blankets we survived just fine. Darwin had been sleeping under the table where the furnace vents, but that resulted in him being alternately hot and cold and moving around and flopping down, shaking the whole trailer. We have now made his bed on one of the benches so he stays warm, but not too warm.

Canyon de Chelly Bottomland

Canyon de Chelly is only 30' deep where it exits into Chinle. Elsewhere in the canyon the walls are 1,000' tall. We only had a three hour tour scheduled, though David took us out for almost an hour and a half longer. We really want to go back to see the Canyon de los Muertos and to get deeper into this canyon.

This photo is of two columns that look like a couple, the left one a man with his lips pursed.










The walls of Canyon de Chelly (and other mesas around the southwest) are covered with what is called desert varnish. In reality, this patina is caused by manganese-fixing bacteria that live on the walls and convert the water that comes over the edges during rain into manganese. Many petroglyphs are carved into the patina because they show up better.















At the end of the tour we came to White House ruin. At several of the ruins and along the wash people had set up places where they were selling jewelry. One guy even had a satellite connection to take credit cards. Canyon de Chelly also has numerous cliff dwellings (both in the walls and at the base of the cliffs). The wash can get 3' deep and fill the canyon during strong rain storms which bring down woody debris.








Canyon de Chelly is a magical place. There are few year round inhabitants because younger people want to be where they have electricity and TV. Families do, however, spend the summers in the canyon and the school year on the mesa. We discussed the problems with the lost generation which was sent to school and prohibited from studying their language and culture and who turned to drugs and alcohol. Though alcohol is prohibited from the Navajo reservation, it can be bought off the reservation and we saw plenty of empty cans and bottles and cardboard beer cases. Now the schools teach both languages and devote a lot of time to Navajo culture.

Pictographs of Canyon de Chelly

Our guide, David Wilson, is a 45-year guide of the canyon. We were alone with him in a jeep. He had been born in a male hogan (one that looks like a yurt as opposed to a female hogan which has a rounded roof) way up the canyon. He inherited the land from both his mother and father and runs cattle in the canyon bottom and raises fruit on the mesa. He also raises sheep, goats, turkeys, and chickens. His marriage was arranged by his mother and he's still married to the same woman. They have six children and he has adopted seven more (his nieces and nephews). He has worked with archaeologists in the canyon and has helped excavate ruins. He knew Tony Hillerman. He was a fabulous guide. He stopped at numerous sites with pictographs in the canyon while the other guides (often with large groups in trucks) zipped by.

The above pictograph shows kokopeli (on his back with his flute). The story goes that he went around planting seeds (including corn) which he carried in the basket on his back and playing the flute to help them grow. That is why he is often represented as hunched over. Hand prints are like signatures.

This pictograph shows a crippled man. Note that his right leg is shorter than his left and his arms are bent like he is holding crutches.

This pictograph shows a hunt. There were others showing arrows shot at game and horsemen chasing game. There was one whole wall, called the newspaper wall, that was covered with petroglyphs.

This last picture is Hopi in origin and shows deer painted in brown and white. It was located at White Mesa.

Canyon de Chelly

We left Chaco Culture National Historic Park via the south exit on NM 57, a 21 mile dirt road which was in much worse shape than the dirt road to the north entrance. After slowly driving to Navajo 9 and finally US 191 to Chinle, the gateway to Canyon de Chelly, we reached the campground. The Navajo reservation is huge, covering portions of four states, and very sparsely populated. We had met a couple in both Monument Valley and Bloomfield, NM who had visited Canyon de Chelly who said that there was a lot of crime and that they felt watched and uncomfortable in Canyon de Chelly. Bob was a bit nervous about this. On the way Bob called to arrange a tour into the canyon bottom. We arrived at Cottonwood Campground, true to its name as can be seen in this photo. There were quite a few people there in this free campground, including a young couple who were making out furiously for several hours. There were also signs warning not to leave valuables unattended and prohibiting the possession or consumption of alcohol.


The next morning we got up and failed to realize that the clocks had changed, so we were an hour early for our tour. We decided to drive on the South Rim drive. Canyon de Chelly opens out into Chinle, so it is surprising to come on this deep canyon so close to the city. We stopped at a scenic overlook and met this young man, Antonio, who was selling his rock paintings. He offered to explain the pictographs (and obviously wanted to sell them). He told us that the word Navajo means head chopped off (reflecting what the Spaniards did) and that his grandmother considered it an insult to be called a Navajo; she prefers the word Dene. He was really engaging and though it may not be high art, it was interesting and we purchased two small paintings. He's a single dad caring for two children and was raised by his grandmother in White House Chapter (a ruin on the canyon floor). He was covered with tatoos, perhaps indicating gang membership.











We continued on along the canyon rim, looking down at the yellow cottonwoods/poplars and the fields and the red walls. Canyon de Chelly probably comes from the Spaniards inability to replicate Tsegi, the Navajo word. We returned to the hotel to meet our guide.

Chaco Culture National Historic Park

We traveled from Bloomfield, NM to Chaco Culture National Historic Park via a 16 mile corduroy dirt road. We got there early enough to get a site in the first-come, first-served primitive campground. After setting Snoopy up, we went to the Visitor Center to pay our fees and to watch the introductory movie. We decided to walk the South Mesa Trail (4.1 miles round trip) up onto South Mesa to Tsin Kletsin, one of the grand pueblos. The trail started on the canyon floor and then climbed about 450 up to the mesa top and across to Tsin Kletsin, a less preserved grand pueblo. The trail then went down South Gap and back along a road to Casa Rinconada. We wanted to catch the 4 p.m. ranger tour of Casa Rinconada, the largest (63' diameter) great kiva in Chaco Canyon. The ranger, G.B. Cornucopia (I kid you not), a 21 year employee at Chaco Culture Park and the park's resident astonomer lead the tour. He was very knowledgeable and put forth all of the theories about the great kivas. The picture above is from the south portal of Casa Rinconada toward the north T-shaped portal. Interesting things we learned included:

1. If you look from the south portal through the north portal, you look directly at New Alto on the mesa top on the other side of the canyon. In addition, the two portals mark true north within 1 degree and Polaris is visible above the portal (though it was not the North Star at the time Chaco Canyon was occupied).
2. The kiva has only one window and during the summer solstice the sun rises, shines through that window and moves down the opposite wall of the kiva until it hits one of 34 niches on the other side. This niche is one of 6 niches that are not in line with the other niches. However, there was a room outside the window which may have blocked the light.
3. In the anteroom to the north of the kiva there are two doors which face exactly east and west. On the fall and spring equinox, the sun rises over a canyon wall and shines directly through these doors.

That night we went to another ranger talk by the same guy about the night sky in Chaco Canyon. The night sky is one of the resources the NPS is protecting, though even here there is light from cities. Chaco has an observatory with a 25" telescope and various smaller telescopes. It was the last presentation for the year and was pretty cool, temperature-wise. His presentation included more examples of the astronomical studies and evidence in the buildings. These included a rock that is covered with pictographs, including one that appears to be of a supernova during a total eclipse with Venus nearby. In 1054 there was a total eclipse visible at Chaco and during a total eclipse you can see solar flares. That same rock also has a means of measuring the equinoxes. On top of Fajada Butte there are three rock slabs and a spiral petroglyph. During the solstices and equinoxes the sun shines through the rocks onto exact places on the spiral. Tsin Kletsin and Pueblo Alto, the two grand pueblos on top of the mesas are in an exact north/south axis. Afterwards he positioned the large telescope so we could see various nifty stars, galaxies and other astronomical features.

The next morning we got up early to hike the Pueblo Alto loop trail (5.4 miles round trip), wanting to avoid the mid-day sun (it had been very hot hiking the South Mesa trail). This trail is on the north side of the canyon and begins with a climb through a cleft (see Bob above) to the mesa top. On both these hikes dogs were allowed and after having Darwin on a leash for the beginning, we let him run free. The trail continued along the edge of the mesa with wonderful views down on Kin Kletso, Pueblo Bonito and another large pueblo (Kin Kletso is below).

The wind was blowing and we were totally alone, except for a Quebec playright we met who was in Santa Fe writing a new play. Along the way we passed some picked bowls (perfectly circular) and some Chacoan steps. Pueblo Alto and New Alto are two more great pueblos that are less reconstructed than the pueblos on the floor of the canyon.

New Alto was filled with pot shards that people have discovered and left there. From these two pueblos roads led off in all directions. They are visible from the air and have been excavated. Some of the roads went to other pueblos and some went to what are surmized to be sacred places. One of the interesting things about Chaco Canyon is that it wasn't a place that had everything people needed to survive. It has always been very dry. 214,000 timbers are in Chaco Culture Park now and they all had to be brought in, including very large timbers up to 2' in diameter. It is thought that not many people lived permanently in Chaco, but that many people came here for trading and other types of meetings.

The trail continued across the top of the mesa, eventually coming to some Chacoan stairs carved out of the rock face of the canyon, a ramp (very steep) up from the canyon floor, fossilized shrimp tunnels looking like iron-colored bird tracks and views over Chetro Ketl (with the second largest great kiva). It was a wonderful hike and we were basically alone, until the end when we ran into quite a few people.

Chaco Culture National Historic Park is a very interesting place. I would like to go back as there are more trails to hike and we never really looked at the large ruins on the valley floor.