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.