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These are more photos taken on Tuesday at Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de SHAY) National Monument in northeast Arizona.  These were all taken with my smartphone camera.  Close-ups, taken with the digital camera, will be posted later.

 

These are more photos taken on Tuesday at Canyon de Chelly (pronounced de SHAY) National Monument in northeast Arizona.  These were all taken with my smartphone camera.  Close-ups, taken with the digital camera, will be posted later.

Monday I left Taos and headed west.  Most of the day was spent in New Mexico, on Route 64.  I went over the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, past the Earthship Biotecture community and off into the desert.  It was 39 degrees when I got in my car at around 630am local time (light enough to safely drive).  It had dropped to 35 when I bought gas before getting on the road and got down to freezing or below once I got up to 9 and 10,000 feet.  I don’t think it ever made it above 70 today, although it was a beautiful, sunny day.

I drove past Chama, where my train ride originated a few days ago, and west to Bloomfield, where I arrived around 1130.  I had lunch, spent some time texting and sending emails, then headed south on Route 550 towards Chaco Canyon.

The proper name of the venue is Chaco Culture National Historical Park, although everyone seems to call it Chaco Canyon.  It is one of the few World Heritage Sites located in the United States (we lag behind other countries which have existed longer and have richer cultural history).  This site has undergone intense scrutiny by historical scholars and efforts are being made to preserve it in it’s natural state (although Trump, and the “fracking” industry have other ideas).  The US does excel in “natural” World Heritage sites because of our vast network of National Parks and naturally beautiful places.  This venue was first recommended to me by other Airbnb guests when I was staying in Flagstaff and visiting the Grand Canyon.  My hosts at the next Airbnb stop, in eastern Arizona, seconded the motion and highly recommended I get here.  Chaco isn’t the easiest place to get to.  I actually tried to get here from Albuquerque but spent so much time stopping to take pictures along the way, and having a rare sit-down lunch, that I determined that by the time I got here I’d have to turn around and leave.  Today I finally made it.

Chaco sits out in the desert, far removed from pretty much everything.  It was an hour-long drive south on Route 550, but then took almost 45 minutes to go in the, mostly unpaved, series of state access roads which only covered 21 miles but were in HORRIBLE condition.  I thought there was a shortcut I could take on the way out but learned that it is closed, apparently in even worse condition.  There were two places on the road where there were stern warning signs that traversing them should not be attempted if there was ANY water on the roadway.  That makes it easy to get stranded here if a sudden thunderstorm develops while you are in the Park.

I didn’t arrive at the Visitor Center until almost 130pm and determined that I could only be there for about 2 hours so I could make it to Cortez, Colorado before dark.  I was given a map and when I told the ranger I only had time to see a few of the sites she told me which ones to focus my attention on.

Most of the drive west from Taos was out in open country, and it was a very pleasant day.  When I got about an hour away from Bloomfield things started getting rocky again.  This formation caught my eye, but the rest were pretty much more of what we’ve seem plenty of already.

At the Visitor Center there was a huge relief map on the wall, showing the Park and the elevation changes, paved road and hiking paths.  It was way too big to get in one picture.  I’m only posting the portion which shows the paved road.

The area is lined with rock walls which are tall, but not as tall as many of the places I’ve seen recently.  I wouldn’t have been inclined to call it a canyon but technically I suppose it is.

You’ll see photos in subsequent posts illustrating just how big these chunks of dislodged rock are.

The canyon is wide and shallow, which is another reason why it didn’t really feel like a canyon.  There is a shallow gorge carved through the central area which probably contains water after the monsoon rains but was dry today.

The ranger at the Visitor Center suggested I focus my attention on two sites, Pueblo Bonito and Casa Rinconada.  I was able to squeeze in two others, Hungo Pavi and Chetro Ketl (which wasn’t very big and I’m not posting any pictures of).

This is Hungo Pavi:

This is some of the dislodged rock from the canyon wall:

This is Pueblo Bonito, which had the largest footprint and was the most complex of the ruins in the Park, and the only one you could walk through.  You’ll see an illustration later of what it might have looked like in it’s glory days:

And here is some more dislodged rock, with people in the picture to give you some idea of how big the chunks are.

More of Pueblo Bonito:

And it’s not all squares and rectangles.  There are lots of round rooms, too.  Each had a purpose, largely ceremonial.

More of Pueblo Bonito:

Here’s what historians think Pueblo Bonito might have looked like in it’s glory days.  600 rooms, as many as 4 or 5 stories tall and covering 3 acres.

Further up the road is Casa Rinconada, another of the ruins in the Park.

Looking back towards Pueblo Bonito from Casa Rinconada:

When I left Chaco Canyon I drove north to Bloomfield, then west to Shiprock (which hopefully you’ll see pictures of tomorrow – the sun was in the wrong place for good photos today), and then north to Cortez, Colorado.  I was only in Colorado for about a half hour before arriving at the Retro Inn, which I posted pictures of about a month ago.  I am staying in Room 1954 (the year I was born).  The room itself is unremarkable.  The motel is a one-story, cinder block structure.  I have a king size bed and the room is decorated with a baseball theme – pictures of Wrigley Field in Chicago, Babe Ruth, a Louisville Slugger ad and some other items.

Here is a photo of the sunset from when I came out of Wal-Mart, having bought my dinner salad.  They do have some amazing sunrises and sunsets out here in the west!

Tomorrow I’m off to Canyon de Chelly National Monument in northeast Arizona (not far away) and hopefully I’ll have time to get close to Shiprock and also visit the Aztec Ruins before heading up to Durango for the next 7 nights.  The weather doesn’t sound good for Wednesday and Thursday but I’ll try to make the best of it.  I need to get some car maintenance done (time for oil & filter already, plus new tires and wheel alignment.  Good thing I didn’t get the wheels aligned before I was in and out on the Chaco access roads today!).  I also need to do laundry again so Wednesday may be chores and errands and, if the weather isn’t too stormy, maybe pictures of downtown Durango.

 

I figured I couldn’t come to Taos and not visit a ski area, even though I am not a skier.  Turns out there is one only 10 miles from where I was staying the last 2 nights of my visit near Arroyo Seco, just north of Taos.

And yes, there is already snow way up there on the highest peak (I thought it looked a little whiteish from town earlier in the day).  From the parking area where I took this picture it was 55 degrees, although the wind chill today made it feel like about 15!  I was parked at an altitude of 9,517 feet.

Taos Ski Valley has 110 trails, gets an average of 300 inches of snow per year and is among the 3 highest populated areas in the United States (or is the highest, depending on who you ask).  Their Kachina ski lift is the highest triple chair lift in the US reaching a peak elevation of 12,481 feet.  Up until 2008 this ski area was one of only four in the United States which did NOT allow snowboarding.

This cool dude was ramming around on his bright blue bike wearing his stylish mohawk helmet.  His mom said it was ok to take his picture and post it on the blog.

I bought a hat and a slice of pizza to kill time until 3 o’clock when Happy Hour started at the Stray Dog Cantina.  I then enjoyed two yummy Bloody Mary’s while listening to the end of the NASCAR race on my phone and watching a football game on their TV.

As I was leaving I noticed that in addition to the pretty-people cars (an Aston Martin and an Audi A8, among them),  I was parked next to a pickup truck with a makeshift tailgate.

Now… about those taillights, sir…..

This picture was in an ice cream shop called Taos Cow in Arroyo Seco, where I discovered my new favorite flavor may be Pistachio White Chocolate (in a waffle cone, of course).  These ski types certainly have a sense of humor.

And when I was in Breckenridge, Colorado a few weeks ago I asked my brother David, who used to work there for one season, if he wanted me to get him anything while I was there.  He said a ski in/ski out condo on Peak 6.  I did see a sign for one like that which is available here in Taos.

A steal at only $ 525,000 but hey, you might be able to rent it out on Airbnb and recoup some of that investment.

Look at this picture and see if you spot anything interesting.

Let’s try a little closer…

See it yet?

Don’t feel bad, the first time I was here I didn’t see it either, although I had an idea of what was coming.

I was on Route 64 West, about 10 miles outside of Taos, when suddenly I was dangling (well, that’s not the right word exactly – driving) approximately 565 feet above the Rio Grande River.

Throwing caution (and my fear of heights) to the wind, and keeping a firm grip on my smartphone, I marched out on the bridge to take a few photos.  I was here a few years ago and I hadn’t heard that it had collapsed and been rebuilt since then so I had a little confidence that it would remain standing.

Looking north from the center:

Looking DOWN from the center (one eye closed, phone held out over the edge):

Looking out towards the south:

And looking down towards the rapids on the south side:

And not to make light of a serious problem, but this suicide hotline call box was out in the middle of the bridge.  I wonder how many calls they actually get, once someone has come this far….

Looking back towards Taos.  The reason suddenly appearing on this bridge was such a surprise is that there is no superstructure above ground level indicating what you are about to do.  One minute you’re driving in the desert, and the next you are high above the Rio Grande.

Some Native American artwork on the bridge railing:

This community is located out in the desert west of Taos.  It is apparently sustainable living, structures built to utilize solar power and natural light and minimize the dependence on conventional utilities.

These are the two main structures, located near the entrance.  There are signs posted that this is private property and that you are not to trespass beyond these two buildings, although there were many similar houses out in the desert.

This is the Visitor Center.  There was an admission charge and I opted not to go inside, figuring I could read all about it on their website.

This is a larger unit, across the dirt road from the Visitor Center.  It is apparently still a work in progress.  You are not allowed inside.

There are lots of solar panels, satellite dishes and south-facing windows.  The north side of almost all the structures were covered by mounds of dirt, apparently to minimize the dissipation of heat and cold from within the houses.

The houses were somewhat futuristic in appearance but, frankly, looked like Epcot Center at Disney World if it had been abandoned for 10 years.  The inside might be nice, and I admire the intent to be self-sufficient, but I can’t say as I was impressed.

There are some of these houses listed on Airbnb but they are higher than my normal rate (because of the novelty factor, I’m sure) so I doubt if I’ll be staying in any.

 

 

I decided to just spend the day today in and around Taos.  Being a Sunday morning, things in town were pretty quiet and parking was free and plentiful.  I tried going back into town later in the day and the traffic was crazy so I turned around and headed back up towards Arroyo Seco and the ski area.

Taos is a small, artsy town which reminds me very much of Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Lots of restaurants, craft and jewelry shops, art studios and high-end clothing stores.  When I was here a few years ago there was a guy dressed up as Zorro riding his horse around town, posing for pictures but I didn’t come across him in the five days I’ve been here.

This is a side street I parked on:

Many of the stores are around the park in the middle of town square:

And there are lots of nooks and crannies, pedestrian-only side streets:

This was some interesting artwork.  A stand-alone nose and mouth, bordered on each side by figures whose heads give the appearance of eyes on a face.

And this stuffed bear at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory was taking a break, getting rested up for his big day ahead.