|
 After a night in Grants,
we headed to Chaco Culture National Historic Park over dirt roads full
of potholes, ruts and rocks. “Chaco
Canyon was a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture between AD 850
and 1250. It was a hub of ceremony, trade, and administration for the
prehistoric Four Corners area - unlike anything before or since,” says
the Park Service, and the quality of their architecture is amazing.
|
|
Leaving Chaco, we bumped over more rough roads on
our way to Farmington, NM. The
next morning we stopped at Aztec Ruins National Monument to see more
Anasazi ruins, then headed north to Durango, CO, for lunch.
The terrain changes rapidly in the short distance from Farmington
to Durango, from high desert to snow-capped Colorado mountain
peaks. After lunch, it was
off to Mesa Verde. To get
to Mesa Verde National Park you have to navigate a lot of hairpin turns
as you climb to 8000 feet, but the views are worth it.
To the south, we could see Window Rock in Arizona.
To the north, rose the snowy peaks of Colorado.
Here again, there were many Anasazi villages built into the
cliffs.
|
