We Visited "Canyons of the Ancients" for my 60th

Yeah, irony...

Saturday, the 14th

On the way to Cortez, Colorado, we made the obligatory stop at Four Corners. We were underwhelmed by the lack of anything happening at Four Corners - a spot on a map in the middle of nowhere where the boundaries of Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico meet. Perhaps it was the low season?

We enjoyed very nice accommodations at Kelly Place, which has a fine collection of black on white ware and stone projectile points found on the premises over the years.

Sunday, the 15th

Vicky and I prepared for our explorations by visiting the Anasazi Heritage Center.

A half mile of paved switchbacks takes you to the 12th century Escalante Pueblo and kiva at the top of the hill above the center.

Next, we visited Lowry Pueblo, in Canyons of the Ancients.

Vicky at Lowry Pueblo. The modern roof in the background protects a small, very well-preserved kiva.

I am always fascinated by the 700-900 year old timbers that still serve as roof beams or lintels at these pre-historic sites.

Off to Painted Hands Pueblo.

The eponymous hands. We walked past them twice.

60 year old man meets 700 year old wall.

Sleeping Ute Mountain. McElmo Canyon, in which Kelly Place is situated, lies at its base.

The trail to Horsehoe, Hackberry, and Hackberry View in The Colorado portion of the  Hovenweep National Monument.

Monday, the 16th

The Hovenweep National Monument headquarters which is located in Utah, has a very accessible 1.5 mile (2.4 km) loop from which to see many well-preserved structures.

You can see all the dwellings at Square Tower Unit without the descent and ascent into the Little Ruin Canyon if you're willing to retrace your steps.

We returned to the Holly Group Monday. The road signs recommend a high clearance vehicle but a carefully driven Chevrolet Impala can make the trip.

Holly Tower and Holly House.

Holly Tower perched on its rock pedestal.

Three spiral pictographs, possible solar calendars.  The Ancestral Puebloans here had kivas but not nearly as much rock art as we find in the Agua Fria.

Back into Canyons of the Ancients for a ramble through Sand Canyon Pueblo. nterpretive signs offer visitors a sense of what once stood there.

You can walk the length and breadth of the pueblo on well-marked (but rough) trails.

The ruin is mostly rubble piles like we are used to encountering in the Agua Fria National Monument.

Spectacular views make it possible to imagine Sand Canyon in the days it was a thriving community.

Tuesday, the 17th

An artist's impression of the Sand Canyon Pueblo. We saw this at the Crow Canyon Archeological Center Tuesday morning.

Tuesday afternoon we drove home through New Mexico on Highway 491 so we could have a look at Ship Rock. It's on private property so we shot from the Red Rock Highway in a stiff wind. We took dozens of photos. I like this one best. "Ship Rock, known as Tse Bitai, or 'the winged rock' in Navajo, is a volcanic neck, or the central feeder pipe of larger volcanic landform which has since eroded away." From New Mexico Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources

We came home by way of Gallup, New Mexico, and I couldn't resist stopping at the El Rancho Hotel for lunch.

Vicky wanted a cup of coffee as we left town so we asked Siri for directions to Glenn's Bakery. The somewhat befuddled AI directed us to a neighborhood featuring a tattoo parlor, barbed wire fenced yards, and houses with bars on their windows, and then delivered us to an Indian restaurant. We had given up when we accidentally ran into Glenn's on the way back to Interstate 40. Great coffee...