Wolf Creek Pass, part of the San Juan mountain range, averages annual snowfall of four hundred inches, over thirty-eight feet of snow. Sounds like a lot of water, but in the spring, after torrents and torrents of runoff, this region dries off rapidly and by mid-summer and into fall the arid nature of the climate becomes apparent. Water becomes scarce.
Onward
and westward to Pagosa Springs, Durango and finally Cortez where I had one of
the best burritos ever at Gustavo’s Mexican Restaurant. From Cortez we visited
the Anasazi Heritage Center in Delores, CO before we head into the Canyon of
the Ancients National Monument. The Anasazi or Puebloan people inhabited this
region for centuries and left ample evidence of their astonishing culture.
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| Don't You Just Hate People Who Do Foodie Pictures? |
In the
center, we met eighty-one-year young volunteer Nancy Lacell Becker. Nancy came to this country from Asheville,
North Carolina as a young woman and took up teaching theater in various venues
including the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation. She got herself a husband and,
after a few years, decided she liked Colorado better than the husband so sent
him packing. After a couple of more husbands and many adventures she is still
here and still teaching.
After
a visit to this remarkable museum we head west to the remotely located
Hovenweep National Monument located on the Cajon Mesa in the Great Sage Plain along
the border between southeast Utah and southwest Colorado, just north and west
of Cortez, an area of arid, high desert. Annual precipitation averages between
five and fifteen inches depending primarily on elevation. Most of that comes in
spring deluges. Spring, summer and fall elevated temperatures and low humidity promote
rapid evaporation, so very little water is available to plants and animals. The
canyons have some springs and seeps, which is where signs of human habitation mostly
occur.
Puebloan Culture Items in the Anasazi Heritage Center
The
name Hovenweep, in the Ute language means "deserted valley", apt as a
description of the area's dry, desolate canyons and barren mesas as well as the
ruins of ancient communities.
Ten
thousand years ago nomadic native people visited this region to gather food and
hunt. These people used the area for centuries, following the seasonal weather
patterns. They built complex square and circular towers, cliff dwellings, kivas
(ceremonial structures) and left petroglyphs like those in Mesa Verde National
Park not far away. The masonry work is beautiful and skillfully done. Most of
the ruins are off the beaten path and require a hike across dry, tortuous and
hot terrain punctuated by sage brush scrubland and low growing pinyon-juniper
forests.
Hovenweep Scenes
By the
end of the thirteenth century, for unknown reasons ancestral Puebloans
throughout this area migrated south to the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico and
the Little Colorado River Basin in Arizona. Probably looking for new sources of
peyote and a Grateful Dead concert. Pueblo, Zuni and Hopi people are
descendants of this culture.
Hovenweep
is just one of several national monuments we visited. National monuments are
real gems on the American landscape. Far less visited than national parks, in
more remote and less roaded areas, but no less spectacular. The National Park
Service manages some monuments, the Bureau of Land Management others. They all
generally have excellent camping facilities, albeit in remote locations, which
is fine by me. Not to get too political, the current administration of idiots
under President Bone Spurs is doing what it can to reduce protection of some of
these spectacular places.
We
drove along a gravel road for ten miles to get to the only campsite in the
monument. There were three other vehicles there. The campground was complete
with shelter, fire pits, running water, showers and was situated on the edge of
a canyon typical to the region. We took up residence there for the next two
days.
After
we settled in a young man camped nearby walked over to visit. “Hi there, I’m
Ryan”, he said enthusiastically. “I couldn’t help but notice your Virginia
tags. Where are you from?” I proceeded to explain, assured he would have no
idea where Staunton Virginia was. Not necessary. “I’m from Nellysford over in
Nelson County”, he said cheerfully. Nellysford is twenty miles from Staunton. Ryan
went to Mary Washington College where our son Henry went. He knew Joe Moore who
also attended Mary Washington. Joe is the son of Steve Moore my best buddy
growing up. Ryan, known as Boomer to the athletic crowd at Mary Washington, is on
vacation by himself. He had flown to Albuquerque, rented a truck, bought a
modicum of camping gear and was doing what we were doing; having a ride-about.
Small world all over again. What are the chances of running into a fellow
Virginian, especially one hailing from so close to our hometown, in such a
remote place?
Coyotes
yipping in the distance. Evening libations, dinner, sunset, starry night.
Tomorrow
we go exploring.
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