Above and Below

While exploring middens at Outlier sites you will come across bits of broken pottery and there is a nesting pair of Red-tailed hawks at the Gallo Campground.

Pictographs and Petroglyphs

Rock art is found all over the Chacoan world. Petroglyphs and Pictographs can be found near Great Houses and are usually have significance. The "Parrot" is on the wall of the Canyon between Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl. The figures holding hands is above the Whetherill Cemetery (west of Pueblo Bonito). There is a "current day simulation" taken at a great kiva at sunset.

Son of Threatening Rock

Pueblo Bonito was begun in 850 CE and had bursts of expansion over the course of 300 years. It was sited near the canyon wall and the last expansion literally next to a large slab of sandstone called by us..."Threatening Rock." In 1941 Threatening Rock became "Fallen Rock" and fell on top of 37 rooms in Pueblo Bonito. You can see where the rock fell in the picture I took of the Pueblo from the overlook. "Son of Threatening Rock" is just to the east of the area and I was a ble to get these pictures at sunset.

Outliers of Chaco

There are a number of Great Houses (sometimes called Outliers) associated with the Chacoan world. We had occasion to visit four of them on an all day trip. They are a bit difficult to get to but are incredibly rewarding. We were able to get "up close and personal' with them and they had an overwhelming impact on me. These Great Houses are connected to the Canyon by road which are thirty feet across and tend to run in very straight lines. There is some conjecture (as there are tons of conjectures about the Chacoan world) that these locations might have been staging points for people going into the Canyon. There is great debate as to whether they intimately connected to Chaco or if they were duplicating the Chacoan Great House. regardless of the answer they stand as testimony in their grandeur to the brilliance of their creators.

Views of Fajada Butte

I look out my window at sunrise and sunset and see Fajada Butte in many colors. I hike trails in Chaco Canyon and see Fajada Butte. There is one picture of the top of the Butte taken with my new camera.

Views of Chaco

We traveled to Chaco in 2003 and took this road as the road was being repaired and the sign was not visible.


Other views are of Fajada Butte in a snow storm and two great sunset shots from my porch.

Acoma Pueblo

We were able to visit Acoma Pueblo. Acoma claims a close historical connection to Chaco and it was a wonder to visit a year later with new eyes.

Total Kitch!

At Grants there is a rest area on I 40 which is....well, it is.

South toward Acoma Pueblo

As you leave Chaco Canyon on NM # 57 you need to be prepared for twenty miles of hard rock and clay roadway and crossing ten very very rough cattle guards. As you head south toward Grants, NM you pass a pretty dramatic remnant of the uranium time in the area. The bridge was built to allow trains easy access and the gray mound of tailings is noteworthy.