Ruins

During our month long stay in Cortez, Colorado we visited several ancient ruin sites.  In the Four Corners area there are over 4,000 historic ruin sites.  The Anasazi Indians built their settlements, between 550 and 1250 AD in this region.  As with many other ancient cultures of the Southwest, the Mesa Verde area was abandoned quite suddenly, around 1300 AD and it was not until the late 19th century that their settlements were rediscovered.

Our first excursion was to the Canyon of the Ancients where there is a Visitor's Center as well as some ruins.  Below is a preview of some of the magnificent ruins that we will visit.

Canyon of the Ancients Visitor's Center

A cool southwestern cat outside

Artifacts inside the Visitor's Center

A view of Sleeping Ute Mountain from the trail leading up to the ruin site.

We could also see Lake McFee fron the top of the hill.  The water was waaaay down this year.

Steve observes the surrounding mountains through the spotting scope.

Fascinating terrain.

Mountains backdrop the ruin site.

Gari surveys what is left of these ruins.

Steve circles around behind a kiva.

We took a ride down the road and visited the Lowery Ruin Site.  This is a self-guided tour area and we were able to explore inside most of these structures.

Steve checks out the information board.

Steve limbos through one of the doors.

He's in!

Gari gets some architectural shots inside the larger structure.

Steve exits the large structure.

Gari fits through the door with ease.

Gari reads the information at the Grand Kiva.  This kiva was five or six times larger than all of the other kivas that we observed.

Sand Canyon

Currently we are parked in our winter holiday home of Sun City Arizona.  As we enjoy our time here visiting with Shilo in Sun City West, we will let our pictures and adventures captured earlier this year up the road catch up to us on the blog. The mission for this day was to hike a trail called Sand Canyon which was west of Cortez, Colorado in the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument.  On the way back home there is a little family winery named Guy Drew Vineyards that we stopped into for a little treat at the end of the hike.  We didn't take any pictures while we were at the winery, but have a few stories from that visit.  I will share one here.  Guy ran the outdoor operation, and his wife Ruth Drew ran the tasting operation which was in their beautiful home, right in the magnificent kitchen.  We tasted a half dozen or so of their wines.  While we were there visiting and tasting with Ruth, she explained that they had about 200 acres and that there were several ancient ruins just on their property alone.  She explained that living with ruins in this area was just a way of life.  We found that to be just amazing, as we find ruins to be so very interesting.

The shot below is a picture of the trail head from the parking area.  A group of large and interesting rocks set the stage.

Looking back on Romeo and the other vehicles parked in the smallish parking area.

Gari leads the way up toward the rocks.  The ground she is walking on below is one giant rock.  It started in the parking area, where all the vehicles were parked on the same large rock.

We spot a trail leading up into the rocks.

Through the large rocks on the backside, the landscape opens up to a desert terrain.  We can see a few more large rocky structures and mountains in the distance.

Looking back toward the road and parking area we can see the large mountains that were across the road to the distant south.

Gari loves the desert landscape.

Steve found a trail marker with his nickname on it "Spur"

Desert scenery

Desert staircase

Interesting chimney rocks with caps.

Steve leads the way to the next small mesa.

We spied a big lizard on the way.  This rascal was every bit of 18 inches long.  we are used to seeing them about 4 or 5 inches in length.

Yet another mesa along the trail.

Upon approach it appears that there is an arch forming and perhaps a cave in there.

As we got closer we realized that there was an ancient ruin built in the protective overhang of that natural arch.

Signs requested visitors remain at a distance and Gari complies as she observes the relic without disturbance.

The shot below is looking into a canyon confluence of two dry rivers coming together.

Gari thinks that it is a beautiful day for a stroll through the natural earth.

Interesting terrain along the hiking trail.

A wider angle of the canyon confluence.

Mushroom caps surround a keyhole.  Do you see it?

Closer in shot of the keyhole.

Almost back to the trail head.  The large greeting rocks ahead.  Almost time for a little wining.

A surprise at the end of the hike; Gari found another ruin site.  Steve poses for a hero shot.

See you at Guy Drew's Vineyard!  http://www.guydrewvineyards.com/