How about resting in an alpine meadow off the Continental Divide in the Colorado Rockies? Well Teig was doing just that on a hike to Skyscrapper Peak. This does relax the soul.
Pueblo Pintado Two Story Ruins
Hidden on the Navajo Reservation in northern New Mexico is the Pueblo Pintado historical ruins. 16 miles east of Pueblo Bonito, Pueblo Pintado is the easternmost of the Chacoan great houses in the immediate Chaco Canyon area. Archaeologists call Pueblo Pintado a “Chacoan great house,” a civic and ceremonial center utilized by many surrounding communities. The structure is a massive L-shaped building, open to the SE. The building is terraced, from 3 stories on the outside corner to the single-story enclosed kivas (round, semisubterranean ceremonial chambers) on the interior corner. About 20 single-story rooms enclose the plaza and a large enclosed kiva. The entire great house contained 90 groundfloor rooms, 40 second-story rooms, and 5 third-story rooms. A hundred feet southeast of the building is a subterranean great kiva 58 feet in diameter. Most of the construction occurred at A.D. 1060-1061, during Chaco’s peak construction period, with a later reoccupation in the 1200s.
Exploring Anasazi Nogales Cliff House Ruins
Nogales Cliff House in the Santa Fe National Forest in northern New Mexico. Our hike led us up a steep hillside to a hamlet of minimally excavated Anasazi Gallina houses as well as a series of garden terraces. The residents of this settlement must have enjoyed their rooms with a view over the Llaves Valley. Teig definitely enjoyed the hike and we had this awesome view along the long forgotten garden terraces to the larger cliff dwellings. It is so exciting to be able to explore the hidden archaeological treasures.
Nogales Cliff House Ruins
Nogales Cliff House in the Santa Fe National Forest in northern New Mexico. It is situated in an alcove formed by sandstone cliffs. This well-preserved ruin is a structure that was probably built around 1,000 A.D. by a Pueblo Indian Group specific to this area called the Gallina Anasazi. It was abandoned some time in the 1,200’s.
Chaco Canyon Pueblo Alto Ruins
Exploring the Pueblo Alta trail on the mesa at Chaco Canyon leads you to a wonderful ruin sitting lonely on the crest of a hill. Pueblo Alto Ruins are the highest ruins in the park and don’t have the pressure of tourists as the others because you have to climb a winding trail up the canyon walls then a couple mile stretch of the legs to the ruins but it is well worth the trip. I made it there in the early afternoon on a beautiful fall day just before Thanksgiving.
Cliffs above Pueblo Bonito
Teig and I spent an autumn day exploring Chaco Canyon National Monument in northwest New Mexico. We hiked the desert mesa and learned about the Anasazi Indians that settled the area between 800 and 1400 ad. We decided to hike the cliffs above one of the main pueblos. We were surprised by this beautiful view from a few hundred feet above Pueblo Bonito. We truly love New Mexico and it’s wonderful history, culture and landscape.
New Mexican Pueblo Graveyard
A pueblo is a unique place. The history is overwhelming when you walk past the graveyard filled with hundreds of years of souls. Makes you imagine what colorful characters were buried there?
Crosses Hanging at a Shrine in Chimayo
A photo of a shrine which had crosses that pilgrims placed in front of a small mural at El Santuario de Chimayó, a Catholic church in Chimayó, New Mexico. The sanctuary is famous for the story of its founding and as a contemporary pilgrimage site. It receives almost 300,000 visitors per year and many believe it to be the most important Catholic pilgrimage center in the United States.