Touring the “Homes” of Ancient Puebloans (Salmon Ruins, Aztec Ruins, Hovenweep, Canyons of the Ancients) While Big Boomer Busts Our Budget

We left Buzzards Belly in Cisco, Utah by 7:30 a.m., getting an early start for a long drive day to New Mexico.

 

As my parents took turns behind the wheel, I admired the scenery, amazed at the acres and miles of uninhabited land and the changing colors of the rock formations as the sun reflected upon them.  Our route along US-191 took us through Moab, Utah, which was highly congested and much more commercialized than it was during our visit in 2018.  While fueling in Monticello, Utah, I met a chap from across the pond.  He was totally gobsmacked!  As he snapped photos, he said he had never seen something in the United Kingdom as big and unusual as our home-on-wheels set up.

Wilson Arch.

We altered our route to accommodate Big Boomer’s medical malady.  So instead of taking US-160, we opted for the flatter but less scenic US-491, which brought us through the Ute Mountain Tribal Lands in Utah.  As we crossed into New Mexico, we entered the Navajo Nation, where the road conditions of US-491 became horrendous.  The roads were so rough, my rotund belly got queasy.  I was so relieved to get onto US-64 for the rest of our trip to Ruins Road RV Park, where we would stay for a week in a full hook up pull-through site for $357/week.  This is a no-frills campground—no restrooms, no showers, no laundry, no firepit, no picnic table.  There is Wi-Fi available.  However, the owner chose not to provide the password.  She said since we have our own internet capability (Starlink), we should use our personal access since there are too many people using her system.  Oh, and credit cards cannot be used for payment.  Cash is king here, but checks are accepted.    I will say the Park is clean, safe, and quiet, the sites are large and easy to access, and it is within 16 miles of Roberts Truck Center in Farmington.

 

Downtown Aztec.

The Animas River.

This guy hung around outside the Ruins Road RV Park.

Our full hook up pull through site at Ruins Road RV Park.

After Big Boomer was admitted to the truck hospital at 3 p.m., we were able to relax.   We began our exploration of the area by visiting Salmon Ruins in Bloomfield, New Mexico, a 3-story pueblo built along the San Juan River by migrating Chaco Canyon peoples around 1080-1090 AD/CE.  Other cultures occupied the pueblo thereafter, until it was completely abandoned about 200 years later.  It is named after the homesteader who farmed the property in the 1890s and whose family worked to protect the cultural treasure from vandalism.  The property was sold by the Salmon family to Charles Dustin in 1957, who tried his best to preserve/protect the landmark.  But he found the task too cumbersome.   Therefore, he sold the land in 1969 to the San Juan County Museum Association, who conducted excavations in the 1970s and now maintains the Museum, gift shop, and archeological site.  What a wonderful learning experience for me, all for the very reasonable price of $4/adult!

 

Great house circa 850 AD/CE.

Petroglyphs.

The next morning, we learned from Robert’s Truck Center that Big Boomer’s airbags arrived late yesterday afternoon as scheduled, so he would be undergoing surgery soon.   Great stuff!  Dad decided to have Roberts perform the preventative/maintenance service as well, since it is due soon and will save us the trouble of bringing Big Boomer to Kyrish International Truck Center in Houston when we return home next month. 

 

Since our RV Park was only ½ mile from Aztec Ruins National Monument, we walked over to tour the site.  This is a small, less frequented, but very interesting UNESCO World Heritage Site that is free-of-charge for everyone (you don’t even need an America the Beautiful National Park Pass!)

 

Naming these ruins “Aztec” is a misnomer, for the Aztec peoples did not build this 3-story, 400-room pueblo nor did they ever live/visit here.  Like Salmon Ruins, it was the peoples from Chaco Canyon who created this community near the Animas River, which became a center for farming, trade, housing, and ceremonial activities.  Many Indian peoples do not believe in calling this site “ruins” because the spirits of their ancestors live on here, and I wholeheartedly agree.  Not to mention the pueblo is quite an engineering marvel.  Despite the passage of 9+ centuries and the exposure to the elements of wind and rain, ceilings in many of the rooms are intact, and about 90% of the masonry is ORIGINAL!  Thank you, Earl Morris, for spending 7 years excavating and subsequently supervising the reconstruction of this archeological site.  Mr. Morris's home here now serves as the Visitor Center, where I was deputized as a Junior Ranger for the Monument. 

Exterior of the Great Kiva.

Interior of the Great Kiva.

The Ancestral Puebloans would enter the Great Kiva through the hatch in the roof.

 

Archeologists surmise that the green horizontal design in the masonry represents water and/or protection from evil.

The Visitor Center was once the home of archeologist Earl Morris.  What an inviting fireplace!

This guy was just lounging around on a summer day!

As we were ending our exploration of Aztec Ruins National Monument, we got a call from Roberts Truck Center.  We anticipated it was to tell us Big Boomer was to be released.  Instead, we got the dreaded news that Big Boomer’s serpentine belt was tearing.  Dad expressed surprise since he just replaced that belt in April.  Nevertheless, he authorized the replacement and the additional costs.  Within an hour, we got another call: Big Boomer shredded the newly-installed belt!  Roberts’ technician now reported that the problem was the tensioner arm (why didn’t he notice that initially?)  Roberts did not have the part in stock (does any business EVER have any part in stock anymore?), but it was ordered for arrival the next day.  I must say Big Boomer is a bit of a budget buster.  But we weren’t going to let him spoil our plans.

 

The next day we toured several sites, starting at Four Corners Monument, the point in the USofA where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah intersect.  It also is the boundary between the Navajo Nation, which operates the site, and the Ute Mountain Tribe Reservation.  Cost for entry is $8/person.  We did the requisite photos and purchase of a t-shirt for Dad from 1 of the vendors on the premises and headed to our next destination of Hovenweep National Monument near Montezuma Creek, Utah.

 

Hovenweep is another wonderful archeological site representing the culture of the ancestors of today’s Hopi, Zuni, and other Puebloan peoples.  Consisting of 6 villages, many of Hovenweep’s structures were towers that were built nearly 1,000 years ago at the heads of canyons across a 16-mile expanse of land known as Cajon Mesa.  As I hiked the trails to view the marvels of construction, I imagined what it was like to live in these buildings, to be a part of the community, and to participate in religious ceremonies within a kiva.

 

All of the structures in these photos were within the Square Tower Group.  Ironically, we could not view the Square Tower itself because the trail to it was closed.  There are 5 other structure "groups" in outlying areas on unimproved roads that can also be viewed.  But we felt Square Tower Group was an adequate representation. 

Hovenweep Castle.

Twin Towers in the background.

I made a new buddy!

Our final stop of the day was Canyons of the Ancients National Monument.  Operated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), this Monument is also free-of-charge for all.  It has a highly informative film and museum, plus it has the remains of 2 pueblos on the premises, Escalante and Dominguez.  While Dominguez was a simple 4-room home to house up to 8 family members, Escalante was a larger, 2-level structure that included living quarters, activity center, and religious chamber.  There are so many more Ancestral Puebloan dwellings to view within the Four Corners Region.  But we feel we have seen a good sampling between visiting Mesa Verde in 2017 (https://ramblingrvrat.blogspot.com/2017/10/lone-rock-beach-lake-powell-utmesa.html) and all the places we have visited/will visit this summer.  We returned home after a long, but highly productive, educational, and spiritual day.

 

Artifacts discovered during excavation.

Dominguez Pueblo.

Escalante Pueblo.

A wonderful view of the Dolores River from Escalante Pueblo.

The damming of the Dolores River created McPhee Reservoir.

I earned 2 more Junior Ranger Badges at Hovenweep and Canyons of the Ancients!

The next day we took a ride to Bisti Badlands while Big Boomer had his tensioner arm procedure.  (We had tried to visit here a few years back before we had our Jeep.  But it was raining when we were in the area, and we didn’t want to get into a pickle with Big Boomer getting stuck.)  Operated by the BLM, with portions on private Navajo Nation land, Bisti represents 45,000 acres of desolate wilderness within San Juan County, New Mexico.  Despite this fact, we were surprised that during our 4-hour exploration/hike, we encountered ½ dozen other visitors, including 1 tenter and 1 small RV camping overnight there. 

 

The small parking area is about 2 miles away from some of the named rock formations.  But there are no formal trails—you blaze your own.  We saw some cool, unique rocks, though I’m not sure which named ones we even viewed.  We had limited internet/cell service which is what we use for our GPS.  I was amazed that the formations came in a painter’s palette of color.  No need to digest any magic mushrooms-some of the rock formations resemble them.  There’s lots of ash around, too, evidence of the volcanic activity here once upon a time. 

 

Looks like a surfboard to me on the right.

These look like mushrooms to me.

I think I would fail a Rorschach ink blot test, 'cause these rocks in the foreground look like little fishies in the sea.

Alien spaceships have landed.

This one reminds me of Jesus with outstretched arms.

 A perched bird, getting ready for takeoff.

Line up the looney bin for me--I see a guitar in the center.

This rock formation is misnamed--NO WAY do these look like Cracked Eggs.

After 4 days in the truck hospital, Big Boomer had been deemed “healthy” and ready to come home the next day!  Thankfully, Roberts was fair and did not charge for the labor involved with the second serpentine belt.  But the bill was still hefty at $3,141.  Mom gave them an earful when she learned we would incur a 3.5% surcharge if we used a credit card.  (She asserted that credit card fees are a cost of doing business and should be factored into the hourly rates/part prices.)  Mom is a good steward of our finances.  She refused to pay an extra $100 for credit card fees and instead paid by good old-fashioned check—which they verified was valid before handing us the keys.

 

Now that Big Boomer was reunited with our family, we could enjoy our final few days exploring Colorado.  I’ll tell you about our adventures in my next blog.  Talk to you again soon!