Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park south rim

The last national park for a month, Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado.

Big enough to be overwhelming, still intimate enough to feel the pulse of time, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park exposes you to some of the steepest cliffs, oldest rock, and craggiest spires in North America. With two million years to work, the Gunnison River, along with the forces of weathering, has sculpted this vertical wilderness of rock, water, and sky.

(From the NPS website.)

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Map:

Mao

We explored the south rim of the canyon:

Canyon

Selfie

Visitor center:

Visitor center

Cancelation stamping:

Stamps

What’s blooming:

What's blooming

Canyon model:

Model

Canyon:

Canyon

Lizard

Viewpoint

Canyon

Viewpoint

Canyon

Viewpoint

Canyon

Aztec Ruins National Monument

We visited Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec, New Mexico.

Pueblo people describe this site as part of their migration journey. Today you can follow their ancient passageways to a distant time. Explore a 900-year old ancestral Pueblo Great House of over 400 masonry rooms. Look up and see original timbers holding up the roof. Search for the fingerprints of ancient workers in the mortar. Listen for an echo of ritual drums in the reconstructed Great Kiva.

(Quoting from the NPS website.)

Sign

A very nice picnic area:

Picnic area

Where we enjoyed a picnic lunch:

Picnic

The visitor center:

Visitor center

Flowering Prickly Pear cactus:

Flowering Prickly Pear cactus

Exploring the ruins, with the help of an audio guide:

Ruins

A reconstructed great kiva:

Reconstructed kiva

The reconstructed kiva in the background, and ruins of a smaller one in the foreground:

Ruins

Unlike many sites, one can go into this:

Ruins

Demonstrating how low the doorways are:

Jenn & David

Ruins

Into fairly intact rooms:

Ruins

Original ceilings:

Ruins

On guard:

On guard

Ruins

Chatting with a volunteer:

Volunteer

Ruins

An impressive place, fascinating to explore.

Mesa Verde National Park Cliff Palace and Spruce Tree House

One last time into Mesa Verde National Park:

Mesa Verde National Park

Curvy road

We visited the Cliff Palace overlook again:

Cliff Palace

Then went to the Spruce Tree House overlook:

Spruce Tree House, the third largest cliff dwelling (Cliff Palace and Long House are larger), was constructed between about 1211 and 1278 CE by the ancestors of the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest. The dwelling contains about 130 rooms and 8 kivas (kee-vahs), or ceremonial chambers, built into a natural alcove measuring 216 feet (66 meters) at greatest width and 89 feet (27 meters) at its greatest depth. It is thought to have been home for about 60 to 80 people.

(Quote from that NPS page.)

Spruce Tree House

Mesa Verde National Park lookout, Far View, tower, palace

We visited Mesa Verde National Park again. This time we saw several of the major highlights of the park.

The mesa on entering the park:

Mesa

The tunnel again, this time in sunshine:

Tunnel

We stopped at Park Point, the highest point in the park; read the info sign for details:

Park Point

Views:

View

Info signs:

Info sign

Fire lookout:

Fire lookout

More views:

View

Info sign:

Info sign

Then we proceeded to the Far View area, and the gift store there:

Gift store

We got some pretty basic food from the small food court there:

Food

Then we proceeded to the Far View Community sites, hiking between some fascinating Puebloan ruins:

Far View Community sites

Further into the park, Square Tower House is an impressive cliff dwelling:

Square Tower House

Fire Temple:

Sun Temple

And the main feature of Mesa Verde, the largest cliff dwelling in North America, Cliff Palace:

Cliff Palace

Finally, the nearby Sun Temple:

Sun Temple

Hovenweep National Monument

Hovenweep National Monument has multiple units in Utah and Colorado. We visited the main one, site of Hovenweep Castle and several other ruins:

Hovenweep National Monument sign

A sign with a map of the various units:

Map sign

We hiked along a canyon-edge path, with a view of several structures on both sides of the canyon:

Structure

Structures

Path

Structures

Structure

Selfie

Structures

Structure

Structures

Hovenweep Castle:

Hovenweep Castle

Tower

Structure

Selfie

Four Corners Monument

We visited the Navajo Nation Four Corners Monument; the only place in the US where four states meet:

Four Corners Monument sign

Four Corners Monument

Plaque

A line to stand on the four corners:

Line

Navajo merchant stalls:

Stalls

Us standing in the center of the Four Corners monument:

Four Corners Monument

The marker by our feet:

Four Corners Monument

State and Navajo flags:

Four Corners Monument

Colorado:

Colorado

New Mexico:

New Mexico

Arizona:

Arizona

Utah:

Utah

Flags:

Flags

Outside the monument were some frybread food carts:

Frybread cart

We had frybread tacos:

Frybread

So we parked in Arizona, bought our lunch in Colorado, and ate it in New Mexico. Fun!

The line was longer as we departed:

Line

Mesa Verde National Park quick visit

We visited Mesa Verde National Park several times while staying basically across the road.

The first time was a quick scouting trip on the afternoon of our arrival at the Ancient Cedars RV park.

The entrance sign:

Entrance sign

Mesa

It started raining, resulting in a fuzzy picture of the tunnel:

Tunnel and rain

Tunnel

We stopped at the Far View Lounge for dinner; the view wasn’t all that far, due to a dust storm:

Far View Lounge

Pretty basic food:

Food

On the way back down the hill, it started to snow!

Snow

Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum

We visited the Edge of the Cedars State Park Museum in Utah.

This museum focuses on Puebloan peoples and artifacts from AD 825 to 1225, and has a 1,000-year-old underground kiva that can be entered.

The exterior of the museum:

Museum

Museum exhibits:

Museum

Artifacts

Exhibits

Museum

The Puebloan great house:

Great house

Info sign:

Info sign

Great house:

Great house

An info sign:

Info sign

Enter with caution; yes, people are encouraged to climb down into the kiva:

Enter with caution

Inside:

Kiva

David exiting the kiva

Bears Ears and Natural Bridges National Monuments

A twofer: we visited Bears Ears and Natural Bridges National Monuments.

Bears Ears National Monument is administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It is a large area of 1.36 million acres of forests and such.

It is named for the distinctive mountains:

Bears Ears

We visited a ranger station:

Ranger station

But the main focus of this trip was to visit the Natural Bridges National Monument, administered by the National Park Service (NPS). it is entirely surrounded by Bears Ears NM:

Natural Bridges National Monument

Its visitor center:

Visitor center

This monument features three natural bridges, basically holes in rocks much like arches. What’s the difference? Basically a natural bridge spans an erosion valley, and an arch doesn’t. Or put another way, a natural bridge is caused by running water, and an arch by seeping moisture.

The first bridge viewpoint:

Viewpoint

An info sign:

Info sign

The bridge is a little difficult to spot:

Bridge

A closer view:

Bridge

We then stopped for a picnic lunch at a nice shelter:

Jenn at picnic spot

On to the second bridge:

Info sign

Bridge

And the last one:

Info sign

Bridge

Moki Dugway switchbacks

On a road trip to Bears Ears and Natural Bridges National Monuments (a post about them tomorrow), we drove our truck up Utah State Route 261, which includes the Moki Dugway dirt switchback road carved into the cliff face of Cedar Mesa in Utah.

Here’s a map: