Finally, The Wave, Part 2

We crossed Sand Wash and stood at the base of the Navajo Sandstone escarpment.  Basically we were less than a half-mile from The Wave but about 240 feet below it.  Just a short distance in LOOSE SAND, and then a climb up the rocks!  

The Wave is only about 1.5 acres . . . very small.  But the sights are packed within!

Entering The Wave

In particular, there are several places that show dry soft sediment deformation - where the dunes were stressed by "something from above" - wind, more sediment, Jurassic animals, etc. - and the angle of repose turned into a sand slide!  One area west of the Classic Wave showed this phenomena only too well.  Even above The Wave, one could find sediment deformation.  Because of the deposition environment, there were no tracks - nothing - but the deformation was present.  What could be the cause?  Probably wind and sand saltation.

Sediment deformation above The Wave

The classic Wave picture

Above looking into The Wave

At the top of The Wave

Ron & Maureen in The Wave

Illusion

 By 3pm, it was time to leave.  We had not covered all we wanted to see, but then again, there will be next year and a new lottery!  As we left The Wave and descended to Sand Wash, it was a little sad.  We had to leave. 

But when we were just above the Wash on the way down, a dead juniper bush showed our feelings of leaving - just a few are picked and just a few survive.

We did make a major mistake as we hiked out.  We didn't continue drinking enough water!  Yes, we were in too much of a hurry to leave because of the time.  If you ever make the hike, or next time we make this trip, be sure to drink as much water leaving as you did entering!  Our trusty Garmin Monterra GPS and topographic map showed us the way to leave, but the party of 3 behind us were not so lucky.  We had left them photographing some final shots, and as we talked with Cara, the BLM person, we saw them descend and enter the Wash.  They started a lower path, so Cara broke our conversation to intercept them.  We left heading to the twin peaks and the way out.  Cara started hiking to the Toadstools and Hoodoos to stop the party of 3 and send them to higher ground.

Toadstools and Hoodoos

By 5:30pm, we were back at the truck.  It was 6:45pm before we were back in Kanab at the RV.  And by that time, it was WAY PAST puppy dinner time!  We were in so much trouble!

The Wave, Part 1

There are only 20 people allowed per day to The Wave.  Ten people are allowed in by an online lottery held three months before the actual month of visitation.  Ten people are selected the day before the allowed hike at the Grand Staircase Escalante/Paria Visitor Center in Kanab, UT.

At 8:30 on a Tuesday, we were at the Visitor Center to apply for two slots in the lottery.  At 9am, the lottery is held - all applications are placed in order, numbered, the numbers are called for each party, and then numbered wooden balls are placed in a bingo cage and drawn until all 10 slots are awarded.  We did not win.  Boo!  

At 8:30am on the following Wednesday, we were back at the GSC/P Visitor Center.  As we applied the day before, all I had to do is tell the Ranger, Cara, my previous day's number to be placed in the new lottery.  Same procedure.  First number out of the bingo cage - a party of six!  Depression set in on the crowd!  Second number out of the cage - a party of three!  Leaves only one slot!  True depression swept the crowd of 153.

And the last number . . . . Number 8 - Ron Nichols for a party of 2!  I half-heartedly held up my hand.  There was only one person who could go.  Cara stands and smiles.  "Upon special circumstances, the BLM has granted special permissions, so as this is a party of 2 with only one slot left, we will combine these two into one and Ron Nichols please stay to pick up your permit for two."  Maureen and I could not believe it!  We were in!

Thursday came early, but by breakfast and getting the dogs out and situated in the RV, we left for the parking area around 10am.  It was a 35 minute drive to House Rock Valley Road, then another 30 minutes to traverse the 9 miles down the washboard, rutted road to Wire Pass Trailhead.  So we were at the parking area about 11:15am.  The hike started, down Wire Pass and then the marked and signed turn-off to The Wave.  Not to be lost, I had a Garmin GPS, a Brunton compass, and a topographic map!  It is not unusual for hikers to "find" The Wave but become lost on their hike out.  (Happened to a party of 3 the day we visited!)  Must not have ever taken Field Geology!  Actually, Maureen and I were surprised at some of the people in the lottery process - we wondered how these people would even make the hike one-way!  

Hiking out across loose sand (I hate trekking through loose sand!) for a half-mile to the first slick rock, then in a southerly direction to The Wave when fresh on the hike is not a problem.  However, coming out that afternoon . . . that last half-mile of loose sand was torture!  The rocks along the way are spectacular! 

We sat under one off the few large juniper trees we saw and ate lunch.  Then to the right of the twin peaks, and the goal was in sight!

 

There is a "crack", actually an eroded fracture that appears as a dark line - the picture does not do the actual sight justice - and The Wave is immediately under the crack.

But we still had a distance to go and plenty to see.

A two and a half hour hike, plus about 30 minutes for lunch, we reached The Wave about 2pm.  But that is for the next post!

Interrupt

There have been so many interrupts that have made posting to the blog difficult.  So instead of trying to catch up with past posts, I have decided to use my own interrupt to restart.  I will try to post some of the older "thoughts" as we go along.  But for now, it is "present" time!

Chaco Canyon, Part 2

When we visited Chaco Canyon in 1974, the southern-most Great Pueblos were not "on the map".  That is, the Pueblos of "Una Vida" and "Hungo Pavi" did not have trails or guides.  Today, there is a trail and a trail guide to Una Vida from the Visitor Center.

In 1974, if one wanted to visit either of these ruins, one would have to get an "off trail" permit from the visitor center, then hike down the road and across the valley floor to the ruins - no trails, no guides.  Both of the pueblo ruins are largely unexcavated.  Una Vida has only had a few rooms excavated, so the ruin remains archaeologically untouched.  Because we only saw Una Vida and Hungo Pavi from the road, we never realized the size and complexity of these pueblos.

Of course, our visit to Chaco Canyon wouldn't be complete without revisiting Pueblo Bonito.  

As we walked along the south wall of Pueblo Bonito, we saw one of the familiar corner doorways.  Corner doorways are fairly unique to the Chaco culture.  This particular doorway, if I remember correctly, was one of the significant doorways that Dr. Jonathan Raymond focused on in 1974 and his preliminary archaeo-astronomical studies and measurements.  

We walked the trail up the remains of Threatening Rock which collapsed into the side of Pueblo Bonito in 1941.  

There are just so many other pictures of Pueblo Bonito, but it might be best seen from a different perspective.  

North of Pueblo Bonito and Richard Wetherill's grave is a late-built pueblo of McElmo origin - Kin Kletso.  

To the right of the above picture, in the canyon wall of Cliffhouse Sandstone, is a large fracture crack that has served as a stairway from the canyon floor to the mesa top for more than 2000 years.  We climbed up that ancient stairway to reach the mesa top and the trail to take us to the point above Pueblo Bonito.  It's not that difficult of a hike, and the views are breath-taking!  And, after about a mile and a half hike, the view was rewarding.

Pueblo Bonito from the mesa top!

Chaco Canyon!!! Part 1

As a "preview", we spent 3 days in Chaco Canyon!  Many memories and many adventures returned from the past!  So, with this and the next few posts, the past and present will be the topics!

Some 41 years ago, come this June, I dragged my wife and 2 year old daughter out to a remote area of New Mexico called "Chaco Canyon National Monument".  There were two roads into Chaco Canyon - one from the south from Thoreau (pronounced "throw" in New Mexico) and Crownpoint, only some 38 miles of washboard dirt road, and one from the north, some 43 miles of rough, washboard dirt road from north of Nageezi at Blanco Trading Post.

The preparations for that 1974 trip were thought out and planned.  We would have to camp. So, we bought a very used, basic pop-up tent trailer that was light enough to pull behind an Opel Station Wagon.  I had found a 1960 Cushman Super Eagle scooter which we rebuilt at the Archaeomagnetic Lab that could be disassembled and put inside the pop-up trailer.  We also purchased poor, used, propane refrigerator that fit inside the pop-up.  This plus a 9'x12' tent, card table, 10'x10' awning, and 10 square yards of used carpeting (25 cents a yard) for under the awning completed our "haul".  We packed all this up, plus clothes, Coleman stove and lantern, etc., Crystal's car seat and headed out for the unknown.

We arrived at Chaco Canyon after two days of driving. Then we found out that "the telephone calls" that were supposed to be made . . . had not been made. Superintendent Harriman was quick to respond - "No problem".  The year 1974 was well into the "big dig" at Chaco Canyon.

So, we set up camp.

And some 41 years later.

My first collection site was the Garden Fields at Chetro Ketl. These samples yielded "OK" results.  But the second site was very interesting and yielded excellent results!  The second site was an abandoned oxbow of the ancient Chaco River near the garden fields and out from Chetro Ketl almost to the modern day erosional Chaco Wash.  I dug two 6' shafts into this abandoned oxbow, sampling every 12 inch interval, and dated the sedimentation of this oxbow related to the occupation of Chaco Canyon.  The first and shallowest sample set dated around AD 1680, while the deepest sample sets dated from around AD 500.

Now, the collection process utilized Plaster of Paris to encase the samples.

So, some 41 years later, and with Ranger Don Whyte as an escort, we walked out to the abandoned oxbow for that nostalgia trip.

Under our feet is the first collection pit.  The white disks and chips in front of us is Plaster of Paris left over some 41 years ago from my collection!  From the weathering of the plaster, I wouldn't doubt if that Plaster of Paris won't still be there in another 41+ years!

Farmington

Some 41 years ago, Maureen, our daughter Crystal, and I spend some two months at Chaco Canyon while I gathered my research data for my Master's thesis.  Each weekend meant a trip to Farmington for groceries, fill the fresh water jerry cans, laundry, and have a "store-bought" lunch!

Farmington was an eclectic mix of New Mexico country, Navajo, petroleum industry, and tourist.  The downtown was a busy place.  And it was a small "small city" that just captured the imagination.  In those "our early days", we wanted to find jobs in Farmington and move!

Fast forward to present day!  We had set up camp in Angel Peak RV Park and couldn't wait to drive through Farmington "to recall".  That was a mistake!  Downtown was a ghost town.  All the area around downtown had become very economically depressed!  On the drive into Farmington, it was just oil supplier lot after oil supplier lot - and some of those were vacant!  Down right depressing!  But it did seem as though Farmington had grown.  So where was "downtown"?

As we drove the highway through downtown, we kept wondering, where was the "shopping area" that supported Farmington?  Luckily we kept driving the highway instead of heading back to the RV.  What used to be the "old road" heading to Aztec was now "THE" area.  What the downtown had lost, the new northern area of Farmington had found!  Beyond this area, the road returned to just oil field supplier lot after another.

As hindsight is usually 20/20, though for as much as we wished to move to Farmington, I have to say that I'm glad we didn't.  Farmington is great to visit today!

Just a quick update

I have so many posts I want to make . . . so why haven't I posted them?  Excellent question!

Not only did Maureen contract a touch of the flu (yes, we both had flu shots in October), but I contracted either a low grade sinus infection or perhaps a cold.  We have both been sick.  Several of our nights were spent either coughing or sneezing much of the night.  On those occasions, we ended up and slept most of the morning. Yes, we have been boring, and yes we have both been sick.

Our paid time at Trailer Ranch RV Park was coming to an end, and honestly, though we certainly enjoyed our time in Santa Fe, we also wanted to move on.  So we did, sick or not sick, we moved from Santa Fe last Saturday to Bloomfield, NM near Farmington and Chaco Canyon.  I can definitely say, even a 200 mile drive with a 19,000 pound fifth wheel is not pleasant with one doesn't feel good!

Today, we spent most of our time "getting well" - got up late morning, did a few errands, and back to bed.  And I do believe it is working.  I am feeling better, and though Maureen is still coughing, her cough is not as deep in her chest.  I have high hopes that by tomorrow, we will be feeling better!  And maybe I can post some of those thoughts of the past couple of weeks!

As a note, I have had a couple of friends ask why they cannot post comments to this blog.  I think that the problem may lie with the fact that one needs a Gmail (Google Email) account to log in and post a comment.  If you-all don't have a Gmail account, try setting a free Gmail account up and try to post.  If that doesn't work, please let me know.