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!