From Chaco Canyon to Aztec Nat’l Monument, Hovenweep and Mesa Verde
The drive along the washboard road away from beloved Chaco Canyon had the most beautiful sunset. I stopped to take pictures and wondered at the goodness of my life and its many blessings. How could I be so fortunate and have so much beauty in my life? I drove on into the night and was exhausted when I got to the hotel in Farmington, New Mexico. I was hungry and tired and phoned my Mom and Dad to let them know I was fine. Then dinner arrived from room service and I gobbled it up. It felt like a beautiful day, and afterwards I swam in the pool, showered and was ready to go to bed. I had my first good night’s sleep in over a week. I feel like my life is full and my cup is overflowing. I am so incredibly grateful.
So much has happened in just two days. What will tomorrow hold? Where on earth is all this going as it is rapidly becoming apparent that this is no ordinary trip.
Aztec and Hovenweep
I woke up this morning and started to drive to the four corners today and then head up to Mesa Verde. I then looked at my map and remembered that there was a place near Farmington where I stayed last night called Aztec National Monument, which is a very small ancestral pueblo site (the excavated bit anyway). It’s a ruin but they have restored the kiva so it is restored to how it looked originally or how they think it looked. They probably haven’t got it exactly right but hopefully nearly so. I thought I would drive to Aztec, which is only about 10 or 15 miles away from Farmington. It was in the opposite direction of where I was going and I hesitated. I can’t imagine why I did as it was such an incredible place. Lovely, lovely energy, very sweet, soft energy there and they were doing an archaeological dig. I just loved the kiva! It was so amazing to sit inside it and feel the magic. Unfortunately, I had only been in there for 10 to 15 minutes when a very enthusiastic young ranger came in and started rounding everybody up to talk about tree rings, so I sat for a little while before she spoke. It was all very touristy, and she was asking everyone where they were from and where they had been. She was trying to make conversation, but it wasn’t the kind of energy I wanted to be around. I wanted to be in a spiritual ceremonial type space and sitting in the kiva with the music playing. It felt like that until she came in. She completely cut that energy and made it all very bland and ordinary. I thought she should have been giving her talk somewhere else like in the visitor center but that was her call.
The big bonus was when I got home and looked at my photos of the restored kiva at Aztec there were orbs in them. This was before the Ranger had begun her talk but she was already in the building as her hat is there on the bench in one of the photos. There are literally hundreds of orbs in the kiva. What are they? Who are they? I used no flash and my lens was clean. Are they ancestors who have come back in spirit to guide us? Are they angels, guides or spirits who just want to soak in the atmosphere? Are they dust? Who knows but they are certainly compelling images that raise more questions than they answer.
Aztec National Monument, Restored Great Kiva with Orbs taken September 29th 2009 in the morning. Photo © Charmaine Mary
Aztec National Monument, Restored Great Kiva roof with Orbs taken September 29th 2009 in the morning. Photo © Charmaine Mary
So I left as I needed to hit the road anyway. I drove back through Farmington, which is quite banal, in fact it is a very boring town with lots of strip malls. I headed out to Shiprock along Hwy 64, which is this incredible rock in the distance which looks like a huge volcanic rock and is massive. I didn’t really get a picture of it as my camera ran out of battery, but it doesn’t matter. Then I drove into Arizona and went to the 4 corners, which is a whole lot of nothing but it is where the 4 states of UT, CO, NM and AZ meet. It is run by the Dine, formerly known as the Navajo nation, and they charge $3 a person. I only stayed about 15mins and looked at some of the booths there. I bought some adorable, little terracotta turtles made by one of the Dine and then headed out. As I was driving towards Cortez to get to Mesa Verde, I saw a sign that said Hovenweep Nat’l Monument. I thought oh that sounds familiar. That is a really famous ancient Pueblo site that I read about. I got my book out as I was driving and as I did, I was getting farther and farther and farther away from it. I thought I should probably go there. I think I need to go there. By then I didn’t turn back so I said to myself, “If there is another sign for Hovenweep, even if it is way out my way to get there, then that is the sign that I am meant to go” And there it was. Just south of Cortez was a sign that said Hovenweep. So I took it, and it took me 42 miles driving through the most beautiful countryside. Beautiful red rocks and hillsides and mountains and farms. Suddenly after all the dead, dry sagebrush of northern NM everything got really lush and green. Trees, mountains, farmland and green hay. It was really, really beautiful and how quickly it changed. I drove and drove and drove and got back into all the dry dusty stuff again where everything looked dead. I eventually came to Hovenweep not expecting much but feeling like I needed to be there.
Well, I have a feeling Hovenweep is going to be the highlight of this trip. It is a little gem, a canyon, about a mile long canyon with these amazing red sandstone towers that have been built perched on cliff tops around the canyon and on the canyon floor. The ones on the canyon floor or just up the side have all collapsed but they have rebuilt some of them or what was left. It is just stunning. There aren’t words to describe the beauty of it. It is a real, real gem. It is a place people need to more about though maybe it is good they don’t, as few people go because of its remoteness. Anyway, I hiked a 2 mile trail around the rim and then went down to the Canyon floor. The reason that people could exist here is because water flowed through the canyon. There is a wash down there. Going down into the canyon, I felt like this place was heaven on earth. That this culture, these people had discovered paradise here. I also felt I had been there before. It felt like coming home. A part of me felt like I may have had a previous lifetime there as it really, really felt like coming home. Different from the feeling at Chaco Canyon yesterday where I looked over Pueblo Bonito from above and had the feeling that I had participated in a ceremony there involving the union of the masculine and feminine, the male and female, the sun and the earth, the physical and the spiritual. But that was very different from today. I felt yesterday that the ceremonial purpose for which I participated was a purely spiritual ceremony, and I was a visitor to Chaco from another place. Whereas today it felt like home, and I actually lived here for a long time. I was a resident, not a visitor. This canyon had the feeling of oneness: unity consciousness reigned here and there was no separation. Everything was absolutely one. In fact just talking about it takes me to that space, which I experienced today. So peaceful. So calm. It is a place I would like to spend a whole day in. Just sitting and contemplating and meditating or many, many, many days. I think I will be going back to Hovenweep one day. I don’t when, but I know I will. I am just trying to remember if there were any special kinds of birds or animals. Oh, there were loads of lizards at Hovenweep. I think I mentioned last night about how I brought my little lizard stone that I painted. I feel the lizard is really significant on this trip or journey. It is about dealing with the light and the shadow, the dark and the light, but it also it also represents stepping out of the darkness like the lizard does, stepping into the sun, becoming one with the sun, soaking up the sun and being permanently absorbed into the light leaving the shadows behind. That feels significant.
I made my way from Hovenweep reluctantly and drove like crazy to get to Cortez and then onto Mesa Verde. I have no idea how beautiful Mesa Verde is. I haven’t seen any of the site yet. I have driven about 21 miles from the entrance around hairpin curves and cliff side views. I watched the sunset from Point outlook at the top and that was stunning. And then I came to my hotel, Far View Lodge, which is very nice and completely different than I expected. I was expecting a proper hotel where this is like motor lodges. Beautiful view though! Unfortunately, there was no casual restaurant or café. Just a fancy restaurant that didn’t interest me. I had a snack up in the lounge and came back to my room. It is a lovely, lovely place. I am pleased to be here right in the heart of the park, so I can get started early tomorrow morning. I am so blessed. Today was extremely special. I can’t wait to start exploring Mesa Verde tomorrow.
