Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Chaco Culture NHP, Nageezi, NM - Aug 1-Oct 30
Our stay at Chaco this year did not seem to have the same "magic" as in previous years, and we're somewhat unsure why. Perhaps it was just that the novelty has worn off, but we never really felt like we were part of "the group". 
Willie's Mississippi trip & the ongoing uncertainty about her mother's health definitely had an effect, as well as being incommunicado for so long at such an inconvenient time. 
Plus, they installed screening software on all the park computers (we're unable to connect to the Internet on our own computer at Chaco) which made it impossible to access many websites, including our own blogsite! 
All these factors & more conspired to create an environment that, while not negative, certainly was not hard to leave when the time came. In addition to all these factors, it actually seemed like WORK this time, and we have learned that we are definitely not interested in working!
For the first time, we were in the park for the Autumnal Equinox (it's just too cold in March, so we will not attend the Vernal Equinox), which we thought didn't generate much public interest, but this year it filled the campground. There were many special visitors who gave talks and on-site presentations and also several large school groups. The cg has several group sites, and while the ability to camp with a group is a plus for their educational experiences, it is pretty much of a nightmare for cg hosts -- especially when we're the hosts! September and early October had way too many of these groups for our enjoyment.
We certainly enjoyed it when we had visitors, however! And we had quite a few, starting with a surprise visitor -- the librarian that we met in Abiquiu! She brought her niece up for a night of camping and astronomy based upon our recommendation. 
They were not disappointed. We had so many visitors from the Boulder area that we are afraid to name them, in case we leave someone out. 
You all know who you are, and we LOVED having you visit. We even made new Boulder-area friends when "friends of friends" stopped in for a few days. We love seeing friends along the road wherever we happen to be, but having them to share Chaco with is especially pleasant.
Once the weather cooled off, we were able to do quite a bit of hiking. We did all the "standard" trails and were also fortunate enough to go on several outings to places that were off-limits to park visitors. 
Willie was happy to have no hip & back problems to limit hiking. We were able to go on hikes of over 6 miles, which is good for us. We still prefer hikes in the 3-4 mile range but can go longer if there is something special to see.
Our time at Chaco was filled with the usual pot lucks at the housing area, special dinners with friends, and wonderful nights of Astronomy. We even got to see the planets Uranus & Neptune, as well as poor Pluto. They're none of them that impressive a sight, it's just amazing to be able to see them at all. We got some very early evening glimpses of Mercury low on the Western horizon. Of the two "biggies" -- Jupiter and Saturn -- only Jupiter was visible in the evening, and those views were for shorter & shorter times during the early evening, at the end too early for the programs. Saturn was visible in the early morning, but we are not good at early rising -- especially as the temperature gets so much lower.
Our last day there, we and a group of about ten other volunteers were treated to a special outing with the Chief Archaeologist. 
We drove to the far eastern boundary of the Park and then hiked to several interesting sites named The Fortress (for the unusual walls built on top of a mesa), 
Turkey House (for the abundant rock art of turkey tracks nearby), and Long House (a very long Great House built along, and being eroded away by, a tributary of Chaco Wash). 
We also saw some very interesting rock art panels.# posted by Doug and Willie @ 6:06 PM 
