Day 2 at Chaco

We got started early on our second day in Chaco Canyon in an attempt to beat the heat. We decided to visit Pueblo Alto, another Great House situated on the mesa behind Pueblo Bonito. The trailhead sign pointed at the face of the cliff, but we couldn't see any trail. Can you spot it?

Turns out it was through that opening in the middle of the photo. The trail started as a steep scramble over boulders through a narrow opening in the cliff face...

... but we emerged unscathed.

Fortunately, the rest of the hike was fairly level over slickrock. After a couple of miles, we arrived at the Pueblo Alto complex. Although much of this ruin is unexcavated, it was easy to appreciate the immense size of this Great House. Since Pueblo Alto was the northernmost Great House in Chaco, we wanted to see if we could spot any relic of the Great North Road, the 30 foot wide connector between Chaco and other Ancestral Puebloan Great Houses and pueblos to the north. (As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Chaco was the hub of the Anasazi "world" for over two centuries, and over 400 miles of roads have been identified radiating out from Chaco.) We got our compass out and looked to the north, and there in the distance appeared the path of a road. Goosebump time. 

We followed the trail back down to the canyon floor - somehow the scramble back down the boulder pile seemed easier than the climb up. Then we turned our attention to Pueblo del Arroyo, a Great House built later in Chaco's reign. As with all of the Chaco Great Houses, it had its own unique layout, architecture and beauty.

At this point, the heat was eating us alive and we decided to leave the rest of Chaco for another visit. This magical place certainly qualifies as one of the highlights of our trip.

Comments

[J]

Is that slot in the rock how the Ancients all got from the canyon bottom to Pueblo Alto? Was that the only access back in the day?

[John]

Thanks, Janet. In several locations in Chaco we saw examples of "Chaco stairways", where the Ancestral Puebloans literally carved steps into the rock face. In other places, they built masonry steps or massive earthen and masonry ramps to get people to the tops of the cliffs. So, while this slot may have been one way to get to Pueblo Alto, it certainly wasn't the only way.