Chaco Canyon, NM

Now living in NM, this is my first visit here. Chaco Canyon has so much history and natural beauty as well. This valley was the center of ancestral Puebloan thriving culture. The cultural flowering of the Chacoan people began in the mid 800s, and lasted more than 300 years. The grand scale of architecture had some Great Houses, some structures towered four stories and had more than 600 rooms and 40 kivas, and oriented to solar, lunar and cardinal directions. In the late 1100s and 1200s change came to Chaco as new construction slowed and Chaco's role as a regional center shifted. It's influence continued at Aztec, Mesa Verde, the Chuska Mountains and other centers. Their descendants are the modern Southwest Indians, who still know this to be a spiritual place to be honored and respected. I will add comments to some images, but the llamas and cows were on the dirt road leading to it, and it was good to see them roaming freely. I've removed ear tags, and signs of recent changes (signs, fences, gutters etc.), as I usually do with Photoshop. When I was there, the campground was full, since many wanted to be there for the equinox, and see it from Casa Rinconada (which i didn't see this visit). It happens I did include a few images with the almost full, harvest moon, which happened to coincide this year. But since I didn't stay, I went on to see El Malpais, so have images from there as well. Enjoy seeing this visit as I did. You can change the setting for a full screen slide show if you like.