Hovenweep vs. Mesa Verde

One thing that I really love about Hovenweep is how different is from your typical national park. We get a smaller crowd than most parks, so it is more peaceful. Being remote brings a nice atmosphere to the park simply because it deters what I like to call the drive-by tourist, who want to stay in their car and drive by or through the park seeing what they can from their car, snapping a few pictures and leaving. Most of the people coming here really make a conscious decision to (except the few that come because they get lost) and therefore appreciate the place more.

A national monument or park isn't something to be experienced in a few minutes. To really get a sense of a park traveling by foot is practically the only way to get a sense of it. You are able to slow down life a little and truly take in your surroundings, the smells of the flowers, seeing the wildlife, the silence of the desert.

Walking around you can really get a feel for what it might have been like here 700 years ago. This park leaves much more to the imagination. We often get compared to Mesa Verde, 45 minutes to the east in Colorado. Although it was build by relatives of the people of Hovenweep, Mesa Verde is much more known to the public most likely because it is bigger and built up. The tours going on through the day, on every hour and I get the feeling I'm seeing a pony parade. The sheer amount of tourists almost cheapens the experience altogether. Even though it may be impressive, all those structures have been rebuilt too. Hovenweep has merely stabilized the structures here to preserve their integrity and left them as is. It was actually the only park with ruins that was set aside to be left untouched.




Native Americans actually have been upset by all the reconstruction and archeological digging in their ancient ancestor's dwellings. In their eyes, we are disturbing the past. As these ruins fall down, the Hopi and Zuni see that mother Earth is taking it back, and since it is a sacred space it should be left alone. Sure a lot of people object to this point of view, but honestly I believe that we need to respect that more. Haven't the whites done enough to the Native Americans already? Do we still have to disturb their history and ancestry as well?

Ranger Tours

The other day I shadowed my boss on a castle walk tour, which he gave to a group of 6th grade students. Soon I will giving tours like this to groups all by myself and eventually an evening program (currently in the works)!



I've also been able to shadow other rangers. The Petroglyph walk is our most common where we take a small group of people down into the canyon for a tour and to see the lone petroglyph and pictograph in Little Ruin Canyon. Curiously, in Hovenweep's main group of ruins, which housed probably the largest number of people (maybe 200), there is only one petroglyph and one pictograph. Why aren't there more? Maybe they weren't an artistic bunch? Maybe they were too busy building structures to bother? Or maybe they only had one main message to give...








Do you know the difference between a pictograph and petroglyph? A pictograph is painted on a rock like the hand print. Here the hand is being used as a stencil and the paint blown on through a reed. A petroglyph is actually carved into the rock. The symbols of the "T" doorway, bird and spirals are very common in this area. Unfortunately, this particular petroglyph has faded quite a bit over the last 700 years.

Lizards!

These guys are everywhere! Just walking along the trail you can hear them scurrying under rocks and through the bushes. Fast little buggers!

Legend of the Sleeping Ute

My favorite thing here so far is the story of the Sleeping Ute (pronounced you't). It is one of the mountain ranges that hang around in the distance on Native American land which I see daily. Its almost as if he is constantly watching over me.

The story goes that this mountain is not a mountain but a "great warrior god" who was injured in a battle long ago against the Evil ones. During the battle, the two sides stomped and pressed hard on the land which formed the mountains and canyons. Because of the injury the great warrior god laid down and fell into a deep sleep. His blood turned into water to quench the thirst of his people and for each season he wears new blankets, white in winter, green in spring, gold in autumn. It is said that one day he will arise when his people regain the land once again.



Can you see it? The tallest peak is the warrior's arms crossed over his chest. To the left is his head complete with headdress and on the left side his body slopes down to his feet.

Natural Bridges

Today I tagged along with my boss on a day trip to our sister park, Natural Bridges National Monument. The park is about an hour a half northwest of Hovenweep.

I was able to hike to 2 of the 3 bridges which were just spectacular. Pictures just don't do this place enough justice.

Rare like the Desert Flower

The desert is full of life and color. It is refreshing to be out hiking and come across a brightly colored flower sticking up between the sandstone and cracked soil.

A view from my world

This is view from my front yard

Settling in for the summer.

Already its been my first week here and I have been learning a lot. The southwest is pretty much the exact opposite of PA! By now I'm pretty settled in as well as getting over my culture shock. It seems silly to have culture shock in the same country but I definitely have it! How I ended up spending my whole life in PA-even through college? I do not know. Maybe I need to get out more! Being Utah/Colorado is like living in a whole other country. Here the people eat healthy, explore the great outdoors, hike, raft, climb, etc all the time. There is beer in the grocery stores and medicinal marijuana shops in every town. Its crazy different!

Everyday I learn about other sites in the area that have ruins. Apparently the surrounding area has over 6,000 sites that are on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. Nothing is there to protect the ruins other than kept sort of secret! I probably won't be going "treasure hunting" though seeing as there is so much to do even right here (not to mention its illegal and disrespectful). So far I hiked/drove to all the outlier sites (we have 5), did lots of reading and learning about the history of the place, marveled at the new scenery, encountered some interesting wildlife and missed home a bit too. The solitude and silence has been wonderful and almost sacred in a cleansing sort of way. It makes a person turn inward simply because there are no other distractions. I'm still getting a feel for this land and its history- there is something beautiful and mysterious about it.

Colorado is my new favorite state

There are few words to describe the last leg of my journey where I drove 8 hours through Colorado. I went south from Denver on I-25 and west on 160 passing through incredible mountains with amazing views and really awesome small towns. It was beautiful and exciting. I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite like the Rockies. Around every bend the road would bring another amazing view in sight.





And then BOOM! I’m in Utah. What a quick change in scenery! Different but still beautiful.

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Send me some love...or perhaps a letter?

On my second day of training my boss took me to go get the mail. Little did I know that it was a 20 minute drive to the mailbox! Talk about the middle of nowhere!



On the way I saw my first tumbleweed and some beautiful canyon rock! If only getting the mail at home was this awesome!



As much fun as this was, it would be even more exciting if I received some mail from the outside world. Hint, hint. For all those wondering, my address is:

Hovenweep National Monument
McElmo Route
Cortez, C0 81321

Finally an Update

Sorry for the delays in posting. It has been a crazy week of a road trip and then just an overwhelming and satisfying experience of moving in and learning to live in this desert. First of all, the road trip was awesome. For the most part we followed route 80 all through PA, OH, IL, IN, IO, NE, WY, CO and I made it to UT on my own. Our driving days were anywhere from 8-10 hours long with two free days- one spent in Chicago and the other in Denver.

Here is the road trip in a nutshell:

Getting to Chicago was all right at first. We were exited to be on the open road, going somewhere new and exciting. Eventually that all changed I’d say right around the time we hit Oh, PA’s western little brother. I have nothing to say about the state other than it looked just like PA and was a boring ride. We hit a lot of rain through OH and IN so it got pretty miserable and by nightfall we were both starving and cranky. Getting slammed with toll roads the whole way didn’t help my mood either. We pulled of at South Bend (never again!) to hit up a pub Kyle knew of, which turned out to be closed, then got harassed by the same homeless man twice in two different locations and settled on eating nasty Taco Bell. Bad way to start off the trip… but finally we made it to Chicago after getting lost and we met up with Kyle’s friend and stayed the night in her place.

The next day was free for exploring Chicago! Got the chance to walk around the neighborhood we stayed in and then rode the metro to downtown. It was a windy day in the 50s but pleasant. Chicago has an impressive skyline as well as some great architecture. I was equally impressed with the number of bikes out on the street. Chicago’s flat streets are ideal for biking! Anyway, Kyle and I did sort of a death march around the city trying to see what we could. The bean at Millennium park was great, cultural center was fascinating, we ate out for some Chicago pizza (not my favorite…def prefer NY style), had some local beer and hit up a jazz club for the evening. I could see how people fall in love with this city and I really loved it although don’t see myself ever living there. It gets waay to cold for my liking (-30 degree wind chill in winter-terrible biking weather!). But hopefully I will come back to visit one day, probably in the summer time!

The journey continued on to Omaha the next day. It was a pretty drive especially through Iowa because it reminded me of PA’s farmland. Had a great gas stop in some small town in Illinois called Paw Paw where everyone stared at us out of towners, haha. We got to Omaha late at night, and stayed the night with my former Residence Director from MCPC and his wife which was a great time of catching up and hanging out. He showed us his sweet accordion playing skills, we went out for breakfast and drove around the city a bit. And soon it came time to move on.

That night we arrived in Cheyenne, late of course. All couchsurfing options fell through so we were forced to get a motel. We tried our first Wyoming beer which was great and cheap too! The next day we ended up meeting with a couchsurfer guy for lunch and he was really helpful in giving us tips for things to do. Saw the city a little, visited the capital building and state museum. Then on to Colorado which was our shortest drive yet (only an hour an a half)! Made a few stops along the way, mainly to get some internet and try some beer. The goal of getting a beer in each state never really happened, haha.

Denver by far was my favorite stop. The city was more manageable than Chicago and much more laid back. There was biking, breweries on every corner, sunshine and really cool people. What more could you want? First we met up with our couchsurfing host and we went out to dinner with him for Cinco de Mayo. Had some great Mexican food and got to know Stephan a bit. Stephan is a really cool guy that works at an urban community garden in Denver, has a nice dog (10% of Denver owns a dog), and ride his bike everywhere. That night we hung out, met some of the neighbors, and played some dominoes. The next day we explored the city, but took it easy. Spent some time in an awesome bookstore called the Tattered Cover, ate some gelato, rode the free bus, stared at the bicycles and then hung out with Stephan in the evening. He threw a Cinco de Mayo get together and we spent the evening around an urban campfire, eating shrimp tacos and getting to know his friends. Saturday morning we left early as I dropped Kyle off at the airport and continued on alone. I couldn’t have asked for a better first couchsurfing experience.

Other memorable moments that I failed to mention:
-Seeing/touching 3 new bodies of water (Lake Michigan, Mississippi River and Missouri River)
-Trying three new breweries in Fort Collins, CO
-Touring 4 state capital buildings
-Driving through the Midwest and seeing nothing but cows, farm land and the occasional broken down barn for 8 hours

I will leave you with the turning point in the trip-crossing the Mississippi River. We stopped to pay tribute to it.