THE FOUR CORNERS - 2004
All photographs here were taken by my wife Pat and my daughter Jenn, but they are a mere representative sample of over 1000 pictures which were taken in 2004 on our holiday through Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. All of us enjoyed the varied experiences.


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MESA VERDE


This unique area contains an archaeological history of the Anasazi (or ancestors of the Hopi, Zuni and other Puebloans of the Southwest) from their nomadic culture to pithouses and alcove shelters (c.550 AD) to single-storey villages (c.750 AD) to multi-storey villages (c.1100 AD) and cliff dwellings and late mesa-top villages (c.1200 AD).


FAR VIEW LODGE RABBIT

- The first day's drive on Wednesday, September 15, was south from Boulder CO to Golden, across to Eisenhower Tunnel at the Great Divide, through Georgetown-Dillon-Gypsum to Delta and south through Montrose-Ridgway-Placerville-Sawpit-Rico-Dolores-Cortez and finally arriving at the Far View Lodge around 9:00 PM. After one night in double beds, we requested the queen-size beds for the second night . . . as we had been guaranteed. Others also observed that the office staff was not the most efficient group in the world.
- Jenn took a few pictures of a rabbit and a chipmunk below our balconey.

PITHOUSE VILLAGE KIVA NAVAJO CANYON

- Nomads to Farmers in Pithouses (500 AD): The pithouse dwelling contained a central fire pit, storage pits, ledges and an anteroom. Four wooden posts supported a ceiling, and the entrance was from the top of the structure. The Anasazi were able to grow corn and store it in pottery vessels to survive the winters. Their nomadic life as hunters and gatherers ended around 500 AD.
- A Well-Defined Village Kiva (1000 AD): The village towers have collapsed and disappeared at this site, but archaeologists have learned much about Pueblo culture from the remaining kiva which dates from 1000 AD.
- Alcove Dwellers at Navajo Canyon: When the nomadic hunters and gatherers began to farm the mesa top, the alcoves were often used for shelter and storage. Several alcoves of varying sizes may be seen on the far cliff.

SQUARE TOWER HOUSE OAK TREE HOUSE SPRUCE TREE HOUSE

- Square Tower House: This "four-storey tower", inhabited between 1200 and 1300, was part of a unit with around 80 rooms and 7 kivas. At 8 metres high, Square Tower House is the tallest structure in Mesa Verde. Most of the other high rooms collapsed or provided building materials elsewhere.
- Oak Tree House: Note the retaining walls towards the front, which were built to support the structures and provide more space. Oak Tree House had about 50 rooms and 6 kivas.
- Spruce Tree House: This is the third largest cliff dwelling and, according to dendrochronology (or tree ring dating), it was constructed between 1211 and 1278 by the ancestors of the Puebloan peoples of the Southwest. The dwelling contained 130 rooms and 8 kivas, which were home for about 80 people.

CLIFF PALACE

- Cliff Palace: Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. Sandstone, mortar, plaster and wooden beams were used as construction materials. Doors were small by our standards, because the average man was only about 163 cm tall, while the average woman was about 152 cm. Europeans of the same period were of comparable size. Infant mortality was high.

HEMENWAY HOUSE FAR VIEW HOUSE SUN TEMPLE

- Hemenway House: Mary Tileston Hemenway (1820-1894) financed the first archaeological research in the Southwest, for which this cliff dwelling in Soda Canyon was named in her honour. Mesa Verde National Park was created in 1906, due to the efforts of such persons as Lucy Peabody and Virginia McClurg.
- Far View House: This was the first mesa-top site excavated in 1916 by Dr. Jesse Walter Fewkes. It consisted of more than 50 rooms and it was occupied between 1000 and 1300 AD. Numerous sites such as this one made up the Far View Community.
- Sun Temple: The size and construction of Sun Temple suggests that this structure, with its four-foot-thick walls, was a place of worship.

NEWSPAPER ROCK


On September 17, we returned to Cortez CO and drove past Monticello UT to take a sidetrip to Newspaper Rock State Park. The petroglyphs were "picked" into the "rock varnish"/patina on cliff faces during prehistoric times (. . . so most books say). Descendants of the Anasazi often disagree about the interpretation of the symbols, but there is general agreement about the Kokopelli (humpbacked flute player) who brought fertility to the land. Others represent animal or clan symbols, the heavens or weather and the spirits or legends/myths.

Few explanations will accompany the petroglyphs below. What were they trying to say? See more examples of petroglyphs (e.g. Kokopelli and happy faces) with pictures taken at the Painted Desert and Petrified Forest.


DEER HUNTER ON HORSE FEET

- Herds of Deer: Did anyone see auld Saint Nicolas on his sleigh?
- Hunter on Horse with Bow and Arrow: Didn't the references say that petroglyphs were symbols drawn by prehistoric cultures?
- Footprints in Time: Most footprints appear to be going in the same direction. Is there any significance?

HAND, PEACE SYMBOL SUN + CIRCLES PAW PRINTS

- A Peace Symbol?: Sometimes a "hand symbol" meant that the artist swore that he was telling the truth.
- Circles: There may be references to clans or the sun here.
- Paw Prints and Circles: What is the significance of paw prints and small circles?

HORNED ANIMAL TURTLE WHEEL WITH SPOKES

- Horned Animal and Spirits: The animal is probably an antelope.
- Turtle: Some of the petroglyphs may have involved tales of the hunt.
- A Wheel with Spokes: Some illustrations could record events involving contact with Europeans.



ARCHES NATIONAL PARK


Beneath the park lies a salt bed which was deposited by an ancient sea when it evaporated some 300 million years ago. A thick overlying layer of rock was formed after debris from floods, wind and oceans was compressed above this unstable salt foundation. The Moab Fault created "fins" through displacement and vertical cracks in the surface, and weather eroded the younger rock layers . . . exposing the salmon-coloured and buff-coloured sandstone arches. The following pictures help to explain the process which continues to this day.


PARK AVENUE COLLAPSED ARCH ARCHES

- Park Avenue: (a) Moab Tongue, the youngest and lightest sandstone layer, is seen at the very top of many formations. (b) The middle layer is slick and fine-grained, as seen here on the face of the centre part of the cliff. (c) A layer of muddy-coloured weaker rock, the Dewey Bridge layer, is seen at the base.
- Baby Arch Cliff & Sheep Rock: This is very possibly the site of a collapsed arch between the two formations, after the calcium carbonate "cement" became unglued.
- Arches and Caves: This picture includes Cove Arch at the right.

THREE GOSSIPS BALANCED ROCK COVE ARCH

- Three Gossips: This is one of a few formations with names.
- Balanced Rock: This is another one of a few formations with names. In time, it will collapse.
- Cove Arch: As the name suggests, the alcove is at the beginning stages of an arch formation similar to the one at the right.

DOUBLE ARCH DELICATE ARCH SAND DUNE ARCH

- Double Arch: Although the trail was through some loose sand, it was shorter than the Windows Loop to the North and South Windows, and the view was more spectacular (in my opinion). Double Arch is known as a "pothole" arch, because it was formed by chemical weathering when water collected in a natural depression and eventually wore through to the layers below.
- Delicate Arch: Pat and Jenn made the 4.8 km trek over this uneven, open trail with no shade. The guidebook advises everyone to carry at least one quart of water per person, so I walked 90 m along the surfaced trail to a Viewpoint for a distant view of the arch . . . and I conserved my water supply.
- Sand Dune Arch: The trail to this arch was one of the easiest.

LIZARD

- Desert Lizard: Jenn took this photo during the walk to the Delicate Arch on September 17.



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