Good weather today. Not a dark cloud in the sky.
We drove back across Comb Ridge to Cedar Mesa, in part because we wanted to check out the campgrounds at Natural Bridges National Monument, near Lake Powell. It would make a possible residential location while we explored the Cedar Mesa canyons in the future. And it would only cost us $5 a night, as seniors with a "golden pass." They even have flush toilets and a water source! But no showers. No hot tub either.
This was a day of ruin rumination. We will try to pick out some curious features we saw.
Five Kiva ruins
outside Blanding is a curious place,
not merely because of the five kivas in the alcove,
but because it is the party hang-out spot for Blanding teenagers.
In Butler Wash we hiked to an overlook on ruins that occupied several levels of alcoves.
The BLM provided us with a nice overview.
It took binoculars to look into the site.
What was just as interesting was the "Moki steps"
that the Anasazi residents used to climb into the settlement.
We decided not to use the steps. In fact, the slickrock we used to get to the overlook was quite comfortable hiking.
All the way to Natural Bridges N. M. we were in the shadows of what the Navajo call the "Bear's Ears."
These can be seen from as far away as Mesa Verde in Colorado. The Navajo believe they can cause people to become ill and depressed but that they also have curative sacred powers. The story of the Changing Bear Maiden, who was the source of the Bear's Ears, is still told during the Upward Reaching Way ceremony of the Enemyway Chant by Navajo holy men.
To be brief, the beautiful young woman was tricked by Coyote into marrying him. But while he continued to philander, she turned into a self-centered, insensitive woman, who began to transform herself into a bear (a very powerful animal with healing properties for the Navajo). She ended up killing all but one of her 12 brothers--being basically bear-minded. But the last brother killed her, distributing her body parts across the landscape. Her ears landed on Cedar Mesa and are still visited by the Navajo. I was just glad to be able to pronounce "Bear's Ears" correctly.
We stopped at the Ranger Station to check up on regulations. They nicely told us to keep everything secret.
They also explained the source of pictograph colors, for those of us interested in the fine arts.
Or chemistry.
We got to Natural Bridges in mid-afternoon, which ruled out doing any canyon hiking. We had to be content with the National Park Service provided overlooks. There are three huge natural bridges, largest in the world except for Rainbow Bridge in Glen Canyon. But the natural bridges here will soon be on top since the foundations of Rainbow Bridge are rapidly being eroded away due to their immersion in Lake Powell. Recreation has its price.
(By the way, the difference between a natural bridge and an arch is that a natural bridge is formed by running water; an arch is formed by sitting water. Compared to natural bridges, arches are couch potatoes.)
We love the curves and forms of Sipapu Bridge.
It is part of the serpentine White Canyon
that runs from Glen Canyon deep into the interior of Cedar Mesa. More on White Canyon later. There used to be towns and ranches in White Canyon, before the Glen Canyon dam was built. There were also fantastic and irreplaceable rock art and ancient Barrier Canyon, Basketmaker, Anasazi, and Fremont villages in Glen Canyon. There was no time for archeologists to do more than take pictures of surface structures and take notes to be deposited in museum archives.
The most graceful natural bridge was Owochomo, some 260 feet across and only nine feet of Cedar Mesa sandstone thickness.
While we admired it from a distance, two ravens flew down the canyon and landed on the bridge.
Some sort of mating ritual. I like the shot, even if it invaded their privacy.
Next time we visit, we will be hiking down and up canyons. There are petroglyphs and ruins down there. One ruin is called "Horsecollar Ruin,"
due to the odd shape of the windows on the granaries.
An unusual feature was the rectanguar kiva,
as opposed to the circular kivas we have seen so far. This is a "Kayenta" kiva,
showing northern Arizona influence rather than Mesa Verde influence. Two young people were in the process of climbing the ledges to view the ruins close up.
I think the guy was having trouble convincing his wife to join him,
although she had on some really chic hiking gear. (I did not take a telephoto shot of her, thank you.)
We probably will come back here to camp as the temperatures cool. $5 will hardly be our ruination.
Amazing!!
ReplyDelete