Saturday, June 29, 2002
Downs RV Park, Farmington, NM - June 23-29
This place has nothing to recommend it other than the fact that none of the other RV parks in Farmington seem to be any better. The electric is exceptional, and they do have a weekly rate.
Our first day of touring took us to Aztec Ruins Natl Mon, a Chacoan "great house" similar to those found in Chaco Canyon. Early explorers erroneously thought that only the Aztecs could have built this impressive structure of over 400 rooms. In fact, the Aztec empire wasn't founded until centuries after the Chacoan civilization flourished. Aztec was built around 1100 and abandoned about 1150, then occupied and remodeled a few decades later by the Mesa Verde people. 
We then visited the Visitor's Center for the town of Aztec and found out that there are yoga classes offered in Aztec, which we took advantage of the very next morning. It was an excellent class! We also found information on local natural arches which, while they'll never put Arches NM out of business, were pleasing in their own way. Plus, Aztec has its own UFO Museum, much smaller than Roswell's. Supposedly, a UFO crashed near Aztec on March 25, 1948, one of 14 UFOs that (allegedly) crashed in the western US around that time, including the one in Roswell. 
This crash site is on public land, and, after a few wrong turns, we were able to find the site and the modest plaque that the Aztec UFO Information Center erected there.
The next day (after yoga) we visited Salmon Ruins, another Chacoan great house, similar to Aztec in that it too was built and later abandoned by Chaco-like people, then briefly occupied by people with close ties with Mesa Verde inhabitants. The main difference is that Salmon Ruins was on property homesteaded by George Salmon, whose family protected the ruins from vandals and treasure hunters for over 90 years. San Juan County purchased the land in 1969, and began archeological excavations in 1972. Although only one third of the ruin were excavated, over 1.5 million artifacts were discovered from 1972 to 1978.
We visited two fairly new Wilderness Areas about 40 miles south of Farmington: Bisti and De-Na-Zin, both administered by the BLM. These are both badlands with no marked trails. Bisti, a Navajo word, means "a large area of shale hills" and De-Na-Zin comes from the Navajo word for "cranes" because petroglyphs of cranes were found just south of the wilderness. In 90+ heat, both areas are fairly daunting, so we only walked a short distance at each area. 
We also visited the Angel Peak Rec Area, also managed by the BLM, which has nice picnic areas, a free campground, and a nature trail, also through badlands. Angel Peak is sacred to the Navajo and is quite attractive. Unfortunately, since the BLM allows oil & gas drilling on land not designated as wilderness, the surrounding vast badlands are dotted with wells & roads.
We also visited Chaco Culture Natl Hist Park from Farmington in order to do one of the longer hikes. The drive from Farmington is much shorter and the 16 miles of dirt road much smoother. We hiked to the Pueblo Alto ruin complex and continued on a loop trail that took us past the Jackson staircase (prehistoric) and fantastic views overlooking both Chetro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito. It was a 5 1/2 mile hike and 94 degrees, so we both found our new hydration packs of great value and sufficient to the needs. We treated ourselves to a pizza on the way home as a reward for a hard day's "work"!
Our first day of touring took us to Aztec Ruins Natl Mon, a Chacoan "great house" similar to those found in Chaco Canyon. Early explorers erroneously thought that only the Aztecs could have built this impressive structure of over 400 rooms. In fact, the Aztec empire wasn't founded until centuries after the Chacoan civilization flourished. Aztec was built around 1100 and abandoned about 1150, then occupied and remodeled a few decades later by the Mesa Verde people. 
We then visited the Visitor's Center for the town of Aztec and found out that there are yoga classes offered in Aztec, which we took advantage of the very next morning. It was an excellent class! We also found information on local natural arches which, while they'll never put Arches NM out of business, were pleasing in their own way. Plus, Aztec has its own UFO Museum, much smaller than Roswell's. Supposedly, a UFO crashed near Aztec on March 25, 1948, one of 14 UFOs that (allegedly) crashed in the western US around that time, including the one in Roswell. 
This crash site is on public land, and, after a few wrong turns, we were able to find the site and the modest plaque that the Aztec UFO Information Center erected there.The next day (after yoga) we visited Salmon Ruins, another Chacoan great house, similar to Aztec in that it too was built and later abandoned by Chaco-like people, then briefly occupied by people with close ties with Mesa Verde inhabitants. The main difference is that Salmon Ruins was on property homesteaded by George Salmon, whose family protected the ruins from vandals and treasure hunters for over 90 years. San Juan County purchased the land in 1969, and began archeological excavations in 1972. Although only one third of the ruin were excavated, over 1.5 million artifacts were discovered from 1972 to 1978.
We visited two fairly new Wilderness Areas about 40 miles south of Farmington: Bisti and De-Na-Zin, both administered by the BLM. These are both badlands with no marked trails. Bisti, a Navajo word, means "a large area of shale hills" and De-Na-Zin comes from the Navajo word for "cranes" because petroglyphs of cranes were found just south of the wilderness. In 90+ heat, both areas are fairly daunting, so we only walked a short distance at each area. 
We also visited the Angel Peak Rec Area, also managed by the BLM, which has nice picnic areas, a free campground, and a nature trail, also through badlands. Angel Peak is sacred to the Navajo and is quite attractive. Unfortunately, since the BLM allows oil & gas drilling on land not designated as wilderness, the surrounding vast badlands are dotted with wells & roads.
We also visited Chaco Culture Natl Hist Park from Farmington in order to do one of the longer hikes. The drive from Farmington is much shorter and the 16 miles of dirt road much smoother. We hiked to the Pueblo Alto ruin complex and continued on a loop trail that took us past the Jackson staircase (prehistoric) and fantastic views overlooking both Chetro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito. It was a 5 1/2 mile hike and 94 degrees, so we both found our new hydration packs of great value and sufficient to the needs. We treated ourselves to a pizza on the way home as a reward for a hard day's "work"!
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 8:06 PM 
