Hosting and Toasting, 2018

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Dag 51
lørdag 19. mai 2018
☀️ 21 °C
Høyde: 5 646 ft
Forente stater Trail Canyon 37.3363, -108.727137°20’11” N 108°43’38” W
Granary [Hovenweep]
19. mai 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C
Lorraine struck out off the beaten path yesterday to look for ruins in a nearby canyon. Her walk-about earned her a granary sighting. The next day she lured Hunt up the canyon to let him check it out. We climbed up to the alcove holding the ruin and learned that it has been quite well discovered many years ago. Its base had been shored up with concrete and a gaping hole suggested that it had been emptied of anything of value.

All was not lost as we also ran across a huge gopher snake. Helped explain why there were no deer in the area.Les mer
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Dag 47
tirsdag 15. mai 2018 18:42
☀️ 24 °C
Høyde: 5 226 ft
Forente stater Square Tower (historical)37.38594, -109.0805437°23’9” N 109°4’50” W
Mud Slinging [Hovenweep]
15. mai 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
A Park Service team consisting of three Hopi Indians and one white guy has been working this month stabilizing Hovenweep Castle. Hunt was walking by one day, asking about their work and they said, why don't you join us. So he spent this afternoon "throwing mud," as they called it. A very special kind of mud made of local sifted soil and hydrated with an acrylic polymer.

He started the stint by picking away at loose mortar in a section. After that was brushed clean and sprayed with water he pressed mud the consistency of Play-Doh into the cracks. Satisfying work. And probably the only accomplishment in his entire life that will still be around in hundreds of years.

The team asked him to come back next week. He will.Les mer
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John LovaasReally cool!
17.05.2018Svar
John LovaasThere’s Hopi for him after all.
17.05.2018Svar
John LovaasNeed some before and after shots.
17.05.2018Svar
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Dag 39
mandag 7. mai 2018 12:56
☀️ 24 °C
Høyde: 5 968 ft
Forente stater Deer Canyon 37.61177, -110.0216237°36’42” N 110°1’18” W
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Bridge Bagging [Natural Bridges NM]
7. mai 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
We began our ten-mile bridge bagging quest by gazing down on the second largest natural span in the world-- Sipapu Bridge. Surreal! We then descended steeply down to the valley floor using some sketchy hand bars, etched toe holds, and wooden ladders that OSHA clearly hasn't inspected in decades.

After marveling at the gabillion ton span we headed downstream to find the next one-- Kachina Bridge. This one offered a bonus in that it's base was festooned with petroglyphs.

Then it was on to the last one-- Owachomo Bridge. Along the way we espied another gallery of petroglyphs and a ruin high up from the valley floor.

Really an amazing afternoon to see so many natural and man-made wonders in such a lush concourse.Les mer
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Phil LoPiccolo incredible!
11.05.2018Svar
Linda MahanBeautiful spaces..
11.05.2018Svar
John LovaasYou two are remarkable, especially Lorraine operating on a knee
11.05.2018Svar
Reisende Has OSHA certified that ladder?!
12.05.2018Svar
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Dag 33
tirsdag 1. mai 2018
☀️ 11 °C
Høyde: 6 749 ft
Forente stater Town of Dove Creek 37.58466, -108.9201237°35’5” N 108°55’12” W
Lowry Pueblo [Dolores, Colo.]
1. mai 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C
Took a mini road trip today, visiting two restored pueblos and kivas and capping the day with a turkey talk.

We started by visiting Lowry Pueblo which is a cluster of restored adobes and one of a handful of restored grand kivas in the Four Corners area. Nearly all kivas have filled with ruble since being abandoned 750 years ago so it's thrilling to see what they probably looked like.

We also visited another partially restored kiva at Escalante near Dolores, Colo.

For the evening we took in a talk on Anasazi turkey domestication given to a chapter of the Colorado Archaeological Society. My grandfather always referred to the bird on the table at Thanksgiving as a "Mexican buzzard." How right he was. Domesticated in Mexico and migrated north.Les mer
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Dag 30
lørdag 28. april 2018
⛅ 22 °C
Høyde: 5 220 ft
Forente stater Hovenweep National Monument 37.38336, -109.0713537°23’0” N 109°4’17” W
Poor man's SUV [Holly Pueblo]
28. april 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
We ditched the hiking routine and rode our folding [Lorraine calls them gerbil] bikes six miles up to Holly Pueblo. The last two miles are a dusty, rock-strewn road barely navigable for SUVs. But we made it the whole way and didn't hit a single cow.

One of the real treasures and pleasures of these pueblos is that if you stare long enough you see little erroded structures emerge from the rock.Les mer
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Dag 24
søndag 22. april 2018 12:39
☀️ 20 °C
Høyde: 5 207 ft
Forente stater Square Tower Canon 37.38347, -109.0786437°23’0” N 109°4’43” W
Celestial seasonings [Hovenweep]
22. april 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
One thing we've learned from being here only a few weeks is that it's a challenge to identify seasons. It's often below freezing at night but rarely snows. Days can be warm and pleasant but the vegetation looks pretty much the same year round.

It's no wonder that the Anasazi built calendars into their structures. Hovenweep Castle has summer and winter solstice windows accurate to within a couple days per year.

There are a few flowering plants to signal spring. The claret cups shown here are just now blossoming. Also emerging are the midget faded rattlesnakes. Biting bugs will signal that summer has arrived and it's time for us to leave.

PS. I went out hours later to check if the "morning" rattlesnake had departed a commonly used trail. He had. But two others now lurked a few feet away. A veritable rattlesnake rookery.Les mer
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ReisendeYou guys are amazing. I am glad to see your adventures. I have been to Hovenweep many years ago. Thanks for sharing! I'll be in Durango in August.
24.04.2018Svar
ReisendeSnake whisperers...I’m reading Abbey’s Desert Solitaire and thinking of your adventures. Great pictures are from a formerly celebrated high school yearbook photographer I assume.
24.04.2018Svar
ReisendeYes, read Desert Solutaire last year and Monkey Wrench Gang. Have to wonder if Abbey were still alive he'd have founded his own monkey wrench gang.
25.04.2018Svar
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Dag 21
torsdag 19. april 2018 10:11
☀️ 15 °C
Høyde: 4 856 ft
Forente stater Cross Canyon 37.43329, -109.215737°25’60” N 109°12’57” W
Good Petroglyphs Hunting [Cross Canyon]
19. april 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C
With friends visiting from Durango we took a day off to explore two nearby canyons known for their petroglyphs and Anasazi ruins. Cross and Montezuma Canyons are only a few miles from Hovenweep but run diagonally away from it for about 40 miles. So we piled into Susan and Donn Hicks' truck and headed down the dusty, cattle strewn dirt road.

As we have learned on several previous goose chases, hunting for evidence of the Anasazi is best done with knowledgeable friends and/or very precise directions. We had both.

It was a wonderful day of discovery.Les mer
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Phil LoPiccoloso cool
22.04.2018Svar
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Dag 13
onsdag 11. april 2018 15:24
☀️ 24 °C
Høyde: 5 167 ft
Forente stater Aneth Chapter 37.29849, -109.1837637°17’55” N 109°11’2” W
Mortarfied [Hovenweep]
11. april 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C
So we have to amend an earlier posting. Turns out there has been more structure stabilization here than we previously believed. At Cajon they used concrete in the 1950s but with poor results. One of the rangers took us down to a ledge below the surface pueblo to show us how techniques have changed. Also got to see some additional rock art. Bottom line is Hovenweep is still one of the best preserved collection of pueblos. Most of the iconic sites like Chaco and Mesa Verde have been extensively restored.Les mer
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Dag 11
mandag 9. april 2018 11:23
☀️ 13 °C
Høyde: 5 194 ft
Forente stater Hovenweep National Monument 37.38404, -109.0778737°23’3” N 109°4’40” W
Graffiti or a life story? [Hovenweep]
9. april 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
Took a break from camp hosting duties today. We joined a troop of ranger trainees for the day as they toured various ancestral Pueblan structures at Hovenweep. What made this memorable was a hike down a seldom-used, restricted trail to view some special "graffiti."

Most of what we see at Hovenweep are pictographs-- rock paintings. What are not readily accessible to the public here are the petroglyphs-- etched images. There are far fewer of them and thus in need of extra protection.

Beholding the petroglyphs is only half the fun. Figuring out what they mean can consume careers. Today's graffiti artists are mere childish amateurs compared to the Ancients. These guys (gals?) could condense their life story into a couple of striking symbols.Les mer
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ReisendeHave they been able to discern their meaning yet?
31.05.2019Svar
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Dag 6
onsdag 4. april 2018 14:05
☀️ 16 °C
Høyde: 5 846 ft
Forente stater Cajon Mesa 37.44296, -108.9821637°26’35” N 108°58’56” W
Cutthroat Pueblo [Hovenweep]
4. april 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
One of Hunt's former managers liked to say "you are the people you meet and the things you read." [Unlike a certain addled president who just watchesTV.] So in addition to the parks we visit our greatest joy is meeting visitors or staff. There's the Hopi preservationist, the high school science teacher from Montana who every spring break brings a bus load of students down here or the couple from Wales who straightened me out about Welsh history.

Earlier today we also hiked to two more Pueblo ruins. Good stuff.Les mer
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ReisendeI love hearing of your adventures...keep the photos coming. A couple of books you might enjoy: Pacific and The Emerald MIle. The first touches on amazing history of some of the indigineous people around the Pacific Rim. The second is a great adventure of the Southwest that provides a history of the Grand Canyon and the Glen Canyon dam in the telling. And I agree that #45 is what he reads (nothing) and the fact free people he meets (on Fox and from the porn industry).
08.04.2018Svar
ReisendeThanks for the feedback, Mike. Added Emerald Mile to my Goodreads but can't find the Pacific book.
08.04.2018Svar
John LovaasLove your tales of US parks and cultural history sites. Need more pics—your pics are lovely especially those taken by Lorraine!
09.04.2018Svar
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Dag 4
mandag 2. april 2018 16:12
☀️ 17 °C
Høyde: 6 637 ft
Forente stater Dry Gulch 37.28881, -107.8818437°17’20” N 107°52’55” W
Hopi perspective [Hovenweep]
2. april 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C
Today we visited two more of the Hovenweep pueblos-- Hackberry and Horseshoe. While these are certainly impressive strctures the highlight of the hike was chatting with a Hopi Indian who does stabilization work for the Park Service. He took us behind the barrier chains and talked about how NPS hires Native Americans to use modern materials (an acrylic resin) to stabilize their ancestor's pueblos. Herschel said his people have mixed feelings about intervening in how nature returns these structures to the Earth. But he personally thinks it's a good thing that future visitors will be able to appreciate the work of his ancestors. He also showed us pictographs, a spring seep and structures not accessible to the public. A real treat.Les mer
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Dag 3
søndag 1. april 2018 14:30
☀️ 20 °C
Høyde: 5 479 ft
Forente stater Cajon Lake 37.41494, -109.0580937°24’54” N 109°3’29” W
Holly Pueblo [Hovenweep]
1. april 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
We hiked four miles up a nearby canyon to Holly Pueblo, which is one of six villages in the Hovenweep Monument. The hike began with us squeezing through a very tight cracked rock. Then we walked through what's called a great sage plain up to the head of a canyon where more stunning masonry awaited. The pictures speak volumes.Les mer
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Dag 2
lørdag 31. mars 2018 19:20
☀️ 13 °C
Høyde: 6 909 ft
Forente stater Yellow Jacket 37.537, -108.737637°32’13” N 108°44’15” W
Rooms with a View [Hovenweep]
31. mars 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C
As noted, the Anasazi were remarkable masons. And the ones at Hovenweep were the best of the best. They shaped and fitted stone walls together almost seamlessly. See the one picture here that shows the melding of bolder and "brick." Most of the structures around Hovenweep were built in a 50-year period beginning around 1225 and then abadoned by 1300 due to a decades-long drought. The lessons of climate change we ignore at our own peril.Les mer
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Dag 1
fredag 30. mars 2018 14:58
☀️ 18 °C
Høyde: 5 210 ft
Forente stater Hovenweep National Monument 37.38364, -109.0701137°23’1” N 109°4’12” W
Hovenweep National Monument [Utah]
30. mars 2018, Forente stater ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C
Hovenweep is Paiute for "deserted valley." This supposed deserted valley, however, is anything but. Eight hundred years ago it was home to a couple thousand Anasazi and they left behind dozens of astonishing towers and other structures. Their masonry skills were so perfected that their towers still stand mostly unrestored while those built by their brethren 100 miles away have crumbled.

Anyway, over the next two months Hovenweep will be our home as we share what we learn as campground hosts.Les mer
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ReisendeSpectacular!
02.04.2018Svar
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30. mars 2018