Today we have a long drive planned up the Chaco NP, about two hours away. But first we need to fortify ourselves with a hearthy breakfast at the nearby Denny’s. Then we visit a nearby jewelry store, buy gas and are on our way. We pass through Indian lands on a shorter but slower route and surprisingly encounter a hourse roundup, quite interesting. We pull to the side and wait for them to pass and then we continue on using reasonably good dirt roads to Chaco Culture NHP.
When we enter the park the pavement starts again and it is a short drive to the visitor center where we want to pay the entrance fee using our annual pass.
We pay the fee and then we want to see the museum. Surprisingly there are no items, as far as we understand they cannot satisfy the needed climate control conditions for the items to be loaned, weird.
From here we drive to Penasco Blanco trailhead and with a bit of luck we even find some parking. There are multiple trails, short and long that start from here but first we walk to Pueblo del Arroyo a nearby ruin that we can see close by from the parking lot.
It is a large and beautiful pueblo and we start with a very unusual three walled kiwa that seems to be outside the walls of the pueblo. It is huge compared to most kiwas we have seen and the three walls add to the grandeur.
It is not the only kiwa in the pueblo, there are many other ones, we almost forgot how many kivas a typical pueblo can have.
Another impressive part of the pueblo is the wall on the south side of the pueblo, which is seemingly intact and intimidatingly high. We enjoy again the example of Chaco masonry, it is quite impressive.
We end the visit by passing through the interior of the pueblo and marveling at the number of kiwas and the well preserved walls, counting the room and storage areas and avoiding other tourists. Then it is back to the car to pick up our backpacks and to start on our hike to Peñasco Blanco the major goal for the day.
