We drove out to Hovenweep National Monument. It was 45 miles from Cortez, the only city of any size in the area, so I am sure they have some pretty spectacular night skies there. In the Visitor's Center, they had a nice Celestron CPC 1100, but I missed yet another opportunity for some astronomical viewing. The ranger said they would be getting it out next Saturday (after we planned to leave Cortez). I rationalized I didn't miss much since there would be a nearly full moon in the sky by then.
It was one of the few times I can remember when Sam was allowed to hike the trail with us. With the overcast skies and a pretty good breeze, it was too cold to complete the entire Square Tower Trail, but we walked out to Square Tower and got to see everything even if some of it was on the other side of the canyon.
Hovenweep Castle is part of the Square Tower Group.
To the Utes & Paiutes, "Hovenweep" means "Deserted Valley
The towers of Hovenweep were built by ancestral Puebloans, a sedentary farming culture that occupied the Four Corners area from about A.D. 500 to A.D. 1300.
Most of the structures at Hovenweep were built between A.D. 1200 and 1300.
Continuing on our loop, we stopped at Lowery Pueblo in the Canyons of the Ancients. This area is a bit different in that it is administered by the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management rather than the National Park Service. The pueblo was surrounded by farmland. I spotted a deer crossing the road followed by a couple more. We found we had only seen the last few of a large herd that was foraging in the undergrowth. Joani estimated maybe 30 animals total.
Lowrey Pueblo
We were allowed to enter some of the main structure which was now protected from the weather by a large steel canopy. It was impossible to capture the extent of the pueblo without seeing the canopy so we enjoyed the site with a limited picture count.
We drove on gravel roads that very much reminded us of the farmland in Iowa (except for all of the irrigation equipment). There was another smaller herd of mule deer that just stared at us when we stopped. I'm sure they were wondering just what we were doing. I suppose very few people take any notice of them in their day to day wanderings.
The contrast in the land struck me. Here was rich soil while only a few miles away there was nothing but rocks and sand and occasionally, rather large mountains in the background.
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