Destination West!
  • Home Page
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Idaho
  • Montana
  • Nevada
    • Las Vegas
  • New Mexico
  • Oregon
  • South Dakota
  • Utah
  • Washington
  • Wyoming
  • Route 66
  • About
  • Get In Touch
  • Landscape Gallery I
    • Landscape Gallery II
  • Macro Gallery
  • Street Gallery
  • Wildlife Gallery I
    • Wildlife Gallery II
    • Wildlife Gallery III
  • Archive Albums
DestinationWest.Org

A western tourism resource featuring majestic destinations and lesser known places!   

Chaco Cliff Dwelling Petroglyphs In The Rain

6/4/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Chaco Cliff Dwelling Petroglyphs In The Rain

​Camping among the ancients is the theme of the Cliff Dwellings Campground in the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. I did two camping trips at Chaco during the blustery month of May and both trips had some foul weather conditions to deal with. Spring is the season of fast moving windy thunderstorms in this part of New Mexico, so a sturdy tent will be needed when camping this time of year. The benefit of wet weather camping at Chaco Canyon is easy to see when viewing the ancient petroglyphs in this area, especially along the solid rock wall that borders upon the campground itself. With a little bit of rain, the ancient petroglyphs that cannot be seen on a bright sunny dry day are much easier to notice when the rock walls are soaked with rain water, so this is the motivation for doing a little bit of damp weather camping among the ancients at Chaco!

When the rocks are damp, it seems like the ancient petroglyphs that are nearly invisible on a dry day appear just like magic. Some of this phenomena is actually due in part by design. People that have viewed ancient hand outline pictographs know this is true, because the pigment compounds that were chosen for the paintings sometimes reflect light only in special conditions. Some of the painted hand pictographs only appear at times like the late afternoon or early in the day when the sun is positioned just right, so a magical visual disappearing and reappearing act can be pondered over while gazing at these intriguing displays. The same holds true with many of the carved petroglyphs, especially with the ones that are so old that they have nearly been erased by erosion over eons of time. 

On the flip-side, the wet weather at Chaco Canyon also reveals the irresponsible behavior of past visitors in this highly protected native sacred place. Graffiti in the form of names and initials have been carved over the priceless objects of antiquity by law breaking individuals in the past and the damage also becomes easier to view after a rain shower. Depression and frustration are the feelings that caring visitors experience and it truly is a real drag on the overall experience. Fortunately there are many friends of Chaco that care enough to observe visitors and report suspicious behavior. It is the campground hosts and the loyal Chaco visitors that truly care enough to protect this majestic spiritual destination, so do not be surprised if you get a feeling of being watched over from afar! Penalties for destroying ancient archaeological sites can amount to spending the vacation in a Federal Prison and a lifetime of debt, so this is an effective deterrence too.

Wet weather does bring the vivid colors of the rock surfaces to life, as well as the ancient petroglyphs. For this reason, there is no need to dread a rainy day when camping among the ancients in the Cliff Dwellings Campground! Going with the foul weather mode only involves putting on rain gear to read the ancient newspaper rocks from an age long gone by! 
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Leave no trace!

    Archives

    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020

    Donations help the Destinaton West project continue into the future! 
    Go Fund Me!

    This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies.

    Opt Out of Cookies
© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Home Page
  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Idaho
  • Montana
  • Nevada
    • Las Vegas
  • New Mexico
  • Oregon
  • South Dakota
  • Utah
  • Washington
  • Wyoming
  • Route 66
  • About
  • Get In Touch
  • Landscape Gallery I
    • Landscape Gallery II
  • Macro Gallery
  • Street Gallery
  • Wildlife Gallery I
    • Wildlife Gallery II
    • Wildlife Gallery III
  • Archive Albums