April 22 Indiana Jones and the The Mysterious Temple of Dittert
OK, it's not quite that big an adventure, but its more our speed. We're exploring the El Malpais
badlands and our goal today is to find the en-excavated site of a Pueblo/Chaco/Anasazi ruin originally identified by one Ed Dittert in the mid-40's.
Based on a rough map we located to site on Goggle Earth and plotted a hike to hopefully get us there.
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| From star on the left to the star on the right. |
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| Looks like a good spot. |
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| Put your boots on. |
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| Hope the creek don't rise. (Seems to be a consistent theme this trip.) |
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| Looks like Da' Place |
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| DAMN the treasure! I'm eatin' lunch. |
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| Looks like somebody else ate lunch here too. |
Well, unless cow pies are made of gold, there wasn't any treasure.
You may ask your self, "Why would anybody drive 3 days to hike for 5 hours just to muck around in somebody's trash heap?" But letting your mind wander, you can almost sense the presence of the dozen or so families who lived here 800 or 900 years ago and what it must have taken to survive in what to us, is a totally inhospitable environment. It gives us a better perspective of some of the day-to-day inconveniences we deal with.
On the ride back to the campground, we stop to view a nice arch.
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| Another day done. |
Tomorrow is our last day before making the 3-day run for the barn. We plan to visit the Acoma Pueblo. My expectations are low as I've heard it is pretty commercialized. But since we conquered the Native Americans well over a hundred years ago, we can't really complain about their adoption of capitalism can we?
Good Night From El Malpais.
Brad and Valerie
It looks so dry already. Are there no flowers? Or have they done their thing already? But I guess it's better hiking in a dry creek bed than a spring one. :)
ReplyDeleteMom... you certainly have faith in Dad's properly placed gold stars! It appears he was spot on :)
ReplyDeleteActually its easier finding your way around in the desert than in Chicago. Other than finding a way across the occasional arroyo, just point you gps to the destination and walk in a straight line til you get there. Oh, and walk around the rattlesnakes.
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