After quitting my job in Alaska, I discovered that I suddenly had all the time in world to do the things that I wanted to do.  It was a new type of lifestyle that I was getting an incredibly amount of satisfaction from and I wanted to prolong it for as long as I could.

I saved up enough for this “short-term retirement” and simply woke up one day wanting to drive to Chaco Canyon and do some exploring.  Ever since my sister talked about Chaco, I knew it was a place I wanted to go.  And for some reason, this morning seemed like the perfect time to go!

I packed up my car and began driving to Cortez, Colorado to spend the night.  The drive was long, but I stopped along the way in Moab to do a short hike around Park Avenue in Arches National Park.  After that, I continued on down to Monticello than directly east and then south to Cortez and then onward to Mesa Verde National Park.   I was hoping to make it in time before the campground check-in closed.  I love camping at Mesa Verde!

I grilled a steak and potatoes and took pictures of the stars!

One of the reasons why I love the Morefield Campground at Mesa Verde is because of the hot showers!  It was nice waking up and having a hot shower.  I made some eggs and sausage this morning, packed up the car, and headed to Chaco Canyon!

It was about three hours to get there, but I had several podcasts that I was looking forward to.  One of the podcasts was created by these two girls who were interested in rock art and ruins.  The episode I downloaded focused primarily on Chaco Canyon and the amazing ruins there.  The first half of the podcast was very interesting and was getting me excited for my hikes later that day.

The second half of the podcast changed gears and turned to paranormal activity in the canyon.  One of the girls had a story that when she stayed a few nights at the campground near the Chaco Visitor Center.  She said she saw glowing orbs and floating lights and saw demons and things.  I didn’t pay it any attention until I realized she was talking about the same campground that I would be staying at.

Was I in for a night of paranormal activity too?

I finally got to the visitor center and immediately wondered where all pottery and artifacts were in the museum.  I noticed there wasn’t much on display and asked a ranger where I could go to see more.  He said that almost all of the artifacts and relics are not at Chaco, but at other museums all over.  This was very disappointing for me.  I was expecting to see some incredible Chacoan Culture through the pottery and relics, but was sad to know that I could only see that stuff in the books in the visitor center shop.

I had the rest of the day to explore and decided to hike to some of the ruins.  I began my adventure by hiking to Chetro Ketl.  This is a large set of ruins that has a very large kiva.  It was the largest I have ever seen.  It was fun strolling around the incredible ruins and seeing how each brick/stone was meticulously placed.

I then decided to quickly check out Pueblo Bonito before I did the long loop hike to Pueblo Alto.  The hike is long, but one that I highly recommend.   You get to see so many ruins, rock walls Chacoan Roads, pottery shards, Moki Steps (Chacoan Steps), and even fossils!

After this I was tired!  I went to camp, made dinner, and enjoyed the very dark sky!

I didn’t see any flying orbs or floating lights during the night.  The campground was pretty nice and I was surprised to find it almost completely full.

Today I was sore from all the hiking I did yesterday.  I had a very long hike planned today to the world famous Supernova Pictograph.

I started at the trailhead for Pueblo Alto again, but this time I hiked west instead of north.  It was a very hot day, but I was prepared.  I saw tons of ruins and petroglyphs along the trail.

The trail went straight across the flat canyon until it came to a deep dry wash.  On the other side I could see a sign that pointed to the Supernova Pictograph.  It’s located directly underneath a rock overhang and is worth the visit alone to Chaco.

This incredible pictograph appears to have paintings of a crescent moon, hand print, a depiction of Halley’s Comet, and a depiction of the Supernova in which became the Crab Nebula.  The Supernova Pictograph might have been drawn when a supernova became visible in July 4 of the year 1054.  The year 1054 was during the height of Chacoan Culture and they would absolutely have been aware of astronomy events.

Just below the supernova is a large depiction of what some people believe is Halley’s comet, which would have been visible to the Chacoans in the year 1066!  Pretty amazing!

I continued on up to the large ruins of Penasco Blanco.  I spent about an hour exploring around and only saw a few other people.  This is a long hike that not many people make to the ruins, but I feel they are worth it.

This incredible pictograph appears to have paintings of a crescent moon, hand print, a depiction of Halley’s Comet, and a depiction of the Supernova in which became the Crab Nebula.  The Supernova Pictograph might have been drawn when a supernova became visible in July 4 of the year 1054.  The year 1054 was during the height of Chacoan Culture and they would absolutely have been aware of astronomy events.

Just below the supernova is a large depiction of what some people believe is Halley’s comet, which would have been visible to the Chacoans in the year 1066!  Pretty amazing!

I continued on up to the large ruins of Penasco Blanco.  I spent about an hour exploring around and only saw a few other people.  This is a long hike that not many people make to the ruins, but I feel they are worth it.

I then hiked back and began my long drive to the Morefield Campground again.  I wanted to get closer to my home in Northern Utah and thought that spending a night at one of my favorite campgrounds would be great.

I’m tired from all the driving!