Day of Post: 07-06-2019
Day of Event: 6-9-2019
Mountain Southwest Road Trip 2019 Day 3
Highlights of this day included:
1. Aztec Ruins
2. Mesa Verde National Park\
3. Lunch in Cortez at Mi Mexico
4. Canyons of the Ancients Visitor's Center
5. Quick trip to Lowry Pueblo
6. Decision time in Monticello, Utah
7. On to Canyonlands National Park
8. Overnight at Hamburger Rock in the BLM land next to Canyonlands
So....let's get to some pictures...
 |
| Aztec Ruins. Aztec, NM. Neat place. |
 |
| Kiva at Aztec Ruins. Kiva basically a ceremonial or religious gathering place for Aztecs. Basically a church. First of many times we would see a kiva or hear the word 'kiva' for the next few days. |
 |
| Aztec Ruins, Aztec, NM |
 |
| Original wood ceiling of Aztec Ruins room. Around 1000 years old. Lower cross beam is Pine. Middle cross struts are aspen. Upper layer of small braces are cedar. |
 |
| Samuel overlooking a kiva at Aztec Ruins. Aztec, NM. |
 |
| On to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. |
 |
| Mesa Verde, CO |
 |
| Mesa Verde, CO |
 |
| Mesa Verde, CO |
 |
| Canyons of the Ancients, CO. More Aztec Ruins scattered across SW Colorado. We had lunch and a fuel up in Cortez, CO at Mi Mexico prior to this segment. |
 |
| Lowry Pueblo. Canyons of the Ancients, CO |
 |
Lowry Pueblo. Canyons of the Ancients, CO
Another Kiva ruin. |
|
 |
| Neat rock structure. SE Utah, Near Monticello. At Monticello we had a decision to make - Camp in Forest service land south of Monticello or try to squeeze in Canyonlands NP and try to find a campsite after the fact. We chose the latter and scored a nice campsite. See on down below. |
 |
| Newspaper Rock. Drive into Needles Visitor Center. Canyonlands NP. |
 |
| The drive into Canyonlands NP. The drive into the park entrance was just as beautiful and breathtaking as the park itself. |
 |
| Canyonlands NP. |
 |
| Canyonlands NP. |
 |
| Canyonlands NP. Samuel is about 1/3 the way up this formation. Look for the little black dot. |
 |
| Canyonlands NP. Entrance. But we're exiting as all in the park campgrounds are FULL. Now to hunt for a campsite as the sun sets. |
 |
| In the foreground black is our tent. Can you see it? This was the view as we got the tent set up and sleeping bags moved in,ready to go to sleep at Hamburger Rock, BLM land outside Canyonlands NP. |
 |
| Not our picture. But this is Hamburger Rock. Wouldn't you love to wake up here for the low low price of $7.50 a night? Absolutely beautiful. |
