Colorado’s beauty is in its natural landscape. Between the mountains, open landscapes, creeks and rivers, all often bordered with sweet yellow clover, there is a calm. Enter a small or larger town and the frenetic pace of life kicks in with one wishing for the quiet space once again. This is how I felt driving from Walsenburg to Cortez.
Thankfully Wolf Creek Pass and miles between towns were calm as was where I spent last night outside of Pagosa Springs. As I mentioned in the previous post, I appreciated this Harvest Host location at 84 Ranch. Only the wind. Even the cows in the field were silent! It’s wonderful to escape life’s noises every so often. I wish I could bottle this silence. Plus there is no cell service so I can completely unplug from the world events. Time to think, meditate, read, write, sketch and simply be! The sun did go down and the stars were huge!I wish everyone could have this experience. It’s a shame they cannot.
Next morning I visited Chimney Rock National Monument, located between Pagosa Springs and Durango. It was designated a national monument in 2012 and is one of only 14 managed by the US Forest Service. I took the Great House Trail tour and learned the ancestral Puebloans were most aware of the moon’s location between Chimney and Companion Rock every 18.5 years. Sites like this continue to be spiritually significant to Native Americans. Please always treat these sites with respect. Always.
The next day, while in Cortez area, I visited Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. My first early morning stop was at Lowry Pueblo and guaranteed to have the place to yourself. Canyon of the Ancients was designated a national monument in 2000 and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. During the month of September, the Bureau of Land Management provides special recreation permits for the public to also use the land. This is very different than land managed by the US Forest Service which does not provide that option.
Canyon of the Ancients National Monument encompasses 176,000 acres and so far there are 8300 documented sites with ancestral Pueblo artifacts. Archeologists think another 10,000 sites are possible on this land. Be sure to stop at the visitor center and view the couple of films, the museum and the Escalante Pueblo, a short walk up a paved trail. I cannot help but notice what great locations these pueblos are at with 360 degree view. No doubt it was for defensive positioning. Looking across the sage plain and to the far away mountains also provided a place of beauty.
