Cortez, Colorado Oct 11 - 15 Pueblan Ruins Galore! plus the Solar Eclipse

Tuesday, Oct 11, we hit the road and once in cell service, I called Sundance RV Park and yes they have room for us today.  We were able to check in as soon as we got there about 10 am.

Once plugged in on arrival, Oh Oh! The fridge and microwave kept flicking on and off, which means no other power in the rig other than the 12V lights. Ray decided to plug the fridge directly to the power pole. With that done, the transfer switch came on so we have regular power in the rig. About 4 hours later finally the orange charge lights and battery full light came on the Xantrex panel inside the rig. Fortunately we were ok for the evening. Ray tried to contact someone to help us out with no success.

It's hot outside, about 23C/75F, but with the windows open we have a breeze. Cool at night thankfully. (Turning on the heat pumps would shut everything else off we found out.)

Wednesday morning, Ray headed out at first light to the McElmo Flume, a short distance out of town.

History of the Flume: 

The McElmo Flume is the ONLY SURVIVING flume of the original 104 flumes on the Montezuma Valley Irrigation system that was constructed in the 1890s. This irrigation system diverted water from the Delores River via a mile-long tunnel, which brought water to the Montezuma Valley in southwest Colorado. This allowed large-scale farming and ranching to develop, and also created the town site of Cortez. James W. Hanna, the original developer of this irrigation project, laid out the town of Cortez as housing for his workers.

The McElmo Creek Flume remained operational until 1922, when McPhee Reservoir and its laterals replaces the original irrigation system. The Flume remained in good shape until a heavy rain in August 2006, sent debris from the open ditch onto the wooden trough and damaged the northern end.

Saving the Flume: In 2010, the Cortez Historic Preservation Board decided to nominate the Flume to Colorado Preservation, Inc’s Endangered Places List, and John Porter, our local “water buffalo,” wrote the nomination. The Flume was listed as an Endangered Place in 2011, and the preservation effort began. The work was finally completed in 2016.

When he got back, we headed out at 9am to see the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center. Unfortunately once we got there, their sign said "by appointment only" which isn't how it's advertised, So we returned to town and went to the Cortez Cultural Centre instead.

They host functions, Native dancing etc. as a non-profit. The picture below is the painting on the back side of their building. Looks pretty realistic. 

Hogan (pronounced who ahn) house

Inside is a bit of a museum mixed in with local art for sale.

Back to the coach before 11 am to move two sites down. We tried plugging the fridge back into the rig before we moved ... that seemed to work briefly. As we d tneedo move anyways, Ray unplugged the power and nope no inverter, everything off. Low Voltage lights flashing.

Once we moved and put the power back onto the rig, the same thing happened, the fridge and micro would come online and then go off etc. Ray plugged the fridge back into the post again. We started researching possible causes for all our issues. i.e. low voltage light, as well as the battery test in the panel inside has a discrepancy compared to the battery status with the solar computer. We decided that Ray needs to check all the battery connections at all 10 batteries. He did find one loose wire  and when he tightened that, the battery levels were pretty close to being identical. He also changed out the 300amp fuse again. After doing that, the Xantrex Converter panel came back online. FANTASTIC!!!!

We are back functioning as we should. This all started when we (as in me) ... blew the 300 amp fuse. It was so hot outside, I had 2 A/C units on and the convection oven. Too much load for 50 amp. When Ray replaced the fuse, he made a "spark", which may have weakened the new fuse. Don't know, anyway, I ordered another spare to be picked up when we get to Durango.

Ray noticed the biggest "donut" ever at the City Market Grocery store. No we didn't buy it. :)

It's actually a cake but sure looks like a huge donut.

After a short tour around town it's back to the coach to prep dinner and start laundry. I'm able to make our Thanksgiving Dinner finally, only 2 days late. :)

We are very thankful, especially since our electrical issues are fixed. :)

Thursday the cold front moved in. High temps today are only going to be 13C/55F compared to yesterday at 75F. Burrr. 

For today's tour, we drove to the Canyon of the Ancients Visitor's Centre to get our maps of the ruins in the area. What an impressive museum. We also purchased our solar eclipse glasses for Saturday. 

I'm wearing 3 layers to stay warm!

Amazing we still make this style of mug today.

What the heck did the Pueblon use this for?

Yellow and black pottery unique to a certain area.

The pueblo pictured below, Oraibi, like Taos, is still occupied. They allow visitors, but photography is banned. Certainly something to add to our "Places to Visit" list.

After we watched a movie in their theatre and toured the museum, it's time to hike up the path to the Escalante Pueblo. It's a concrete path which winds back and forth for about 1/2 mile for wheelchair access. The pueblo is at the top of the hill and  overlooks the McPhee Reservoir on one side and "The Great Sage Plain" on the other. In otherwords, one HECK of a view.

Bug House

Views of Cortez from the path going up.

After huffing and puffing, due to the elevation of 2,075 m/ 6,800 feet, we arrived.

Not showing behind Ray and hills in the distance is the McPhee Reservoir.

There are these huge yucca's with fruit on them. Something was eating them and they look like a melon with seeds.

The trip back down the hill is much faster. lol Next we were off to the McPhee Reservoir.

History of the Dolores Project
In the mid 1880's, private developers constructed both a tunnel and the great cut diversions to bring water from the Dolores River basin into the Montezuma Valley. By 1920, the private ditch companies were broke and their systems were in disrepair.

McPhee Reservoir is named for McPhee, Colorado, a company town founded by the New Mexico Lumber Company that is now submerged under the reservoir. In 1927, the McPhee sawmill produced over half of Colorado's lumber. The town housed up to 1,500 employees. The sawmill closed in 1946.

After President Carter delayed construction in 1978, due to settlement of Indian water rights and influence of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, construction of McPhee Dam began in 1980. By 1986, irrigators in Montezuma Valley, the Ute Tribe, and Dolores Project farmers finally had a long term, dependable supply of water.

McPhee Reservoir

Stocked with lots of fish for fishing.

Ute Mountain

On our way back down the hill, I noticed snow up there on that mountain that fell a day ago when the cold front arrived.

Mt Belmear

Next stop, the Delores Train Station. While Ray took pictures, I went across the street to Mama Bear's Bakery for cinnamon buns and coffee. :)

Double decker cattle cars from the early 1900s'

The Galloping Goose

In 1931, the Rio Grande Southern Railroad was in bankruptcy. To cut costs they converted old automobiles into rail cars, creating a hybrid vehicle called a “motor” (later nicknamed the “Galloping Goose”). These motors required just one man to operate them, instead of the five people needed to run the steam locomotives. The railroad ran both the motors and the larger steam trains until the railroad was abandoned in 1952.

Back home to drop Ray off and head out to Walmart for a few things. Our old printer does not connect with our current computers ... no drive found. After spending several hours trying to find a driver to load for this printer, I gave up, and bought an inexpensive one. I needed it to print off the labels to send the DISH receivers back so I can get refunded. (DISH agreed to refund me)

While gone, Ray checked all the flueids and tires the worked to get the bugs off the front of the MH. They're really baked on. Once back, he headed out to get supplies to fix our spice cabinet door that had separated due to the slide coming in off kilter at Mystic Hotsprings.

The rest of the afternoon we relaxed inside as it's still only 55F outside with a very cold wind. I finished the laundry.

Friday morning and it's a balmy 28F outside. BURRR! Ray chased me out door at 8am heading to the Canyons of the Ancients Lowry and Painted Hand Pueblo. He wanted the morning light for his pictures.

Visit a 1,000-year-old ancestral Puebloan site, which includes a 40-room village. The Lowry Pueblo site was first excavated in 1931 and became a National Historic Landmark in 1967. It is one of the most significant BLM archaeological sites in the Four Corners region, where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona meet. 

We didn't realize it was only a short walk from the parking lot, thinking we had a hike. Bonus! They  put a roof on this structure to help preserve it.

This is the second floor of the structure. They did not excavate down to the first floor so you will see that some of the doorways are really low on the ground.

You can go in one entrance and see inside to view one of the kiva's. Here they dug down to the bottom.

Notice the original lintel at the top of the door 

These holes below were for the logs to hold up the second floor.

Next we went down the hill to the Great Kiva.

The square hole in the centre is one of four holes for posts that would have supported a roof over the Kiva.

Stairs to come down into the Kiva.

After wandering around and in, we headed back down the road to the Painted Hand Pueblo. This ruin is a hike along the cliff rim before a scramble downhill to get to the ruin. I decided to take the .75 mile trail back to the picnic viewpoint and wait for him to return. He did say when he got back, I would not have like it so I made the right choice. :)

Charred from a campfire

Only while looking at Ray's pictures for the blog, I noticed "the Painted Hand" so I guess that is why they call this the Painted Hand Pueblo. Can you see it below?

Turned out I could actually see Ray taking the picture with the hand from my viewpoint :) I knew he's down there as I heard him cough.

Back in the car after an hour of hiking. As we were only 12 miles away from Hovenweep National Monument, we decided to go there and walk the one side of the rim of the canyon to view the ruins. We visited here in 2016 and did the whole 2 miles, so it's been awhile.

Human Prehistory

Human habitation at Hovenweep dates to over 10,000 years ago when nomadic Paleoindians visited the Cajon Mesa to gather food and hunt game. These people used the area for centuries, following the seasonal weather patterns. By about A.D. 900, people started to settle at Hovenweep year-round, planting and harvesting crops in the rich soil of the mesa top. By the late 1200s, the Hovenweep area was home to over 2,500 people.

Ancestral Puebloans

The towers of Hovenweep were built by ancestral Puebloans, a sedentary farming culture that occupied the Four Corners area from about A.D. 500 to A.D. 1300. Similarities in architecture, masonry and pottery styles indicate that the inhabitants of Hovenweep were closely associated with groups living at Mesa Verde and other nearby sites.

The ancestral Puebloans prepared their land for cultivation much like farmers do today. They created terraces on hillsides, formed catch basins to hold storm run-off, and built check dams to retain topsoil that would otherwise wash away. Storage granaries under the canyon rims protected harvests of corn, beans and squash for later use.

Most of the structures at Hovenweep were built between A.D. 1200 and 1300. There is quite a variety of shapes and sizes, including square and circular towers, D-shaped dwellings and many kivas (Puebloan ceremonial structures, usually circular). The masonry at Hovenweep is as skillful as it is beautiful. Even the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde rarely exhibit such careful construction and attention to detail. Some structures built on irregular boulders remain standing after more than 700 years.

Many theories attempt to explain the use of the buildings at Hovenweep. The striking towers might have been celestial observatories, defensive structures, storage facilities, civil buildings, homes or any combination of the above. While archeologists have found that most towers were associated with kivas, their actual function remains a mystery.

Departure

By the end of the 13th century, it appears a prolonged drought, possibly combined with resource depletion, factionalism and warfare, forced the inhabitants of Hovenweep to depart. Though the reason is unclear, ancestral Puebloans throughout the area migrated south to the Rio Grande Valley in New Mexico and the Little Colorado River Basin in Arizona. Today's Pueblo, Zuni and Hopi people are descendants of this culture.

Twin Towers

Eroded Boulder House

Unit Type House

Twin Towers, Boulder House and Unit House

Hovenweep Castle

Square Tower at the end of the canyon.

Well, after an hour and a quarter, we finally made it back to the car to head back to Cortez. Both of us exhausted. I got in 7600 steps and Ray had to be at least 10,000. We're not used to this, so are pretty sore. What a great day though. We decided to take the other road back to Cortez, so one big loop. Took another hour to get home, but it's though beautiful scenery. No pictures, as we're done for the day.

Back home at 1:30, while I made us lunch, Ray headed out to take our DISH stuff to UPS so we can get our money back. Yeah! After lunch he finished gluing my cabinet door back together. Another problem hopefully solved.

We spent the rest of the day with me washing our bedding and Ray playing with pictures. Definitely warmed up this afternoon. We got up to 60F which is much better than 28F!

Saturday - Solar Eclipse Day! We decided we have "toured" enough, so will hang out here to watch the Solar Eclipse. Need to rest up for our 2 day train trip Monday and Tuesday in Durango. Ray is sorely tempted to go back to yesterday's highway for some golden hour shots. We also didn't go to Mesa Verde as we had done that the last time we were here in 2016. 

Mesa Verde NP

Mesa Verde Part 2

All set up with our glasses.

We met our neighbours Bob and Karen who came here from Montrose, CO 2.5 hours north of here, specifically for the eclipse. We all sat out in front of the coach for a couple of hours watching. I also had my phone on to Space.com where we were watching it live from Eugene, OR to Texas. Pretty Cool.

We actually saw all these phases while sitting there for a couple of hours.

According to the Denver Post,  Mesa Verde experienced 90% annularity during the solar eclipse on Oct. 14. This is pretty close to where we are and this is what we saw. It moves fast the total ring was only for a couple of minutes.

After it was over we decided to go out to lunch at the Thai place. Ray and I had the Pad Thai and Fried Rice, hoping for leftovers for dinner. I did not like the Pad Thai and found out that it's because there is alot of Tamarind Paste in it.  That flavour I didn't like so tonight after a quick stop at the City Market Grocery Store,  I'm making my version with chicken. :)

Ray chose to eat mine instead of his leftovers. lol

That ends our time here in Cortez. Off to Durango tomorrow to get ready for our 2 day train trip, Monday and Tuesday.