Chaco Canyon Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at Chaco Canyon last year. We drove to Moab the first night and then to Chaco on Thanksgiving day. Here’s some photos from the trip. There’s more photos from the trip on FlickrChaco Canyon

While in Moab we went and saw some petroglyphs we’d never seen before on the road to Dead Horse Point State Park. These are right off the road and really easy to get to. I like the simple but highly stylistic representation of the bighorn. I wonder why they’re in a line? There’s also a spiral, or calendar, near these. I like the spirals – they seem to be everywhere.

Chaco Canyon

Usually we can’t go to Moab without going to Arches, and this trip was no different.  Below, shot from Park Avenue.

Chaco Canyon

The next day, Thanksgiving, we drove to Chaco Canyon. Google maps says it’s 5.5 hrs, but if you leave at 6 am and only stop once, it seems like less.

Chaco Canyon

Maybe we stopped more than once. But only to take photos of an old truck in Monticello.

Chaco Canyon

Once we got to Chaco Canyon it was still early afternoon and we set up the tent and went and played in the old ruins. It was fun to see all the rooms and small doorways. It was fun to compose and shoot my own versions of iconic photos from Chaco Canyon.

Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon

For Thanksgiving supper we had some 2 yr old Ramen brought from home and some hotdogs. It was delicious. We sat around the campfire for a little while before the cold forced us into the tent, where we talked and laughed until almost 8 pm. The next morning it was 18 degrees.

Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon

Despite the cold morning, we still went back to the ruins and ran around some more and took more photos. By noon we were headed back home. Chaco Canyon

It was a great trip and we had fun. These photos and a few more are on my Flickr page.

Chaco Canyon