Walking through Chaco Canyon
By Dereck Rivera

Walking through Chaco Canyon was long and exhausting. The whole thing took at least five hours. We started at a parking lot near Pueblo Bonito and Pueblo del Arroyo. The hike started out flat and we were walking through a scrubby brushy area with steep canyon walls on our right. We passed Kin Kletso and walked around it and then went on to Casa Chiquita, two pueblos. Then we went onto a trail along the canyon rock called Petroglyph.Trail. A petroglyph is carving in the rock similar to a hieroglyphic. Some petroglyphs were really old and dated from the time when Chaco Canyon was inhabited. Some were animals and some were swirls, which meant the sun. There were also American writings dating back to the 1800s and 1900s. Two people who served on the U.S. Survey team carved their names and dates. One writing said: "Jean: I cannot get no feed. I cannot wait for you." It was from Sept. 26, 1910. By this time in the hike it was probably in the mid- to high 80s, and the sun gave me sunburn. I had to drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. Then we crossed down into the canyon through the wash, which was the water supply for the people but had only a little bit of water in it. It wasn’t even as big as a small creek. Then we had to climb to the Supernova petroglyph under an overhanging rock . In the shade it was cool. But then we had a really steep climb to the pueblo on top of a canyon. Peñasco Blanco was hot and windy, even though it was already 4 p.m. On the way back, close to the parking lot, we saw a green baby rattlesnake, right on the trail. I saw it first. "Oh, s---!’’ I said, and I jumped halfway across the trail. It wasn’t alarmed by our presence, and it slowly retreated into the field. But before it left, I took a couple of National Geographic photographs of it. It was a pretty neat experience altogether, even though the weather was pretty severe. The whole place shows how life has a way of living, no matter what.

Back to the photos page!