Greetings from Chaco
Hi! Chaco is amazing.
I have many, many pictures and a fair amount of video, but there’s no way I’m getting it all posted here, now. I’ll try to get some of it up now.
For now, let me tell you a couple things about Chaco:
- The road to Chaco is really crappy. From US550, you get on to CR7900, which is paved, and not too bad… but then you get on CR7950, which accounts for 13 of the 21 miles from US550 to Chaco. CR7950 is a washboarded dirt road. Count on it taking an hour or more to cover those 13 miles.
- Dress for Chaco, not Farmington. What does that mean? Chaco is at 6200 feet. It’s windy. You should probably have a windbreaker. A hat might not be a bad choice.
- If you’re not camping, plan to see everything in one day. That means get there early. It also means plan on leaving the park 2 hours before sunset so you can get off the dirt road before it’s dark.
- Bring some sort of food and beverages. There is nothing there, except, maybe some bottled water in the visitor center and a couple potable water spigots. If you want anything more than that, you’ll have to bring it yourself.
- You will be walking a lot in high-altitude conditions. If that sort of thing’s not your bag, baby, skip it.
With all that in mind, Chaco is a really nifty place. It’s out of the way, and not all that easy to get to, but if you can get past that it’s amazing.
I’ll have more pics and video up soon. For now:
The awful road into Chaco
Crossing the wash (part 1)
Crossing the wash (part 2)
Pueblo Del Arroyo walking tour
Pan around the Great Kiva
Thoughts about the Great Kiva (MOV021 - coming shortly)