Wildflowers of Zion National Park

Zion National Park, located in southwest Utah, has some very pretty and interesting flowers found in places that I, at least, did not expect. The flowers that I am showing in this blog were all found near the east entrance of the park, quite high on the canyon, just west of the tunnel. Fortunately there are several turnouts or wide spots in the highway so one can stop out of the way of traffic. At this point you are high in the canyon with mostly slick rock around. There is little in the way of dirt and so flowers are not expected. I believe all these photos were taken in April over several years.

The flower shown below is desert primrose, found where there was a small patch of dirt.

The next flower is a shooting long star, I think. I have had some trouble identifying it. By the way, I strongly recommend Plants of Zion National Park, by Ruth Ashton Nelson for help in identifying Zion plants and flowers.

The photograph below is of a plant called wallflower.

I am afraid that I have been unable to identify the flower in the photo below. It is very pretty, and I did not find many of them. If anyone knows what it is, I would appreciate being enlightened.

The plant below is desert phlox.

The next photos are of Zion's Sweet Pea. This plant needs a little dirt and some way to collect a little water. As you can see it is growing on a ledge with some dirt on it and, because it is a ledge, it will collect some water. It is a favorite of mine.

My favorite Zion wildflower is the Slick Rock Paint Brush. This plant grows in the cracks in the slick rock where it can get a toe hold in a little bit of dirt. They are really striking to see clinging to the canyon wall as you are driving along. Below are several photos of this opportunistic flower.

I strongly recommend an expedition to Zion's in April. It's a magical time in the park.

The Mayan Ruins of Tulum

Tulum is a Mayan ruin located on the east(Caribbean) coast of the Yucatan peninsula. It is perched on the top of the cliffs with its back to the sea. It is easily accessed from either Cozumel or Cancun and is therefore visited by many tourists.There is a resort area near the ruins and a beautiful beach below the cliff on which the ruins perch.

Tulum was constructed between 1200 and 1400 AD, and was first mentioned by the Spanish in 1518. It was a walled city on three sides with the cliff  as the fourth side. Apparently it was a port for the Mayas, receiving canoes and sending them out with trade goods. Obsidian was one of the important trade items. Tulum was occupied by the Mayans at the time of the Spanish arrival, but by 1600 was abandoned.

Below are three photos of the Caribbean from the Tulum cliffside, just outside the walls. The second photo shows the Castillo on top of the cliff, while the third shows some guy parasailing(?)

The next two photos show a view from just outside the wall with the Castillo in the center.

The two photos below are of the Palace.

The photos below are of the Castillo. When we were there no one was allowed to climb the steps.

The photos below are of the Temple of the Diving or Descending God. Roberta and I thought it looked like the descent of the birth canal.

The photo blow shows the remains of a mural on the wall of one of the buildings. As you can see there is no appreciable color left.

In the photo above you can see intact plaster with some streaks of red color still present. Below are two photos of some of the ruins from a different vantage point.

The final photo is of a very large lizard perched on top of the outer wall.  As a desert dweller I have seen lots of lizards, but this guy was BIG.

Tulum is a very beautiful place. Just think of what it looked like in 1490, with all the murals and brightly painted plaster on the building walls, sitting on a cliff above the beautiful Caribbean.

Aztec Ruins National Monument

Aztec Ruins National Monument is located in the Four Corners area of New Mexico, north east of Farmington at a town called, appropriately enough, Aztec. These ruins are from the Ancient Puebloans also known as Anasazi. They were mistakenly called Aztec ruins by the early white settlers in the area. They are very reminiscent of the Chaco Canyon area and are thought to have been constructed and occupied by the same group of people. They were constructed beween 1085 and 1120 and abandoned by 1275. These ruins are near the banks of the Animas River at an elevation of about 5700 feet.

The ruins were excavated by an archaeologist, Earl Morris, from the American Natural History Museum, beginning in about 1916. The main excavation was of what is now called the West Ruin. This was a Chaco styled great house, very reminiscent of Chaco Canyon's Pueblo Bonito. I believe it was three stories high and had 400 rooms and 12 kivas. It, like Pueblo Bonito, was laid out in the form of a 'D'. A map of the Aztec ruins is shown below.

Three photos below show some of the West Ruin. The walls are up to three feet thick and were built by carefully building two walls and filling in between them with rocks and other rubble.

The first photo below shows a sort of matching v shaped deterioration of these walls. The next one shows a different view and the last one is a wider view of part of the west ruin. Notice the larger kiva in front of the ruin.

The photo below looks through two windows. These types of photos, looking through multiple doors or windows, are some of my favorites.

The next two photos show corner doors or windows. The construction experts tell us that this type of construction is weak and thus a no-no. These seem to go against that--they have been there about 900-1000 years.

The photo below seems to show a deliberate attempt on the part of the mason or architect to give some decoration to this exterior wall with the two sets of rows of dark rocks. The second photo shows the attention to detail around the end of a beam. The third photo shows careful dressing of the stones to produce a straight edge on a corner.

The three photos above show roof/ceiling details from original construction. The bottom one seems to have survived a fire.

The photo below shows an original mat in a window/door opening as seen from the opposite door.

The photo above is one of my favorites. It looks to me like these doors go on forever. They are doors going from room to room in the Great House. I tried to correct it for vertical/horizontal but gave up; as you can see which door lintel do you pick for the true horizontal? There are similar places at Chaco Canyon.

The photo below shows part of a kiva in front of the Great House.  It has not been restored.

The Chacoan people at times built large kivas, the exact purpose of which is not known. It is thought that the small kivas found in a Great House may have belonged to one clan or family group while the great kivas belonged to the community as a whole. They may have been used for community meetings as well as for religious rites/services where all of the community could attend. Speculation, of course. Earl Morris returned to Aztec in 1934 after his initial excavations and renovated a great kiva. The exterior of this renovation is shown in the photo below.

The reconstruction was based on what was found at the site.  Four pillars held up the roof. The pillars were made of alternating horizontal bands of wood and stone, placed on flat pieces of limestone.

Below are two photos of the interior taken facing each other. The diameter is 50 feet. The entrance is from either of the two antechambers. The windows around the walls enter into small rooms; no known other great kiva has such a feature. On the floor is a fire pit and two vaults. It is not known what the vaults were used for.

The photo below is of the great kiva at Chaco Canyon, know as Casa Rinconada. It has been excavated and stabilized but not reconstructed. It has a diameter of 64 feet. You can see the two vaults and the fire pit just like the ones at Aztec. The underground tunnel coming up in the center of the floor is apparently unique to Casa Rinconada and its purpose is unknown.

Finally, Aztec in the fall of the year is great with the cottonwoods in full autumn splendor. Here is an example.

For more on Anasazi ruins see the following posts by the author:Betatakin Ruin, 6/22/14
Hovenweep National Monument 5/26/14
Mesa Verde 5/25/12
Canyon de Chelly 11/16/11
Chaco Canyon 11/20/10