Betatakin Ruin

Betatakin is an Anasazi, also called Ancient Puebloans, ruin located on Navajo National Monument. The road to Navajo National Monument is highway 564, just west of Kayenta, Arizona on Highway 160. Betatakin is located on the Shonto plateau in Tsegi canyon. The canyon rim above Betatakin is about 7200 feet in elevation. The ruin is located in an alcove in the canyon wall. The alcove offers protection from the weather.

Betatakin was "discovered" in 1895 by the Wetherill brothers, who also discovered Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon. The Wetherills guided people to various sites in New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona. and then became active in preservation of these areas.

There is an approximately one mile round trip trail from the visitors center to a view point which gives an excellent view of the ruin. There is also available a guided tour of the ruin which involves a somewhat strenuous hike. This tour is available in the summer months only.

Below are two photos of Tsegi Canyon taken from the trail leading to the view point.

The photos below are of the Betatakin alcove and ruin from the viewpoint showing the alcove in relation to the canyon. The alcove is 425 feet high and 370 feet in length.

 

The next three photos are of the ruins themselves. Betatakin was constructed between about 1267 and 1286 AD and abandoned about 1306. There are 120 rooms and one kiva. Many of the ladders and roofs are still intact.  Approximately 125 people lived here. Like most if not all the other Anasazi sites it is not clear why they left.

The two photos below are of dinosaur footprints which were found in the area and now are near the visitor's center. There are also a number of other dinosaur footprints near Tuba City that I have seen.

There are two other ruins in Navajo National Monument. One is Keet Seel which is available by guided tour only and the other is Inscription House which is closed to the public. Unfortunately I have never seen either of these.

Teton Back Pack

Back in the day, 1970 and 1971, to be exact, two friends of mine and I back packed into the Tetons. That's right--two years in a row. We were slow learners. On the map below you can see where we went. We took a boat across Jenny Lake and then hiked up the trail that goes due west. At the fork in the trail we took the right hand fork and went north to the small body of water where the trail then makes another hard right and heads east. That small body of water is Lake Solitude. Jenny Lake is about 6800 feet in elevation.  From the west side of Jenny Lake it is 7.2 miles to Lake Solitude, which is 9035 feet high. There is a trail around Jenny Lake but why add 2+ miles to the hike? The trail continues across Paint Brush Divide, altitude 10,720 feet, and ends in Jackson Hole at String Lake. The photos are all from August 1971.

Below is a photo of my friends, Tony Anderson on the left and Jay Barney. This photo was taken in the boat as we were preparing to leave the boat dock on the west side of the lake to begin our adventure. I know this was at the beginning of the hike because they are so clean and bright eyed and bushy tailed.

The photo below is of the Jenny Lake boat dock as we are leaving to cross the lake to begin the hike. Note the Pepsi machine. More on that later.

Below is a photo of the Grand Teton peak from the boat as we are crossing Jenny Lake.

The trail follows along side Cascade Creek as it flows down Cascade Canyon. Below we are crossing a rock field.

The photo below shows a quiet section of Cascade Creek with one of the Teton peaks in the background.

Somewhere along the trail we happened upon this group of horse back riders and wrangler shown below. I think they told us they were out for a day ride.

Below Jay is taking a rest.

The photo below is of the creek where it comes out of Lake Solitude.

Lake Solitude at last! In the photo below the two peaks in the background are Mount Owen on the left and the Grand Teton on the right.

The two photos below show our tents set up at Lake Solitude.

We arrived at Lake Solitude in late afternoon. We set up our tents and then built a small fire and were contemplating dinner, as in the photo below. As we were sitting there I looked up and standing right in front of me was a tall guy who turned out to be a Park Ranger. He asked if we had a permit to camp there. We said no. How about a permit for the fire? We again said no. We also said we had been to this spot the year before and no permits had been required. He acknowledged that was true but during the winter the Park Service had decided to implement a permit system. Poorly advertised, of course. We asked what did he want us to do, put the fire out? Leave? He said no as long as we were already there it would be okay but next time be sure and get permits.

It turned out he or another Ranger "swept" the trail from Jenny Lake to Lake Solitude and on over Paint Brush Divide and back to String Lake in Jackson Hole once a day. All he carried was a canteen of water. Distance: 18+ miles. In the photo below you can see part of  the trail leading up to Paint Brush Divide. We took a canteen the next morning and hiked up to the top of Paint Brush Divide. What took us an hour took him about 15 minutes.

Above is a photo looking across Lake Solitude to the Cathedral Group of peaks. The one on the left is Teewinot, in the middle is Mt. Owen with Grand Teton on the right. This is early August and there are still pieces of ice on the lake and plenty of snow around. I love the moon hanging over it all. The photo below shows Grand Teton and Mt. Owen with a little Alpine glow in the evening.

In the morning we had breakfast, took some water and hiked up to Paint Brush Divide. The photo below shows Lake Solitude and the basin it sits in from part way up to Paint Brush Divide. The second photo shows Tony and Jay at or near the top of Paint Brush.

 Below are some alpine flowers on Paint Brush Divide.

The first photo below shows the divide as the trail starts to go towards Jackson Hole. The second shows the Cathedral Group from Paint Brush Divide, and the third one is of Jackson Hole from Paint Brush Divide.

I don't remember what time of day we hiked down from Lake Solitude. I just remember being plenty hot and dry. I kept thinking about that cold Pepsi waiting for me in the Pepsi machine at the Jenny Lake boat dock. When we got off the boat I went straight for the Pepsi machine and deposited the requisite amount of money and pressed the button. Nothing happened. I pressed the button repeatedly and nothing happened. I kicked the machine. All I got was a sore foot. I shook it. Nothing. If I could have I think I would have gladly pushed it into the lake. Oh, well.

A note on the photos: The film was Kodachrome, taken with a Mamiya-Sekor 1000DTL 35mm SLR, 50 or 55mm Mamiya-Sekor lens. The slides were scanned on a plustek 8200i film scanner.

Hovenweep National Monument

Hovenweep National monument is located on the Utah-Colorado border just north of the Four Corners of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. There are the remains of six Anasazi villages located along a small canyon. The Anasazi, also called Ancient Puebloans, built these between about 1200 and 1300 AD. The unique things about the construction at Hovenweep is the number of towers they built and the quality of their masonry. Some of them were built on large boulders or outcroppings of rock and so have managed to stay standing. Before they left, sometime around 1300-1350, there were about 2500 people living in the Hovenweep area. No one knows for sure why they left; drought, overuse of the resources and/or enemy predations or a combination of these and other factors have all been suggested. It is thought that these people are the ancestors of today's Pueblo people.

Above are the remains of two towers built on substantial rocks. These are quite close to the visitor center. The function of the various towers is uncertain. They are often associated with kivas, so may have been ceremonial. They may also have been living quarters, used for storage, or used for defense. They may have started out as one thing and then morphed into something else.

The ruin above looks to me like it is some sort of rock crocodile or something similar. At first it appeared to have  fallen but if you look closely the wall on the far left is perpendicular. I think this structure was built on a piece of rock already tilting to the right. Below is another interesting structure. This one is built inside the rock, so it looks like it is being swallowed by some prehisoriac beast.

The first two photos below are of lichens found growing on the rocks and sometimes on the masonry in the area. I love the orange and turquoise colors. The third photo is of some small high desert flowers. The photos were taken in mid April; the elevation is about 5800 feet.

The photo above is part of a ruin called Hovenweep Castle. The wall below is a remaining part of a round structure, could have been a tower or even a kiva. Note the masonry with the use of the small rocks in the mortar lines. Very attractive.

The two photos above are of a ruin called Square Tower. This ruin sits in the botton of the canyon, built on a substantial rock outcropping. There are the remains of a small dam in the creek bottom just to the right of the tower. This ruin is located at the north east end of the canyon.

This is as far as the Old Cowboy made it on this venture. The rest of the photos shown below were taken with my camera by my wife or the OWH. A few days before we left home the Old Cowboy tripped and fell flat on the sidewalk in front of his house. I lay there awhile sunning myself but decided I hadn't hit my head and nothing else appeared to be broken so I got up and went on about my business. I thought I was fine. By the time we drove the 440 miles to Blanding, Utah I was quite stiff. The trails around Hovenweep are uneven and rocky, so when we got to the Square Tower I was in a world of hurt. I gave my camera to my wife and went back to the visitors center. That ended my walking around. After we got home I did a lot of heat therapy and am fine now.

From the visitors center we drove abut 4 miles into Colorado and two other areas of the Hovenweep monument. The photos below are of that area. Below is a tower , again built on a large rock outcropping. The second photo shows the door up close.

The photo above is of a rectangular building or tower built on the canyon rim.

An up close look at the masonry.

It was cloudy the whole time we were there--until we left to come home, of course. Oh, well. You just have to play the hand you're dealt.

Cutting Horses I Have Known

I have watched the movie “Tangled” several times with my grandchildren over the last couple of years. My favorite character in the movie is the horse, Maximus, Max for short. He reminds me of several cutting horses that I have known over the years. Max and my horses all had attitude. For the uninformed a cutting horse is one that is used to separate one cow from a herd and keep it separated. In a contest once the cow has cleared the herd the rider cannot use the reins or spur in front of the cinch.

The first one is a stud quarter horse named Sassy Bar Doc. Sassy was about as pleasant a stud horse as you'll ever find. He ran with mares in a pasture for the first two years of his life and every time he got uppity and/or studdily those mares beat the crap out of him. The first time we bred him, he took one look at the mare and turned to me and said “Boss, I don't want any part of this. That chick is going to kick my head in. What's the matter with you, anyway.” We had to put the mare in a breeding chute and then he finally got with the program, when it was clear that the mare couldn't hurt him. Ride Sassy into a herd of cattle and cut one out and his attitude about cows came out. The ears went back and the expression was “ Don't even think about going there, cow. I'm in charge here.” Sassy was in training for the Pacific Coast Cutting Futurity when he foundered; that ended his cutting career. I don't know how good a breeding career he had except the first filly that was his won the Rocky Mountain Cutting Futurity, I think. The photo below is Sassy loose in my arena in Cochise County.

The photo below is also Sassy loose in the arena. Just outside the arena is the hot walker, and to the right is the horse barn. There is also a tack room/feed room, not visible behind the far end of the barn. Cattle pens were at the other end of the arena. A round arena is better for training cutting horses because the lack of corners to hide in keeps the cattle fresher longer. 

The three black and white photos above are of Sassy being ridden by Mike Mowery, a professional cutting horse trainer. Notice the ears back and general attitude. These photos were taken by me for use in advertising.

The next horse is a black mare, a quarter horse, who's name I can't remember. Again she is being ridden by Mike Mowery.

This mare had a real attitude towards cows. She laid her ears back and dared the cow to try something. One got too close to her and she reached out and bit it. That'll teach that stinking cow! Unfortunately I didn't get to ride her too much due to breaking my back and getting out of the business.

A good cutting horse enjoys what he is doing and will cut anything that moves. I've used kids for practice when I didn't have any cattle handy. I had the horse shown below, Dude Magoo, in a pasture with a yearling colt. Dude proceeded to cut that colt and put him wherever he wanted to. Just having fun. 

Below is the young Old Cowboy on Dude in the frozen wastelands of Utah.

Below I am on Dude, cutting a cow. I don't know where those chaps came from; I must have borrowed them. I don't think I ever owned fringed chaps.

The next three are me and Dude in training. Notice that attitude of his, daring the cow to try something. Sorry about the quality of these. They were taken on a high speed Ektachrome and push processed and have not withstood the test of time well.

This is Dude and I after a training session. 

Dude was a great horse; I have written about him in a separate blog entry, Dude Magoo, 7/11/09. A good cutting horse is a real asset in ranch work. Someone asked me to help them separate some cattle one day. They said it would take all morning; they were going to do it on foot. It took Dude and I 15 minutes.

This last horse is a filly that I bred named Miss Two Pops. I think she is about two years old in this photo. In the 19th century there was great controversy  whether a horse had all four feet off the ground at the same time when it was trotting or galloping. Eadweard Muybridge proved that they did have all four off the ground with an elaborate multiple camera set up in 1872 and 1878, at the request of Leland Stanford.

The first photo above shows Two Pops in the arena, hot walker, house and barn in the background. The second shot shows her with all four feet off the ground. I didn't even intend to capture that. How technology has changed.