New Mexico | jared klein photography

Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah Wildness

The Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah wildness study area is located in northwest New Mexico and is area of water carved clay with really dynamic landscape. The wildness study area was the coastal area of an inland sea that formed 70 million years ago. Surrounding rivers laid down multiple layers of sediment that has been slowly eroded over the eons to form beautiful hoodoos.

The are numerous hoodoos formed by cap like rocks that protect the softer sand and mud stone below them. The softer stone surrounding them is eroded away following these whimsical shaped formations.

Chaco Canyon National Historic Park

Chaco Canyon NHP is about 2 hours from Gallup, New Mexico. The last part of the trip is a slightly bumpy dirt road north from route 9. The national historic park preserves a major center of ancestral Puebloan culture dating between 850 and 1250 CEA. The area is one of the largest collection of ancient Puebloan architecture in the southwest with large buildings and cities connected by an extensive system of roadways. One of the interesting points is that this area was developed and built without domesticated animals, written language or the wheel.

The are a number of large multi roomed and level complexes including Pueblo Bonita, Chetro Ketl, Pueblo del Arroyo, and Kin Kletso. The masonry walls are truly amazing and beams of wood cut in the 800 to 1100’s are still seen in the walls and help with dating of the construction.

This is an image from Pueblo Bonito, a very large, group of buildings with a number of large Kivas and multiple rooms. Pueblo Bonito was built and occupied between 850-1126 CE

On our last day in Chaco Canyon we did an early morning hike to the cliff top overlooking Pueblo Bonito and the Chaco river. From the top of the mesa one can see the extensive construction on the structure. There are multiple kivas and multilevel units throughout Pueblo Bonito.