Well, Im an old dude..riding my horse during a light sprinkle. We rode for an hour and made it to the other mesa a few miles away. Still sprinkling and just enjoying the cool breeze and the company of my little Star, Einstein, Buddy and a stray dog named.,.Twisty Dont know what the future holds for this Australian sheep dog, shes helpful and knows how to chase and corral cattle, almost as good as Buddy. I digress! anyways we pull up beside a huge boulder covered with Anasazi petroglyphs and stretch out while my dogs take off to play in the nearby juniper and pinion trees. So peaceful and quiet I listen to the birds and woodpeckers and decide to take a small hike. I look around and notice a circle of rocks and a path leading up along the canyon wall. I follow the ancient trail and look straight up about 200 ft. and see the sheer sandstone cliff stained with streaks of minerals from the waterfall of ancient rains and melting snow and right below is a pile of old logs and a dam, partially full of sand, rock and water! I further investigate and from my vantage point can see a few more round foundations of old buildings down below. I sit and try to see why these people chose this place and the answer is clear, just takes a little imagination and this is what I saw..at one time the area was a wide marsh, circular about 1/4 mile in diameter stretching all the way across to the other mesa. I also see in this ancient marsh grease wood bushes thriving obvious remnants of a fertile and continuous water source, but today I see a deep ravine cutting through the open ground creating a barrier between the two mesas. During the past years I have found ancient symbols of ..deer, elk, bears, mtn lions, turkeys and badgers and also pottery and water catches hidden high up in the cliffs dug out by human hands hundreds of years ago. After this little expedition I mount up and try to imagine life here in this area of yellow sandstone cliffs, green grass, trees and think about the people, the activity that took place, the morning smoke from their cook fires, the hunters coming down the mountains with fresh game, the children running around gathering wood and can only imagine an existence so pure and clean. No encroachment from anyone just a landscape so full of life.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 04:36:00 +0000
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