Hovenweep Campout

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Our car camping tent, with Sleeping Ute Mountain in the background.

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We did a late afternoon walk to some of the ruins. This is Hovenweep Castle, again with Sleeping Ute Mountain in the background.

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Below the rim, you can see quite a bit of rubble, remains of other structures that were once present at the site.

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Evening, with the new crescent moon setting behind a juniper snag

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A little later, the Milky Way from our campsite. Tall thunder clouds over the Chuksa Mountains to our south were still illuminated by the setting sun.

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Saturday morning sunrise over Sleeping Ute Mountain

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First light on some of the structures in Little Ruin Canyon. From left, Twin Towers, Eroded Boulder House, and Rim Rock House on the right edge of the photo.

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The clouds on the east horizon were really lit up by the rising sun.

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Dawn view of the canyon, looking over Unit Type House; the name refers to the fact that the design is a basic building plan used throughout the Four Corners.

Hovenweep Sunrise

Hovenweep Castle at sunrise. Dating of timbers in the structure indicate the logs were cut in AD 1277, one of the latest Anasazi structures in the San Juan Basin.

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A round tower attached to Hovenweep Castle

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Looking back at the head of Little Ruin Canyon, you can see (from Left to Right) Hovenweep House, Square Tower, and Hovenweep Castle

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Sue and Keetna explore Twin Towers ruin

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After exploring Little Ruin Canyon, we drove over to the Holly Unit. Here you see Holly Tower, built on a large boulder in the canyon, and Holly House, on the rim above.

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The north side of Holly House. The log beams you see were cut over 800 years ago!

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Beyond Holly House are two spiral petroglyphs. At the summer equinox, a shaft of light bisects these spirals, indicating a possible calendar function.

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This shows how precisely the base of Holly Tower was fit to the underlying stone.

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Next we drove down a (very bumpy) dirt road to the Cutthroat ruins trailhead. Keetna is ready to hike!

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Our fist view of Cutthroat. This is a really spectacular complex of ruins, with numerous Kivas, at least 3 round towers and one square tower. Unlike other ruins in the area, these were built in the drainage, and a dam was constructed in the stream between the ruins.

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Close up of the masonry work on one of the Cutthroat towers.