Ever vigiliant Wiley looks toward Ute Mountain while guarding the new tent.
We camped at Hovenweep National Monument, which apparently isn't visited as often as Mesa Verde, even though it's only an hour or so away. Hovenweep is surrounded by the Canyons of the Ancients Monument, an area that allegedly includes more than 6,000 known archeological sites. The canyon near the campground apparently has the largest concentration of these sites, mostly from the 11th-13th century, built around the same time as the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde.
I say "apparently" and "allegedly" because there was something odd about the whole area. Aside from the aforementioned canyon, which was well-marked and right beside the visitor's center, it was really hard to find any maps or brochures or online information or road signs to the other sites. Part of it is that Hovenweep itself is part of the National Park Service, but the rest of the area is under the Bureau of Land Management. I don't know if the BLM is as unorganized as I've heard, but this didn't help their image in my eyes.
I also felt, I dunno, that things are kept intentionally vague because "de Arkies" would rather people go to the carefully controlled Mesa Verde than wander around the desert near where cannibal sites have been found.
In any case, here's a shot of "Hovenweep Castle," one of the larger sites within the main canyon:
And here's a look at another portion of the canyon to give you an idea of how closely the sites are clustered. Check out the "Boulder House" in the left-center of the shot, below the rim. It's actually a house built into a partly-collapsed boulder lodged precipitously on a ledge. Oh yeah, I would have had more than one sleepless night living in that thing!
Especially knowing there were cannibals nearby...
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