A great day was spent visiting a few of the better preserved and more interesting ruins on Cedar Mesa, one of the main hotspots for ancestral Puebloan culture. Five strong, we all enjoyed a leisurely morning catching up. Unfortunately the day’s heat began early and it was well and truly toasty by the time we set off into Road Canyon to visit a photogenic cluster of granaries carefully built at the back of an alcove in the canyon wall. The ceiling of the alcove has exfoliated to reveal interesting stains on the rock and at the right time of day light bounces from the canyon wall opposite to illuminate the ruins in golden light.
The preservation of the site was amazing. Individual finger presses patterned the ancient adobe walls. White hand print silhouettes adorned the varnished ceiling as if to say "Hands off. These are ours." 3-inch corn cobs could still be found inside the granaries. All about 800 years old! We all enjoyed the cool shade before heading back. Unfortunately Jiana and Joe had to depart.
Ryan, Sara and I continued on to another unusual Road Canyon ruin known as the Citadel. The place is a curiosity and I know of no similar ruins anywhere else. It was obviously built as a last resort; a great fortress of desperation in hard times. The ruin is on an island of rock surrounded by cliffs and connected to the canyon rim by a long and narrow causeway- the only way to access the ruins.
As we crossed the causeway, we noticed remnants of two defensive stone walls spanning the width of the isthmus, further safeguards against attack. The only obvious source of water would have been in the canyon bottom far below, meaning they would have had to haul enormous amounts of water a great distance to avoid a siege. A 5-room structure spans the width of a long rock overhang. Careful considerations like windows and holes for smoke near the roof suggest this fortress was carefully designed. Rocks were carefully chosen for the structure’s construction. What a history of forgotten wars this place must have.
Still left with ample daylight after our two hikes, we opted for a third in McLoyds Canyon. We made the wise choice of taking Ryan’s truck on the long dirt road. Portions of the road crossed slickrock with occasional drop-offs and ditches. Once we arrived at the canyon rim we could see several interesting ruins in the shadows of overhangs worth checking out. We climbed down into the canyon and halfway up the other side where most of the ruins occur on a distinct ledge.
In contrast to the last ruin which was a desperate fortress, the main ruin here was an incredible 13th century palace. Water would have been a short distance below. The location is dramatic- right on a bend in the canyon with several visually-pleasing hoodoos out front. The structures seem to suit the location and I am sure the inhabitants connected to the magic of the place.
The architecture is magnificent and unusual. The main 5-room house is entered from a doorway in a tall exterior wall turreted like a castle. The rooms branch off of a spacious interior hallway inside the exterior wall, which is rather usual. Small white rocks are imbedded into the adobe walls for decoration and several pictographs and patterns adorn the walls like wallpaper. The center room is painted all black apart from a white stripe with stipples that wallpapers the room. On one side of the room is painted a crescent moon and on the exact opposite a full moon. Small downward-facing holes in the wall would allow light to enter and might have been used for spying. The wood in the structures are perfectly preserved, with delicate reed ties still intact. To the west are the remains of a kiva, immediately to the east is a cluster of buildings with strange doorways, one of them unusually pronounced and circular.
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