Navajo Lake State Park--April 5, 2008

After we arrived at Navajo Lake State Park, we walked down the trail near our site to view the lake.

There is sand along the shore, but only because the water level is low. The water is usually up to the rocks where we are standing. Due to daylight savings time, the temperatures late in the day are warm, but the mornings are cool. It doesn't start to warm up until noon with the high temps occurring around 4:30 p.m.

Saturday morning we walked up to the marina to have a look around. It was the first time we had worn our warm jackets since we visited Gila Cliff Dwellings.
The coots didn't seem to mind the cold water.

After our walk, we drove to Cottonwood Campground which is part of Navajo Lake State Park. We drove above the dam and spillway.You can see the water being released into the river.

Cottonwood Campground is on the river. The water is moving about 4000 cubic feet per minute.

From the campground we drove to Aztec, New Mexico to see Aztec Ruins National Monument.

As we found out, in the 1880s when the site was first being excavated, people thought it was built by the Aztecs from central Mexico. The town took its name from the Aztec site. After researching the site, it was found to be built by the Anasazi.

The site had only one entrance. Every one living in there entered through this door.

There was a system of ladders and doors to move around within the area. In the center of the building was an open air plaza where all the work was done.

Kivas are ceremonial rooms and are round. There were community kivas and family kivas. This kiva was reconstructed based on the original. It is still a sacred Native American site.

You can walk throughout the ruins. Moving from room to room is difficult as the doorways were only about 4 feet high.

The Aztec Ruins National Monument is an impressive find. The rangers manning the desk say it is the best kept secret in the southwest! Thank you, Cecil for directing us to it.

As we drove back to the campground we passed a herd of cattle grazing near the road. This one turned to watch as I took a picture.

Saturday night we had our first campfire since Hale's Landing back in November. We will have another one tonight.