A Beautiful Day in the Verde Valley

This particular area of Arizona is known as the Verde Valley and for thousands of years it has drawn people here because of its climate, game and the Verde River.  

We noticed this structure on the horizon the first day we were at Dead Horse Ranch State Park.  Today we decided to investigate.  Turns out it is another unique ruin.  This one was built on a large hill in the middle of the valley.  Rooms were built on top of rooms.  Archeologists estimate that as many as 400 people may have lived in the stone structures.  Ofcouse, after about 700 years only the walls remain.

I've talked about these same Sinagua Indians before, so today I'll just show a few more interesting photos.

From the top of the ruin.

Here is a re-creation of the original roof.  Willow branches and/or reeds were laid on top of Cedar or Sycamore logs and then covered with enough leafy branches to keep water out.

Most of us have seen logs or firewood without the bark and have noticed the patterns worms make under the bark.  This "random" pattern is really interesting.  If you look closely you can see the outline of what looks like a primitive drawing of a bird.  I wonder what significance a Sinaguan Indian would have given to this pattern.

 A modern-day fisherman on the Verde River.

An inviting trail near the river.

Spring flowers along side of a camp road.

Earlier this morning we said goodbye to Mike and Bev as they headed north to the Grand Canyon.  Sandy made their departure more enjoyable for them with some fresh-baked blueberry scones.  We plan to catch up with them in October at the huge Albuquerque, NM Balloon Festival.

Stay tuned.