One has a half-mile walk to them:
See them behind us? Don't we look like tourists? Like our hats? We do.
There was one cave that did not show any indication of human habitation.
(The caves were probably inhabited long before the dwellings were constructed). This cave apparently was never inhabited by humans--too difficult to reach:
Fascinating. One theory is that drought in the southwest in 1270 drove these ancient people here. Just below the cave dwellings is a stream that runs all year round. Did they come there because of the drought?
We try try to understand these ancient peoples by using our modern concepts--warring tribes, drought, exhaustion of the game, superstitions, religions, etc., but we really don't know and can't admit it.
Maybe it was an ancient Frank Lloyd Wright who had a creative idea about living spaces. Rarely do we attribute creative motives to ancient people. Usually we simply attribute survival motives to them. How arrogant of us.
Maybe the cliff dwellings were the brainchild of genius. Maybe they were a Jim Jones phenomenon. Maybe someone had a utopian idea that involved building in a cave. Lets give some credit to these people for being creative or perhaps even occasionally weird. After all, we are, right?
After we did the cave dwellings we went for a short walk. We have hiked 41+ miles this week, and needed to rest our joints. We did a nice 1 1/2 mile walk along Little Creek.
Tomorrow we have something bigger planned, and then we leave here. Dutifully hauling our garbage to who knows where.
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