More Heritage Sites

We've had some bad weather the last couple of days - lots of clouds and intermittent rain. But since I'm behind on the blog, it gives me a chance to catch up. One day we took the poor little Saturn where it wasn't meant to go and visited the Palatki and Honanki sites. If you go, Palatki requires reservations, although it's mostly because of their limited parking.

Looking up from the parking lot, I was immediately concerned. The path obviously led right by the section of rock that had fallen down. My first question was, "Did that just happen?"

After being reassured by the volunteer in the visitor center, we made our way up to the alcoves.

This site is known for its impressive collection of rock art dating over thousands of years of various inhabitants. If you look carefully, this picture shows some dark lines, dated from 1000 BC which have been covered with pictures done by the Sinagua people about 2000 years later.

Always the skeptic, I wondered how drawings could last 3000 years. The docent explained that these alcoves are completely sheltered from the elements.

My favorite was little Buffy here. Actually the Hopi women of marriageable age would wear their hair in a butterfly whorl style. Perhaps this is depicted here.


We were told this rock art were done by the Sinagua and were darkened by fires built by the Yavapai and Apache at a later date. (Sorry for the blurry picture - I must have moved the camera.)

We were unable to see the ruins at Palatki because the trail was closed. It seems they had heard some creaking of the rocks and were afraid it was dangerous. Ah-ha! I knew it looked scary.

On a more modern note, in 1924 Charles Willard bought the property, decided the natives had a good idea and walled in a section of an alcove.


It was surprisingly spacious and he lived in it for a year until he built his ranch house. (No, that's not Mr. Willard's ghost, just Ron with his inner light.)


Since we had already gone 6 miles on a passable dirt road, we thought we should go 4 more to the Honanki site. There were sections where I would have turned around, but Ron is fearless.


Honanki was well worth the effort and we enjoyed the opportunity to see the ruins. It always amazes me to think about how these people lived. I won't even sleep in a tent!