We wound our way south along Colorado Highway 285, enjoying the majestic mountain scenery. Our first night we boondock camped in the national forest about 6 miles north of Mancos, Colorado. It was a beautiful wooded area with a small pond – and open range cattle grazing. Penny had a great time trying to prove her worth as a herding dog. I think the cows are STILL laughing at the memory of this 20 pound wonder dog!
We visited the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, a museum that interprets the history and culture of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and the Four Corners region. What a well-done exhibit! We spent 3 hours browsing the exhibits, watching the video, and marveling at the artifacts. After lunch we headed to the Lowry Pueblo. The road was VERY rough, but well worth it. (Top speed – 15 mph!) It was then on to Hovenweep National Monument. We arrived about 4 p.m. and made a quick stop at the Visitors’ Center to get a map and inquire about last minute camping spots. The park ranger told us the campground rarely fills up, our leashed dog was welcome on the hikes, and that we needed to watch out for the biting gnats. He also encouraged us to join the Holly Solstice Panel interpretive talk at 6 a.m.!
We set up camp, filled our water bottles, leashed the dog, got clean-up bags and headed off on the 2-mile Little Ruin Canyon hike. It was absolutely incredible … and the gnats really do bite! 
We have since discovered that I am allergic to the bites! After 4 weeks, I finally gave in and went to the doctor. Two prescriptions and two over-the-counter meds later I am hopeful that the itching will stop soon!
Tobey did convince me to get up at 5 a.m. to leave our campsite on the scooter and go to the Holly Unit to view the solstice phenomenon.
The Holly Solstice Panel utilizes the coincidental location of two large boulders that have fallen away from the canyon wall. As the sun rises on and around the summer solstice, a small slit formed by the upper edges of the two boulders allows only a narrow band of light to pass through. This “dagger” of light lands on the surface of one boulder that is protected by an overhang. At its maximum intensity the dagger connects the centers of two petroglyphs – a spiral and a set of concentric circles – which are several feet apart.
As the ancestral Pueblo people became more dependent on agriculture, they used this as a method of measuring the seasonal cycle. I am not a morning person, but it was well worth the effort – especially since it occurs only 4 days in the spring – and we were there!
Another stop on our trip was at Mesa Verde National Park. It had been several years since we had been there and Tobey convinced me to take the additional tour of the Balcony House. This one-hour, ranger-guided tour involves climbing a 32 ft. ladder, crawling through a 12 ft.-long tunnel, and climbing up a 60ft open rock face with two 10ft ladders to exit the site. Did I tell you that I do not like heights? I made it. I do not need to do it again! Ever!
We rounded out the week by meandering our way home on several of Colorado’s Scenic Byways through Dolores, Telluride, Montrose, and Carbondale before coming out on I-70 at Glenwood Springs. We have decided that the area near Telluride deserves another trip in the future.
You may want to check out the American Byways website http://www.byways.org/explore/byways/2597/ and the National Park Service website http://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm and http://www.nps.gov/hove/index.htm to see several of the places we stopped.
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