1:17 p.m.
Anasazi Heritage Center

We arrived at the Anasazi Heritage Center near Dolores, Colorado. This is the headquarters for Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and it has a fine museum presenting information on the archaeology and history of this region. When we arrived the parking lot was nearly full. It was obvious that some sort of lecture or event was taking place. The auditorium was packed.

On the Center grounds there are two small pueblos that have been partially excavated; the Dominguez and Escalante Pueblos. The partially exposed remains of the Dominguez Pueblo and its Great Kiva are in front of the museum, while the Escalante Pueblo sits atop the small mesa above the museum, at the end of a paved trail. There are covered picnic tables near the bottom and a couple at the top. In addition to the partially exposed ruins at the top, there are great views of the McPhee Reservoir and the surrounding countryside.

By the time we made it back down to the parking area it was 77 degrees, windy, and getting cloudy.

3:04 p.m.
Lowry Pueblo

From the Center we drove into the Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, and stopped at the Lowry Pueblo. The route in is over a narrow paved highway that eventually turns into a dirt road. There are picnic tables and vault toilets near the parking area, but no drinking water. We were surprised that there were a couple of carloads of people there. Usually out in these remote locations we don't see another person.

We finished touring the Lowry site. They have covered part of the excavation, near the largest multistoried part of the stone works. There is one doorway where you can enter and walk through the structure to see a kiva from the inside. The ruins are impressive, but not unusual for this area. But there is also a great kiva separate from the main structures, and it does have unique features visible on its floor level. It is one of the more interesting great kivas that we've seen.

4:02 p.m.
Painted Hand Pueblo

From Lowry we drove south to the Painted Hand Pueblo. This was a more difficult site to locate, but there was a sign on the main gravel road. From there we had to travel over heavily rutted dirt tracks to reach the site. When we arrived there was one other car in the small parking area.

I made the mistake of not putting on insect repellant. And I paid for it. I got dozens of nasty pinyon gnat bites all over my legs and arms. They seem to love the pinyon/juniper forests in the spring. I know better, but got lazy. Ouch.

There is a short trail that leads to the ruins, which require a little climbing down and then back up to see. This site has not been excavated, but several of the structures are easily visible, especially the cylindrical tower sitting upon a large rock outcrop. There are also smaller ruins that may have been storage bins or small dwellings. The painted hands are on the back wall of one of these. But we also found at least another set of painted hands at this location, as well as several petroglyphs of anthropomorphs or zoomorphs.

4:33 p.m.
From there we headed to Monticello, Utah for the night.