Saying Good-bye to Chaco Canyon

Moonrise on our last night in Chaco Canyon

On our hike on the South Mesa Trail, there were tracks of those who had been there before we got there.

And a colorful resident who paused so I could take his photograph:

By mid-day it was HOT (after wearing fleece that morning) and we headed back to our campsite to get out of the sun.  The little thermometer that was in our tent said it was more than 100 degrees in there!  No more exploring in the sun for that day!!

Our nice campsite had a couple of large boulders that were arranged just so . . .  We called it the Bat Cave.  Here's my man sitting in the cool shade of our cave. 

We spent most of the afternoon enjoying the relative cool of this spot.  We ate, relaxed, snacked, drank, and planned the next part of our trip here in the Bat Cave.

The Bat Cave even had some color!!

When the sun started to get lower in the sky, we emerged from our cave to fix dinner.  By the time dinner was over and the dishes cleaned, we were starting to bundle up again.

The next morning, we weren't quite ready to leave Chaco Canyon, but it was time to move on to the next part of our adventure.  We were on the trail of more Ancient Puebloans and were headed to Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado.   

We have an idea that we'll be back to the quiet of Chaco Canyon . . .