Anasazi Cultural Museum and Canyons of the Ancients

This morning we awoke to torrential rainfall.  The remains of the hurricane arrived in Cortez.  It's very annoying, Cortez is the first place we've wanted to be since Hurricane, and it's raining!  I should not complain, we could be where it's really bad.

We drove out to the Anasazi Cultural Museum to get information on the Canyons of the Ancients.  The Museum is really good, and should be your first place to go if in the area.  They have some cool exhibits about when Native Americans got here, and their possible places of origin.  Clovis Man arrived about 13,000 years ago, and was an Ice Age hunter.  In 2008, a home owner in Boulder, CO discovered ancient tools in his back yard.  DNA testing confirmed that the tools had been in the presence of camels and horses (both of whom became extinct in the Americas).  At the time, that was the only site connecting Clovis Man to camels.  However, in Phys.Org it was reported today that camel fossils were discovered in a gold mine in the Klondike in 2008.  DNA sequencing revealed that the camels were related to those in Asia and Arabia.  Previously it was believed that the American camels were "giant llamas."  So that was pretty interesting.
Canyons of the Ancients is somewhat frustrating.  There are many ruins and artifacts out there, but they won't tell you where they are.  We drove out country road G to the Sand Canyon trail head.  It was a pretty hike, but we didn't see anything old or ruined.  Notice that it had quit raining and the sun was out.

The whole area is just gorgeous when the sun is out.

So that's it for today.  Tomorrow we may try Phil's - it depends on how muddy it is and if it quits raining.