Camping in Chaco Canyon

Our blue tent and canopy

View of the campground from AT&T Ridge

We planned the first month of our cross country trip around camping at Chaco Canyon. We wanted to camp at Chaco Canyon near the new moon because it is one of the few places left in the United States with very little light polution. We were looking forward to a dark night sky to see the milky way and many constellations. Although we did get a very dark sky, it was due to rain clouds so very few stars were visible.

The first two times we were at Chaco, there was not a single cloud in the sky. The contrast between the blue sky and the stone ruins and rock canyons was amazing. This time, we had mostly clouds and a lot of rain. The cloudy skies and rain actually brought out the beauty in the canyon even more. Although we missed seeing the stars, we were very happy watching the storms and sleeping with rain pelting the tent.

Of course one of the reasons we were able to embrace the rain is because we had a dry tent and a nice tarp to cover our cooking area and picnic table. Although our choice of blue may have clashed with the desert sand and would have been rejected by any well run neighborhood association, it keep us dry through high winds and heavy rains. It also gave our new ranger friend, Joe, a landmark to use when giving directions.

Although I was perfectly content being disconnected for three days, Kevin was curious about cell phone coverage in the area. Ranger Joe told us that after leaving the park when you see a blue house, you can get service. This area is known by the folks in the park as Verizon mountain. We found out if you hike to the top of the cliff near the campground, you can get 4 bars of coverage with AT&T. We passed the tip about AT&T ridge onto ranger Joe.

Although the weather was not what we would have wished for, our three nights camping at Chaco are one of the highlights of our trip.