Camping in Chaco

The muscles and tendons in my foot are finally having to do some work after a five month hiatus following my surgery.  My PT has been making good progress in destroying tons of scar tissue, but it results in a pretty sore foot.  Since running was off the table this weekend (and my bike has busted front brakes), I decided to take a road trip to Chaco Culture National Historic Park.  There are beautiful hikes and magnificent ruins, but they couldn't compete with the ridiculous afternoon light on Chaco canyon or the billions of stars (including dozens of shooting stars) on display in the Chaco sky.

A few pottery shards that someone had piled up

Tsin Kletzin on the South Mesa Trail

View from my campsite

Penasco Blanco

Another view from my campsite

I'm going to jump on my soapbox for a minute - it's absurd that visitors to Chaco have progressively destroyed much of the history that the park was established to protect.  Why is it so hard to resist drawing on/over the pictographs?  Or climbing onto the walls of the ruins?  Or throwing trash on the ground?  What is wrong with people?!?!?!?