CHACO--the highlight of my NM trip--and a long-awaited treat for me. I've heard about, been admonished for NOT YET having gone, by rangers and ancient history buffs, like myself, so this year--this trip--I made the 375 mile[round trip from Santa Fe]drive. I selected a day after a series of rainstorms had dumped upon us all, so the air was clear and the weather was sunny but cool. This Chaco Canyon is fairly inaccessable. A US hwy runs near but the ruins themselves lie on a section of land that is still surrounded by active Native Peoples--farmers, cattle ranchers, goats, sheep, not to mention people--where you're driving thru their back yards, as it were!! We trespass by permission but on minimally maintained dirt/sand/mud roads, fording water runoffs [dangerous, flash flooding can occur]for 13 of the last 21 miles. You really want to go there. I mean REALLY!!! But I did---