Cuarenta Casas, Chihuahua - Oct 2004
Cuarenta Casas is a longway from anywhere like most places in Chihuahua. After driving 5 hours from the Paquime site at Casas Grandes there was no way a little snow was going to stop us.
Unfortunately the INAH ranger had different ideas and because of the bad weather and trees falling onto the workman fixing the path below we were told that the site was closed to the public.
After a lot of discussion and a change for the better in the weather we were finally allowed to make the hour or so walk across the valley to visit the site.
The valley is full of snowfall here, but if you click on this pic to enlarge it you can get an idea of the scale of this place and see the tiny adobe houses perched on cave ledges.
Look inside the caves in this picture and you will see a small house. A closer image can be seen in the picture on the right and above.
I took this picture because it shows one of those natural forms that really catches the eye.
My little powershot camera doesn't have a powerful zoom. This was taken through my binoculars. As you can see from the picture on the left it worked out OK!
Every time we visit Chihuahua it snows. Liliana loves it.
Workers rebuilding the pathways to better support future visitors to Cuarenta Casas. Chihuahua is rightly investing heavily in tourism at this time and they have a lot to offer.
For millions of years the cliffs of Cuarenta Casas have been worn away by wind and rain creating beautiful rock formations and smooth sided towers.
A lot of the Cuarenta Casas buildings have suffered from vandalism and were unprotected for many years. Now very few are open to the public this being one of the exceptions. If you look very closely at the very first picture on this page you can see this building and understand just how remote it is.
Cuarenta Casas is an absolute must see for any vistor to the state of Chihuahua. It's a bit of a hike to get to this platform but a thoroughly enjoyable walk in a very pretty forest.
