One of the coolest things about the southwest landscape are ruins.  The anasazi ruins at lake powell are some of the best I’ve ever seen (including those at Mesa Verde).

Imagine a history museum in a big city, where they have an exhibit behind glass of a native people that lived in the southwest united states in the 1200′s.  You read a pamphlet and admire their dwellings from a distance.

Now imagine that you in the desert landscape in southern utah with a small group of fellow adventurers. There is no museum glass.  In the back of a canyon with towering Navajo sandstone walls sculpted by water, sand and wind over millions of years, you hike a short distance from a sandy beach along the lake’s edge up to a cliff dwelling that has been there since it was made by hand over 800 years ago.  You admire the wall paintings and petroglyphs carved into the stone.

You explore around inside the ruin, admiring the craftsmanship, and imagine them grinding corn beside a small fire.  You climb down a wooden ladder into their Kiva – a sweatlodge where they held religious or spiritual ceremonies.  You wonder how many winters and how many fires it took to char the log and thatch ceiling of the kiva.

You climb some mild “moki steps” (small steps carved into the sandstone) up to Three Roof Anasazi Ruins in the Escalante Arm of Lake Powell, and imagine living here – in this very spot – long before Christopher Columbus set foot on this continent.  You admire the well chosen location, which provides shelter from the rain, and shade from the hot desert sun.

Want to see more?  Come explore the Anasazi Ruins yourself May 8th to 14th at Lake Powell, Utah during our Dynamic Landscape photography workshop.  Why go to a museum when you can experience these cultural treasures in person – along with all the other amazing locations along the over 1900 miles of shoreline of Lake Powell. (more shoreline than the entire western coast of the United States!) But don’t delay… these workshops fill up quickly, and there is only one landscape workshop offered every year. Register today.