On this trek we located several shelters, but only one was of real interest. This shelter was about 100’ up the side a limestone slope. There were two ways to get to the shelter and naturally we picked the most difficult – the frontal assault. Coming down from the shelter we chose the easy way.
The shelter measures approximately 30 to 35 feet across by 10 feet deep, and about 8 feet at the highest point inside. Inside of the shelter there is one depression at each end along with some fire blackening. There are a few bones and part of a tortoise shell strewn about the floor of the shelter; these may or may not be leftovers from a coyote’s lunch.
The real interesting thing was the “prayer or spirit sticks” that were placed in a crack in the wall of the shelter. We have seen this type of situation several times before in a shelter that usually sits high above the canyon or valley floor and has million-dollar view. Not all these sacred or spiritual places are up high, as we have seen some that are at ground level.
