I Found An Impossible Ancient Ruin While Flying My Drone

In the remote desert, I suddenly discovered an ancient ruin with my drone. I hiked over to take a closer look at it. What I found on closer examination was truly death defying, and awe inspiring.

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[Desert.Drifter]

Hey my friends. A couple things I'd like to add.
- It's worth it to note that these desperate strongholds are usually only from a time period of about 200 years of the Southwest's history. For many thousands of years, there may have been "relative" peace and security throughout the Southwest, as much as anywhere else. But then, due to a number of possibilities, things took a dramatic turn to the desperate, and people started taking to the cliffs and ledges.

- I realized a brain fart typo after posting the video. It’s the Yosemite Decimal System, not decibel. Clearly I was still flustered when I edited. 😂 Thank you for watching!

[laurareutter]

Perfectly happy to see a drone shot of inaccessible places. Thanks for not pushing your luck on that tricky ledge.

[kaseyfielding]

I am from the Navajo Nation. Thank you for respecting the artifacts of the past and putting them back where they belong. Those are sacred to native Americans. Thank you!

[guiart]

That was definitely NOT BAILING! That was sanity returning…beautiful work sir!

[dusty]

My mother, born in 1923, lived on a mountain top above a similar place, growing up in Indian Territory, Oklahoma. As a kid, she and her 7 siblings would play in the ruins, saying it was easy to get to from the top. In 1964, She took her children to see where she had had so much fun growing up. Alas, It was no longer access-able to us. The rocks of the cliff face had crumbled away with time.

THANK YOU for the chance to get a glimpse of a similar experience like what she had a chance to enjoy.

[pirateheart]

My parents were explorers and rockhounds. My dad got a months vacation, or more, every year. We spent our time in the desert. We found places that weren't on maps. When I was very young we use to visit family in Oklahoma and Missouri. On our way back home, northern California, they would take different routes. One year we followed the Pony Express route. Needless to say I love exploring and the desert.
In Mesa Verde, the Cliff Palace, could be protected by one warrior. Everyone had to crawl through a tunnel to get to the site. Don't forget to also look for hand and foot holds coming down to the dwellings from above.
I honestly wish that I was with you finding these places. I love the desert, waking up in the morning and taking a deep breath of air... That's the life.
Thank you for sharing all of this with us.

[brandonGCHACHU]

I grew up in the Pueblo of Zuni. I used to do exactly what you are doing when I was a boy and it was some of the best times I've had in my life. Aside from all the ruins I also found lots of fossils.... fossilized plants and trilobites and amethyst crystals in those red boulder fields. I do hope you at least have a hand gun at least. I always had a .22 rifle even at 10 years old and it came in handy a few times when mountain lion would stalk me. I never shot directly at them. Just near enough for them to sense the danger and flee. I love mountain lions. My Zuni Grandma used to tell me that looking to the night stars was forbidden which I found odd as our Anasazi ancestors held vast knowledge of astronomy. I feel that perhaps something came from space which is why the people moved to the cliffs and why my Grandma passed the directive to fear the stars. I never listened though. On my 3 day hikes in the desert I always soaked in the night sky

[volkswagen]

I worked as an Engineer for over 25 years in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Peru etc.. I am in awe of all the structures I have seen in my travels. I have deep admiration and respect for the engineering accomplishments of the ancient builders who came before me.

[furyiv]

People say we're lucky in Europe with all our history but I'm mad jealous of you guys and the fact that you still have lots of land to explore and history to uncover!

[Mattdadof]

Sitting here having a day filled with pain, this adventure had me captivated the entire time and really lifted my spirits. Thank you Andrew

[thomastoadie]

First time watcher here not knowing what to expect, but you returning that piece of pottery instead of taking it home as a trophy instantly tells me all I need to know. Good stuff amigo!

[allenvandyke]

Superb record of your teavelsand great respect for our ancient ancestors. I am Shasta Indian Nation and the lands over here are being utterly destroyed by the gold-diggers. I very much appreciate someone that cares and is Honorable and Respectful enough to care. So rare these days! Thank you and your wife my friend.

[nicoleheppner]

My palms were sweating the whole time. What an example of wonderlust. One of the hardest as wisest things you can do on an adventure is turn back. I enjoy your drone shots of these sights and your theories.

[danielhillwick]

Growing up in the SW. Arizona for the first 48 years of my life. Now living in the deep South Georgia for the past 8 years. Watching your awesome videos taks me back home. Even though i am experiencing some great historical sights all over the South and SE, i am missing my home land and Desert. Its time for a visit back to the land that speaks to me and fills my soul. Thank you so much for sharing the land that you walk.🙏👍

[Windkind]

I am from the alps so I grew up climbing, I think a very likely explaination would be rope ladders, or even more likely: rope bridges. So they bridged the gaps between the pillars and came in the same way you did. That still means someone had to climb that stuff first, but they very likely did not want to do that multiple times a day.

[ericethridge]

I also want to show massive respect to this man. From the beginning, we heard about the sun going down, and much respect for the amazement that lead to the statement, "I'm hiking back in the dark" that comes from respect and awe of these ruins.

[JAllenKaiser]

Given how soft and crumbly that “hollow” ledge was, there’s no reason to believe a significant rock fall would have left large boulders on the ground. Sandstone weak enough to crumble beneath your fingers surely would have pulverized to tiny bits with a 55 foot drop onto the canyon floor.

[paleobuzz]

I have been an avid observer and chronicler of rock art panels since the early 90’s and have been fortunate to photograph panels that have since been damaged by flooding or vandalism. Although my adventures were primarily geared towards chasing picto/petro panels, I have skirted some sketchy faces to granaries and dwellings and have a theory on this particular site in Andrew’s video. All three of the structures were made at different times and under varying degrees of stress or need. The first structure with the portholes was done over a much more substantial time span than the other two. The outer wall has rock work that is sheer and uniform and hardly requires the glazing of a mud veneer. It is impressive. The second one to the far right around the rock face was less impressive with the type of construction that is typical I would say of many structures dotting canyon country. The last however, seemed like it was hastily thrown together as if under duress. And sitting upon a precipice, I would say that the location was chosen out of necessity. As if the people involved had to quickly move into riskier territory on the cliff to more easily defend themselves from a threat. I would also suggest that ladders were used though not for vertical access but for breaching horizontal gaps. The makeshift bridges would be pulled in if needed to prevent any other crossing at this single point of access. No one would risk that ‘elite 5-12’ climb bringing up the rock and mud to make the structure in the first place. Even if all the materials were pulled up by ropes, getting to this place in a hurry to gain cover was done with a well thought out plan conceived ahead of time. Whatever the reason, it is obvious that this extreme access point was created out of dire need in what seems to be a very tumultuous time in the history of the southwest and for pre-Puebloan cultures.

[lynettedundon]

Don't risk your life for ruins. The drone is made for that.Thanks for the beautiful pictures.

[DavidSampson-pcht]

I am from the American Nation. Thank you for these videos from the Western desert. Great land. Great history!