Day 58-63: Mesa Verde National Park
Trip Start
Jun 21, 2008
1
37
42
Trip End
Ongoing
Mesa Verde National Park,
Colorado,
United States
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Stopped at Wal-mart for groceries, propane, and ice. Then found a Methodist church. We stayed for the 11:00am service.
After church we rode on to Mesa Verde NP. Checked-in and set-up our tent. Then drove to the Visitor Center. Purchased tickets for tours the following days. You have to purchase tickets for the Ranger-guided tours of Cliff Palace, Balcony House, and _____. Next, we drove a little further to the Museum. After checking out the museum, we walked down to Spruce Tree House, a cliff dwelling you can tour on your own. There were Rangers stationed to answer questions and protect the site.
Mesa Verde NP was the first National Park set aside to preserve the work of man. Most other National Parks are set aside to protect natural beauty - God's creation. Mesa Verde NP is also a World Heritage site.
For dinner, we made green chili cheeseburgers. Not as good as Bobcat Bite, but still enjoyable.
Day 59 - Monday, August 18, 2008 - Mesa Verde NP
Today we toured two cliff dwellings; Cliff Palace (the largest cliff dwelling) and Balcony House.
Both tours were very interesting, and crowded. Before going on both tours, the Ranger has to warn everyone that we are at a high elevation and the trail in and out of the dwelling is steep. That made me nervous - but it was fine.
Te Balcony House tour was the most strenuous. To get out we had to climb through a small tunnel and up some very steep steps cut in the rock face. The Ranger led a very interesting tour, and he was from Michigan.
We learned a lot about the people once called Anasazi, now called Ancestral Puebloans, who lived on this mesa 1400 years ago. They lived on the mesa top first in pit houses, then above ground mason dwellings. Then, for some reason unknown to archeologists, the people built homes in the alcoves of the canyon walls. Then after less than 100 years, the people abandoned the area and moved. The Ancestral Puebloans are believed to have moved because of an extended drought, and are the ancestors of today's modern pueblo peoples.
The dwellings lay unused and unknown until some local cowboys saw one of the cliff dwelling while searching for stray cattle. Some of the cliff dwellings have been preserved fairly well because of the protection from the alcove.
After the tours, we drove back to the museum are and walked the Petroglyph Point Trail. The trail guide has an interpretation of some of the symbols that were interpreted by Hopi Indians.
Day 60 - Tuesday, August 19, 2008 - Mesa Verde NP
Started with the Long House tour on the less traveled Wetherill Mesa. The group was nicely small and the Ranger was very knowledgeable. After the tour we took the tram around to the other overlooks and mesa top building ruins.
After a picnic lunch, we walked down to Step House - self-guided with a Ranger posted. Cool site. You can still see the rock steps they used to enter and exit the site. Wow! It is an interesting site as well because there are remains of pit houses along with the above-ground structures.
On our way back we stopped at Park Point Overlook, the highest point in the park. The trail guide pointed out what we could see from all 4 directions: West = Sleeping Ute Mtns, North = San Juan Mtns, East = I forget, and South = Shiprock. We've been seeing Shiprock all along and wondered what it was, and it is actually in NM.
Back at camp we hung up the hammock a second time. Tonight we are planning to attend the Ranger program at 9pm and then another program at 10pm about the stars. Looking forward to them both.
The Ranger program was fun. Ranger Bruce is a 70 year old retired science teacher. He had lots of stories to tell. He told us about the fire in 2000 that several Rangers were stranded in. Scary. Thankfully they got out, but it was close.
His program was titled, "The Stones Speak and I am Silent," about how scientists can read the stones to find out, or at least speculate, about the past. After the program we went to the "Star Party." We were able to look through a telescope at Jupiter and its 4 moons. Wow!
Day 61 - Wednesday, August 20, 2008 - Mesa Verde NP
Today was another fun day. We started our day with a trip to Hovenweep National Monument. Hovenweep NM is composed of 6 units covering 20 miles. The main unit is Square Tower Complex, that's where the Visitor Center is. We drove through Cortez, CO and on a country road into Utah, about 40-50 miles. The drive through canyons and farms was scenic.
Hovenweep NM protects settlements of the Ancestral Puebloans. The settlements were built on canyon rims and the talus slopes. Most settlements were near a water source like a seep spring. The Ancestral Puebloans farmed for a living.
We hike a two mile loop at Square Tower Complex and were able to see the ruins of many structures. Some of the structures we could get very close to, and others were always at a distance. I enjoyed taking pictures nonetheless. No one knows exactly why the Ancestral Puebloans moved away; though we do know that they left during a period of drought. The buildings are similar to those at Mesa Verde NP; except that the canyons were very small in comparison, so there are no "cliff" houses.
On the walk back to the Visitor Center, we saw a collared lizard sunning on a rock, and I was able to take a few pictures. We have wanted to see a collared lizard since we saw a picture at Colorado NM. The Visitor Center was very nice, air-conditioned, and so we watched a 20-minute video.
We had also planned to spend some time in Cortez, CO when we were heading back. The route back to Cortez was different from the one we took to Hovenweep NM; this one went through Canyon of Ancients NM. The drive was nice. Cortez turned out to be a neat little place. We walked a little ways on Main Street and saw that most stores were closing or closed because it was after 5:00pm. The Cortez Cultural Center was open and we stopped. They had historical displays, artwork and jewelry for sale, and two very nice women running the store. We talked to them for a while, looked around, and received a Cortez Dining Guide. We were pretty hungry. Our choice came down to menu, price, and location. The Mainstreet Brewery won after our first choice was closed. The brewery was very nice and had a good selection of food. Amy had a pizza and I had an andouille sausage burrito - very tasty! You could also order it with a bratwurst instead of the sausage. After desert we were full and happy. Next stop, Mesa Verde NP.
The first thing we did after arriving in Cortez was to go to the Sprucetree Coffee Shop and Used Books. It took a little while to find, but was worth the effort. The coffee was good, and Amy browsed the used books, and we used the internet. We had hoped to find out that Southern Miss would be playing football at Home when we are down that way; unfortunately, they will not.
Day 62 - Thursday, August 21, 2008 - Mesa Verde NP - Dylan's Birthday - Two Month Anniversary of the Trip
Today was a good day. After breakfast we drove to the Far View Sites. These were mesa top dwellings not cliff dwellings. Finally remember to take the gnome with us. We saw a reservoir engineered and built by the Ancestral Puebloans to collect water for their crops and themselves. It was pretty amazing. Next, we drove back to the museum and Spruce Tree House. We did not read very thoroughly the last time we were at the museum. When we were at Spruce Tree House originally, we did not go in the Kiva and we wanted to do so; also, we heard there were petroglyphs of turkey track. The Ranger confirmed and showed us the turkey tracks and also showed us the human foot petroglyph and the hand print. It was neat to see new things the second time.
We next went to the Soda Canyon Overlook Trail and hiked to 3 overlooks. We saw Balcony House again, an un-named cliff dwelling, and Soda Canyon. It was an okay stop. On the way back to the campsite we stopped at Far View Terrace to call Dylan on his birthday. Reception was lousy and we could not connect. There were Native American artists demonstrating and selling their wares. Amy found a bracelet that she really liked. She agonized over it for a while and then I bought it for her. It's very pretty and she is happy.
We drove back to the campground, took showers, did laundry, and relaxed. Around 5:30pm we hiked the Point Lookout Trail and had very nice views. Dinner was chicken pot pie, but open-faces and very tasty. The Ranger Program was about the stars. The night sky was fabulous! We learned to find Scorpios in the sky!
Day 63 - Friday, August 22, 2008 - Mesa Verde NP to Arches NP, UT
Stopped at Spruce Tree Coffee Shop in Cortez again on the way out to check e-mail. Not sure when we will have a connection again. I did check the weather for Arches NP again, and the temp should be 100+ while we are there. Boo!
We arrived at Arches around 2pm after going to the grocery store in Moab. Stopped at the Visitor Center to look around and stay cool inside. Watched the park video on a big screen. Read about how the Arches were made, but still don't quite understand. Drove out to the campground at the very end of the park road. Quite a drive. Beautiful red rock as far as the eye can see. Set-up tent, had dinner, then went for a walk to Broken Arch. It's not broken - just has a crack right now.
When we check out e-mail this morning we learned from Mom that one of the Arches fell about 2 weeks ago. Luckily it fell about 4am and no one was hurt. We also learned that Mike's cousin, Noah, was caught in a flood at the Grand Canyon when an earthen dam broke. Thankfully he is home safe now.
