Mesa Verde NP

June 24 thru 28th, 2015. Thursday afternoon through Sunday morning we saw all that we could in Mesa Verde. We had no problem getting a first come first serve campsite in the last loop, Apache. There were other sites in some of the loops but the few that had electric hookups were booked. They do take reservations for these, but we didn't know for sure when we would arrive. The days were quite warm in the 90's but the evenings began to cool after the sun set and we were comfortable. Even used a blanket on two of the mornings in the 60's.

We began getting information in the visitor's center, with their little newspaper and map. And since it was best to do so now, we purchased ranger guided tour tickets for the last tour of the day at Cliff Palace for this afternoon and Balcony House for Friday morning. On Friday we decided to stay another night and Purchased tour tickets for Long House for Saturday as well. Mesa Verde NP was created in 1906 and will begin it's centennial soon. It was created to preserve the archeological heritage of the Ancestral Pueblo people, both atop the mesas and in the cliff dwellings below. The park includes over 4,500 archeological sites; only 600 are cliff dwellings and only a few are accessible/viewable. The campground is about 4 miles into the park. Then heading south on the North Rim we head through a tunnel and start climbing up the mesa. I think we were pretty much at about 8,000 feet elevation most of the time.

One of the park rangers convinced us to get tickets to the last tour of the day at Cliff Palace. It involved climbing up a very high and straight ladder and guess who got to go first! "Feet follow Hands" I kept repeating and I surprised myself. I made it up! It was well worth the extra effort. There is so much to learn at these sites about the Ancient Pueblo Peoples who lived in this area centuries ago. Through very hard labor with hand made tools from stone and wood they built these impressive dwellings.

They farmed the rich fertile soil of the mesa tops and hunted and gathered pinyon nuts and native plants as well. Some of the crops they grew were corn, beans, squash and pumpkins. They devised check dam methods to trap water and soil and had to endure hard times of drought as well. They also socialized with their neighbors and gathered at some of these larger sites for trade and ceremonies (such as singing and dancing, and religious events.) They were quite skillful as basket-weavers, potters and stone masonry as is evident by what they left behind. For unknown reasons they left the area, and moved further south and east, although a 23 year drought may have been a contributing factor. Today the Hopi of Northern Arizona and the people of the Zuni, Laguna, Acoma and the pueblos along the Rio Grande trace their ancestry to these peoples.

In the late afternoons as the heat of the day and lots of hiking tired us out, we returned to our campsite and prepared our suppers. At 9 PM the first two nights we headed up to the nearby Amphitheater to hear a Ranger Talk.

On Friday we checked out Balcony House (ranger guided) and Spruce Tree House (self guided). And did some short hikes to Mesa Top remains of Pit houses and villages. All had kivas as a similar feature. Saturday we headed down the Wetherill Mesa which is a different experience. It is on the "quieter side" of the park and only 1 in 15 visitors come over to this side. Here we toured Step House and Long House. Long House (one of my favorites) is approximately equal in size to Cliff Palace, and fills an expansive 293 foot long sandstone alcove from end to end. There were several ladders to climb and descend here as well. It had about 150 rooms and 21 kivas and was inhabited by 150 to 175 people. Amazing stone and plaster work is evident. It has a large open space in the front area that is believed to have been used for large dances, drumming and singing activities. I can just picture it now as it might have been then.

Having enjoyed this lovely park we headed out Sunday morning towards Durango with hopes to return again someday. "Going Places With Smiling Faces!"