 |
| Mesa Verde National Park entrance is just 7 miles from our campsite.....needless to say, like us, staff and and fellow visitors are so happy that the parks have re-opened..... It's a 23 mile scenic drive from the visitors centre via switchbacks up along Chapin Mesa with great views back across the valley...... We have booked Ranger guided tours of 2 of the cliff dwellings..... Sorry I'm having to caption the photo below here as for some reason the blog site is fighting back and won't let me put a caption under that photo...anyway it's a shot from the view point of The Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde's biggest cliff dwelling and our first hour long tour.........there are 600 cliff dwelling in the park and 4,500 archeological sites....  |
 |
| After the ranger's introduction and safety speech we descend down stone steps 100 ft to this amazing dwelling...... it is thought that this dwelling was of significant importance to the Ancient Puebloans and may have been home to the chief or leader...it was built over a 20 year period and housed approximately 130 people. There are toe and hand holds on the rock face that were used by the cliff dwellers to climb to the top to tend their crops...luckily our way back to the top will be slightly easier although it is via 3 steep 10 foot ladders..... |
 |
| It really is incredible and as our ranger said at the beginning of this tour we will leave Mesa Verde with more questions than answers....the main one is why after 800 years of living up on the mesa did they move down in 1200AD from their pit houses to the caves/cliff dwellings and then only live in them for 100 years before abandoning the area....there are all sorts of theories the main one being drought or over farming..... There have been some renovations to protect the fragile environment by the parks service but most of what you see is original...... |
 |
| The little "rooms" right at the top are thought to have been storage rooms probably for food to protect it from animals... |
 |
| The Cliff Palace viewed from across the valley......... |
 |
| Soda Canyon....many of the cliff dwellings are in this canyon and in "walking" distance from each other which leads archaeologists to believe it was a small community..... |
 |
| Our next guided tour is Balcony House... more strenuous and interactive than Cliff Palace......again we will descend 100 ft and during the tour will climb a 32 foot ladder, crawl through an 18 inch wide and 12 foot long tunnel and then climb a 60 foot open cliff face with stone steps and 2 more 10 foot ladders to exit !! This Ranger again stresses the importance of taking enough water with us and that we are at an elevation of 7000 to 7500 ft so could experience elevation sickness....... |
 |
| The 32 foot ladder to get to the actual dwelling.... |
 |
| The ladder seen from the dwelling... |
 |
| This is a Kiva, all dwellings have them and usually built to the same design......they had a roof with a hole to let out the smoke form the fire which would also have been the entrance, some dwellings have 2 that are connected by a tunnel.... The archeologists believe them to be the communal meeting place and work area.... |
 |
| This tour is much more interactive than Cliff Palace.....we are able to walk amongst the buildings and touch the stone which is usually not allowed as the oils on our hands darken the rocks..... |
 |
| We were able to walk along this space at the back of the dwelling the first time we have been able to do that, usually, like the Cliff Palace, all viewing is from the front... |
 |
| The entrance to the tunnel...... |
 |
| Yorkieman exiting the tunnel... |
 |
| The first ladder to get back to the top..... |
 |
| I couldn't quite get the angle with the camera but these steps go straight up... |
 |
| Yorkieman nearly at the top..... This was fantastic our favourite of the 2 guided tours....I will say again here how much we appreciate the Rangers and the Parks Service..... We finish the day stopping at various view points on our way back out of the park and also in case we haven't had enough exercise today.a half mile walk down to view Spruce Tree House. Self guided with a Ranger at the dwelling to answer any questions.... As we wind our way down from the mesa we are full of questions about the Ancestral Pueblo People.....we have now visited several sites of cliff dwellings and pueblos from Cottonwood, Arizona to Cortez, Colorado and the people all abandoned their homes about the same time.....many theories exist but it is all speculation... We've had another fabulous day and so glad we were able to visit Mess Verde........tomorrow we are headed 200 miles south to Gallup, New Mexico and will decide then whether we turn left or right along the 1-40......we really want to get away from theses below freezing temps at night !! |
Hi Sue & Michael,
ReplyDeleteYou guys are amazing me, I did not know you were so fit! Climbing ladders, crawling through holes I`m having to down a Guinness just thinking about it.
Some super shots as usual. What's your theory Ancient Puebloans abandoned the area?
Hope your drive to Gallup went well, and you heading for warmer temps
Keep on trucking,
Cheers,
Ann & Dave
We like an adventure !!!
ReplyDeleteRe the Ancient Puebloans abandoning the area, we feel they must have felt threatened by something or sever drought though a vast area.....Michael says the theory could end up as a 3 or 4 hour debate and speculation with Mr Bloor !!
Enjoy your Guinness.....all well in Gallup...
M & S x