Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde National Park sits high atop a plateau in southwest Colorado just off Highway 160 between Durango and Cortez. I drove by it in 1997 but didn't stop. This time I decided to take some time and explore, albeit quickly, the ancient native cliff dwellings. I arrived as the park was winding down. The ranger at the gate told me if I hurried I could see the museum and gift shop before it closed. Mesa Verde takes a lot of driving up and down and around hills and cliffs before one reaches the dwellings. The ranger was right; I did get to see the museum and gift shop...for all of 15 minutes so I zipped through both before the doors were locked. Below these facilities was on of the larger cliff dwellings known as the Spruce Tree House. The rangers were no longer letting visitors down to the actual dwelling, but I was able to get a shot of it from the top of the trail.

Knowing that daylight was going to fade soon, I hurried off to my car to hit as many viewpoints as I could and get as many photographs as possible with existing light. Next was Square Tower House. As I continued around Mesa Top Loop, I learned that some of the sites are on level ground and are called pithouses which the park service has enclosed with tents in some cases to protect them from the elements. Near the end of the loop, I got a couple photos of Cliff Palace, one of them showing how high up on the cliff walls these dwellings were built. I followed the road around the canyon top and stood on the top of the cliff above the Cliff Palace. Light was fading so I headed back for the park entrance some 20 miles away. The road in and out of Mesa Verde was burned by a forest fire recently so there are a lot of dead tree snags and wildflowers that come in the years after fires. There is also a tunnel, some campgrounds, and a few roads and loops I didn't have time to explore. There always seems to be road construction going on at national parks; I suppose this is a good thing.

Once out of Mesa Verde National Park, I headed through Cortez and turned south on the infamous Highway 666 and crossed into New Mexico.