Day 107: Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Today was a pueblo bonanza! 

We started the day by driving the sky high Wetherill Mesa Road to explore the cliff dwellings in this quieter side of the park. We arrived at 7:30 am when it was still cool out (it went down to a lovely 11 degrees Celsius last night), we hiked out to the Nordenskiold House Overlook. This cliff dwelling site is not open to visitors but can be viewed from the cliff across the canyon.

Step House opened for self-guided tours at 9 am so we headed down the trail into the canyon. This was our first introduction to cliff dwellings and it was a good one. We saw the original sandstone staircase that gave this dwelling its name, though it was blocked off and people are not allowed to walk up it anymore. We saw three pit houses (one where the ruins of the pit house were partially reconstructed so we could see what it used to looked like in its prime), roofless circular kivas, and lots of square ruins of other rooms such as sleeping and cooking rooms. There was a great interpretive pamphlet as well.

After this introduction, we walked back up the trail out of the canyon and headed to the Long House tour. This cliff dwelling is the second largest in North America and was quite the sight. Ranger Hayden, a self-proclaimed history buff, gave an interesting and informative tour focusing on the migratory patterns of the Ancient Puebloan People and tried hard to relate their plight to modern day experiences of relocation.

Seep springs were the water source. Cups were carved in the sandstone to collect water that could be easily ladled out.

After lunch in a picnic area, we drove to our third cliff dwelling tour of the day - the park’s most popular tour - Cliff Palace. Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. Built by the Ancestral Puebloans, it featured roughly 150 rooms and 23 kivas tucked under a massive sandstone alcove. It had almost complete towers and was in much better shape than Long House. I think it likely underwent more reconstruction work in the 1960s than the other dwellings due to its status as the largest. We were lucky to be guided by a Ranger who self-identified as belonging to a Native American Hopi community. They shared a traditional Hopi story during the tour about the adventures of a warrior mouse. They also explained the spiritual teaching of the origins of the Hopi People and the guidance they received from Maasaw, a Hopi deity known as the caretaker and creator of the earth, and the spirit of death. The guide told us that Maasaw introduced corn in its many colours to the Hopi People and asked them to choose a corn variety to grow. Some clans chose the large yellow corn varieties that Maasaw said would guide them to a life of riches but that life would be short. The guide’s clan (Butterfly Badger) chose blue corn instead that Maasaw said would mean that they would experience hard work in difficult conditions but that would be coupled with life long enough for their members to meet their great grandchildren.

Kiva.

This last tour was cool as we descended narrow sandstone staircases and then climbed up wooden ladders on the cliff face. It was hot (40 degrees Celsius!) and we spent much of the tour standing in direct sun. So hot.

All the kids crashed in the air conditioned car during the ride back to the campground. It was pulled pork sandwiches for supper with sweet, juicy watermelon for dessert. The evening Ranger program was on Mesa Verde trivia. The boys loved it and did well!

Day 106: Bluff, UT to Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Today was a slow day - no hikes, no tours, minimal driving.

Only a few steps from our campsite, Seamus and I took a look at the Sand Island petroglyphs this morning before breakfast. The most famous of these was the figure of Kokopelli, the fertility deity who is depicted as a humpbacked flute player. We also saw lots of bighorn sheep, a favourite of ours. Again, there were robot-like figures that were most likely depiction of shamans in ceremonial dress. Petroglyphs are neat. It is a shame that more isn’t known about how to interpret them.

Our drive to Mesa Verde National Park was short and relaxing. We across the state line from Utah into Colorado stopped in Cortez. We visited a fabulous antique shop where Seamus found a lasso and I purchased a copy of Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage, the Western novel that started it all.

This wall of salt and pepper shakers reminded me of GG.

This glass chicken reminded me of Auntie Iris and her turkey shaped cranberry sauce bowl.

We filled up our gas and propane tanks, restocked our food supplies with a grocery run, stocked up on firewood and checked it at the Visitors Centre. This park had the nicest, newest Visitors Centre of all the places we have been so far. They had life sized, realistic looking models of the Pueblo people doing various traditional activities. It was very well done. The way to see this park is through Ranger guided tours that all needed to be booked in advance. We have both morning and afternoon tours booked for tomorrow and Saturday, so we will be busy during our time here.

Our campsite at Morefield Campground is full service (electricity, water and sewer!), has zero shade but a plethora of mule deer. We have seen several up close including a fawn leaping around. Dinner was tostada tacos. Yum! Then it was showers and off to the evening Ranger program which taught us just how much more there is to see within the National Parks system. We have just scratched the surface!