More Mesa Verde–Bryce’s favorite!

We thought we might get an early start on Monday and have time for both a ranger-led tour, and the self-guided portion of the other half of the park, Weatherill Mesa . . . but we didn’t!  We started to leave around 10am, but then we saw the UPS guy driving up the driveway of the ranch next to the RV Park, and since our new mattress was due to be delivered “by the end of the day” on Monday, we figured we’d better wait around for him.

Sure enough, he came to the campground next, and we were able to have him follow us up to the RV to drop off the 120 lb. package!  We took out our old mattress and unpacked the new one from the multiple layers of shrink wrap that were compressing it . . . we left it laying out on the platform to finish expanding while we were at Mesa Verde. 

OK, so we got an even later start, but we were glad to have gotten the mattress.  Arriving at Mesa Verde, we stopped at the Visitor Center to check the status of ranger-led tours.  We could have gotten into one in the afternoon, but none of us were too excited about it, so we decided to just drive the Weatherill Mesa side of the park and do the self-guided tours. 

Nicolas was doing the driving this time . . . . and the road down to the Weatherill Mesa information area had LOTS of switchbacks!

He did a fine job managing the grades and curves, and we stopped at a few overlooks for a view of Montzuma Valley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wildflowers were in bloom and the fields were full of them!

This area of Mesa Verde had been hit by a wildfire in 2000, and the landscape was still showing the effects . . .

We stopped at the last overlook before we reached the Visitor Area, and could already see the evidence of some smaller cliff dwellings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived at the parking area and enjoyed our picnic lunch in the picnic shelter.  On this side of the park, there is one cliff dwelling that you can hike to, and another that is only accessible by ranger-led tour.  There is a tram that takes people out to the tour, and also takes visitors to several overlooks and an area of mesa top dwellings. 

The 1pm tram was designated as a tour tram, and we would need to wait for the 1:30 tram so we decided to take the 1-mile hike down to Step House.

One thing that we noticed right away is that this half of the park is WAAAAY less crowded than the other half, and the hike down to Step House is quite a bit easier than the one to Spruce Tree House.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The path is paved, and has a fairly gradual descent, although it is in full sun.  Luckily, it wasn’t as hot on Monday as it was when we previously visited Mesa Verde!  

Nicolas found a rock wall that was shaded from the sun, and cool to lean against!

We continued our hike, and Nicolas was on the lookout for more “undiscovered” cliff dwellings.

Bryce had already had enough of Mesa Verde! LOL!

Step House is a smaller cliff dwelling than those on the Chapin Mesa side, but more accessible.

 

 

 

The dwelling is in pretty good shape, although there is some evidence of the wildfire that ravaged this area of the park.

The Kiva (ceremonial room) appears to have undergone some restoration,

and we decided that this was probably a kid’s room . . .

 

After exploring Step House, we made our way back up to the top, arriving just in time for the 1:30 tram ride!

Nicolas thought that the prehistoric steps might have been a little faster than the path we took, but we made it!

The trams they use are just like the one we had at Lover’s Key, so we felt right at home!

The tram ride was really convenient – much better than driving your own car from stop to stop!  Our first stop was the Badger House Community, which is a series of 4 pit house villages.  The walk through them takes about 25 minutes, and there is a tram stop at each end, so by the time you complete the walk, the next tram will be there to pick you up.

Structures have been built over each of the pit house villages to protect them from the elements.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These villages were originally built around 1050 A.D., and then deserted, and another group of Puebloans added to the structures about 200 years later, until they were completely abandoned around 1300 A.D..

The pit house communities were in the area that burned in 2000, but they were unharmed.  The area now looks like a giant meadow, with no trees remaining.

Bryce had his fill of pit houses, so he waited for the rest of us at the tram stop . . . this wasn’t his favorite national park!

Back on the tram, we stopped for a few minutes at the Kodak House overlook,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and the Long House Overlook, where we saw the tour group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking down at the group on tour, Nicolas noticed that there was a person in a green shirt standing separately from the rest of the group, and he commented that he didn’t look like he was enjoying the tour . . . I responded that he was probably 14! LOL – Bryce didn’t appreciate that, but the other people with us got a laugh out of it!

From there, the tram took us back to our cars, and we made the hour-long drive back out of the park.  I think we got our fill of Mesa Verde!!

Mesa Verde–Day 1

Saturday was the day we had set aside to explore Mesa Verde.  By the time we got moving, though, it was already pretty crowded and the ranger-led tours were sold out until late in the afternoon.

 

We decided that there were enough self-guided areas to keep us busy for a good part of the day, so we began the drive towards the Chapin Mesa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we drove into the park, we were climbing in elevation until we reached the highest point in the park – Park Point Overlook.

From this point, we could see Shiprock in the west (faintly, through some haze), and Hesperus Peak in the east.

At the overlook, there was also a fire tower that the Park Service Rangers use to keep an eye on wildfires – several of which have burned in Mesa Verde in past years.  We saw some evidence of fire damage, but luckily we’ve been fire-free so far this season.

Looking back over the “green table”, we could see the roads we had taken to get to this point.

 

 

 

 

 

From here, we drove back down in elevation until we reached the Chapin Mesa, around 7000 feet.  We were all getting hungry, so we stopped in the picnic area to have our lunch before we explored the cave dwellings.  The picnic area was almost like a small camping loop, with little individual parking spaces and picnic tables scattered throughout.  We found a spot that had a table in the shade, and enjoyed our lunch.

Bryce and I spotted this little blue bird, and I just had to take his picture . . . I don’t know what he is, though!

 

 

 

 

After lunch, we parked in the overflow parking lot (yes, it was THAT crowded!), and walked to the Chapin Mesa Museum to watch the Mesa Verde Orientation video.  We learned about the various dwellings that have been found at Mesa Verde . . . mesa top houses, pit houses and villages, and finally cliff dwellings.  Our visit today will take us to all three of them!

There are 5 cliff dwellings accessible to the public, 3 of them on ranger tours, and 2 that are self guided.

At this location, the Spruce Tree House is available as a self-guided tour . . .

it’s a 1/4 mile hike and a 100 ft. decent to the cliff dwelling . . . pretty easy going down, but challenging on the way back up!

It was a beautiful walk down into the canyon, and we even spotted some wildlife!

 

 

 

 

 

 

We reached the bottom pretty quickly, and even though we could not enter the dwelling, we were able to look through a few windows,

and even climb down into a Kiva (religious ceremonial room).

Kivas are always below ground, and they may have been used for healing rituals, or praying for rain, successful hunts or good crops.

 

The small opening in the ground, and the wooden ladder are exactly how the ancient Puebloans entered the ceremonial room.

Down below was a small dark room, with seats around the circumference, and a place for a fire in the middle.

Most of the remaining kivas are open, without ceilings, but the one that we went down into was recently restored so that visitors could have the experience of entering the ceremonial room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back above ground, we explored the rest of Spruce Tree House,

 

 

then it was time to make the climb back up 100 feet to the Museum!    On the way down, we had heard a Ranger describe the walk as 1/4 mile down and 6 miles up!!  Actually, it wasn’t too bad . . . we took it slow, drank our water, and stopped for breaks in the shade . . . and before long we were back to the parking lot.

Since we didn’t have tickets for either of the Ranger-led tours at this location, we got back in the car and drove the Top Mesa Loop . . . a 6-mile loop that took us through 600 years of Ancestral Puebloan development, and included overlooks of numerous cliff dwellings.

 

Our first stop on the loop was the Square Tower House Overlook.  The Square Tower House is another cliff dwelling from the same time period as Spruce Tree House.

The construction was similar, but the Square Tower House included a section of dwelling that was multiple stories high.

 

 

 

The next stop were the Pit Houses, from the 750 – 1100 AD time frame.  There are several along the loop, and the construction of the pit houses resembles the Ceremonial Kivas.

They are circular in shape, with a hole in the center of the roof for entering, and a ventilation shaft to bring in fresh air.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the Sun Point View, we could see several cliff dwellings across the canyon from us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could also see the remains of the Sun Temple, which is similar to the oldest structures in the park, the Mesa Top Houses.

 

 

 

 

 

Continuing along the loop, we reached the Sun Temple, and from there we had a really great view of the largest cliff dwelling, Cliff Palace.

Cliff Palace is one of the dwelling accessible only on a ranger-led tour, and as we sat at the observation point, we could watch the tours as they made their way down into the canyon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Cliff Palace Tour was the one that we thought we would go on, but since we got such a good look at it from across the canyon, Tom and the boys are thinking they would rather do the Balcony House tour, since it is only visible on the tour, and not from any of the overlooks.  It’s a bit more challenging, though, so I may not join them!

We sat for a bit, watching the tour group progress through the dwelling, and enjoying the view of the canyon,

and then we made our way out of the Top Mesa Loop, and back towards the Visitor Center.  On the way out we stopped at the Far View Sites, which we had missed on the way in, and explored the mesa-top farming community and the dry water reservoir.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time we finished the walk through the Far View sites, we had pretty much had our fill of archeology and history, and were ready to head out.

We still had a 20-mile drive down from the top of the Mesa, and we admired the surrounding vistas as we made our way down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view back toward Mancos was especially amazing!

 

We finally made our way back to the Visitor Center, and since we were all pretty hungry we decided to go into Cortez for dinner, before going back to the ranch.

Even without getting into a ranger-led tour, we had a pretty full day at Mesa Verde!  Now we just need to come back to visit the other half of the park!