We've been lucky enough to travel to many places around the globe. We've seen the ruins in Rome and Athens. We've wandered through the walled cities in Croatia and explored the massive Hindu and Buddhist temples in Indonesia. And I've gazed upon the pyramids and temples in both Egypt and Mexico. But we were in for a completely different experience at Mesa Verde National Park.
Mesa Verde protects and preserves some of the best Ancestral Puebloan archeological sites in the world. The Ancient Pueblo peoples farmed up on top of the mesa and as they grew in size they needed more land to grow on so they needed to move from on top of the mesa to... well... somewhere else that was close by. So they chose to build their villages and homes into the cliffs. The park itself has over 4,300 archeological sites, including over 600 cliff dwellings. We were lucky enough to explore 3 of these.
 |
| Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
Our first afternoon in Mesa Verde we toured the Long House. Now keep in mind we're lucky enough to have stairs and ladders and walkways to give us (relatively) easy to access these amazing sites. The people who lived here didn't have fancy things like stairs to get up and down over the side of the cliff faces. They carved hand holds into the rock and used nothing more than their fingers and toes to climb in and out of their cliff dwelling homes and up onto the mesa where they farmed corn, beans and squash. These dwellings are dated at around 800 years old. They are fragile, intricate and amazing.
Long House was excavated in the late 50s and early 60s. It's was built around 1200ad but was only occupied for maybe 80 years. It has 150 rooms, a tower, a central plaza area and also features a spring along the cliff wall. The Park Ranger that took us on this tour was amazing and we had a great time talking with him about non park stuff as well on the mile and a half walk back to the parking area. This was probably my favorite dwelling we visited. Maybe because it was my first, maybe because there were less people there (we did the last tour of the day), maybe because it rained a little. I don't know. It's just incredible to see how it all fits together and I'm still impressed with their genius ventilation system for the fires in each room. (see pics below somewhere for details)
 |
| Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Me climbing a ladder into Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Here you can really see the multiple levels at Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| But first! Let me take a selfie! Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Geoff checking things out at Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Geoff learning from our Park Ranger at Long House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
We were VERY thankful to not be sleeping in a tent that night as the heavens opened up and it poured rain for most of the night. We set up the canopy over the kitchen area so we (and by we I mean Geoff) could still cook. We retreated to the comfiness of the van to eat dinner inside. It was the first time in a while that it was pleasantly cool enough to sleep well inside the van. While the campground here is pricey, they do have free showers and free (not very reliable) wifi throughout the campground.
 |
| Classy AF with grilled cheese and Mexican hot chocolate as the rain came pouring down at Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
The following day we got up and drove out to tour Cliff Palace followed by a tour of Balcony House. It was a Saturday and significantly more busy than the day before. Still amazing to see. Cliff Palace is probably the most famous dwelling in the park. It has multiple stories, 151 rooms, 23 kivas (like a ceremonial gathering place, like the Nakamals in Fiji and Vanuatu for drinking Kava) and was home to around 125 people. It was the central point for a larger community of around 60 nearby cliff dwellings. It's also just super freaking cool.
 |
| Looking down on the Cliff Palace from above. Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Freakishly steep, narrow, pre-OSHA steps down to the Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Exploring the Cliff House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
In the photo above you can see the fire pit on the floor of this dwelling. There is a small wall directly beside the pit. Right behind that you see a small tunnel. That tunnel comes up to the surface and is less than a foot square. Air was drawn down the tunnel and around the fire. The smoke from the fire was then pushed up and through the hole in the roof (which is no longer there) How cool is that!
 |
| Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Close up of Cliff House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
In the photo above you can see logs sticking out of the brick wall. The logs were used to separate floors in the taller buildings as well as provide support for the tall walls. Archeologists used trees for carbon dating as well as the rings in the trees to date the buildings here.
 |
| Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
In the photo above you can see some painting still preserved on the inside of this multiple story dwelling. Fancy!
 |
| Geoff checking out the Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Gorgeous pic of me climbing the ladders to get out of Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
Balcony House was our last tour of the day. To get to it you have to walk down a TON of stairs then climb a 32 foot ladder to get into the dwellings. At the end there's a 12 foot tunnel to climb through that's barely bigger than a rangers hat followed by several other ladders before reaching the safety of the mesa above. The dwelling itself is smaller and is dated nearer to the mass exodus of the people in this area. It holds 45 rooms, 2 kivas and seems to have only one way in or out due to the foot holes found at the site. It also has a feature found no where else on any other cliff dwelling... balconies!
 |
| Park Ranger Climbing the 32 foot ladder into Balcony House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Looking back down at the ladder we just climbed to get into Balcony House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| The view through a tiny window at Balcony House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
Our Park Ranger waiting for us to go through a few tunnels at Balcony House.
Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Doesn't seem 800 years old does it. Balcony House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Balcony House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
Another great example of a fire pit and ventilation shaft.
Balcony House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Balcony House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| And then? The Tunnel... Balcony House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| Tight fit Geoff? Balcony House, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
Before moving on we went to a few overlooks to get a better sense of size of the places we just toured. The sun was getting high in the sky when we left Mesa Verde and pointed the car towards a new place; New Mexico, land of enchantment. Not too sure about that motto...
 |
Once you know what to look for, finding cliff dwellings is easy!
Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
 |
| The Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde National Park, CO |
We drove through to Carlsbad, only stopping for gas and a tasty dinner at a Mexican restaurant just outside Albuquerque. We passed through much of the Navajo Nation and encountered a stunningly bright rainbow as the sun set on Albuquerque. We passed giant refineries that lit of the night for miles and miles. We finally came to rest in the Wal-Mart parking lot waiting for morning and our next adventure - Carlsbad Caverns National Park.
Till next time - Fair winds my friends!
Marsha and Geoff
No comments:
Post a Comment