MESA VERDE NATIONAL PARK

We drove about 40 miles west from Durango to Mesa Verde National Park for a day of exploring. This park is noted for the cliff dwellings that were discovered in the 1880's by local cowboys. The structures are evidence of a society that, over centuries, accumulated skills and traditions and passed them on to future generations. Ancestral Pueblo Indians built their dwellings beneath the overhanging cliffs. Here is the first view as you enter the park from the highway.  We were in our car on this trip so no problem with the steep roads to get into the park itself.

At the Visitors Center, we signed up for a tour of Cliff House, one of the cliff dwellings available for exploration by the public with a national park ranger guided tour. Here is a view of Cliff House from the overlook. Eventually we stood around the same kiva the group is standing around below. A kiva is the common area where each clan would spend most of their time when not out farming on the cliffs above.

To get down to the cliff dwellings, we climbed down several flights of steps and along several switchbacks along the path. Here is Ranger Wolf giving his talk while we stood around a kiva.

Paul is looking into a kiva. Notice what looks like columns around the edge. These 6 pillars actually were the supports for the logs and branches that formed the roof. The engineering was so advanced, considering the time period. There was an opening just to Paul's left that allowed fresh air to be drawn down into the kiva while the hot air and smoke from the fire went up through the hole in the roof. Pueblo Indians lived in these kivas during the winter when the temperatures would sometimes fall to 20 degrees below zero outside.

After exploring Cliff House, it was time to climb to the top of the mesa.

We also explored Spruce Tree House, the only cliff dwellings available for exploration without a ranger guide. Here is a view of soot that is over 1000 years old that accumulated on the cliff above. The ladder through the roof is how the members of each clan would get down into the kiva.

Paul and Ann posed by the edge of a kiva.

The path that led down to Spruce Tree House contained many blooming flowers. It is amazing that the wildflowers we saw were completely different from the wildflowers we see in Wyoming.

Globe Mallow

Firecracker Penstemon

Showy Evening-Primrose

Golden Aster

Broad Leaf Yucca

We later learned that the Yucca cactus only has flowers once every three years. I guess we picked the right time to visit Mesa Verde National Park.