Mesa Verde National Park, CO

What a great day, just what we needed to take our minds off the coach problems! A beautiful Rocky Mountain spring day is truly a thing to behold.

We drove west to the Mesa Verde National Park this morning and spent the full day there.

The park service center and cliff dwellings are twenty-plus miles in off the highway on a steep and winding road. The highlight of the drive is the magnificent views. At one point the road is at an altitude over 8000.

From the fire lookout station at the highpoint you can see Ship Rock in northern New Mexico near the Arizona border. At one point Barbara said she thought she finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel regarding out mechanical hard luck.

We got in on a guided tour of Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in North America. It is estimated that there were up to 150 rooms in the dwelling. 

Its development was similar to that of the Acoma Pueblo. The residents originally settled the area in the seventh century settling and farming the plateau above the current site. Around 1100 they began construction of what we call the Cliff Palace, and they continually built and modified the structure for about eighty years. Around 1200 they began a slow migration away from the area. No one has a good explanation for their leaving, but drought is thought to be at the center of it.

The museum has a considerable collection of artifacts taken from the ruins, but I found the dioramas depicting the stages of cultural development to be most interesting.The detail in these models is amazing. Double-clicking enlarges the image.

Roving bands of hunter-gatherers find ample game in the area.

The large overhand provides shelter and year round residence begins.

Elementary building starts with materials available. Wood frame sealed with mud.

Design becomes more complex and blocks are cut from sandstone to facilitate those complex structures.

On the way home we ran into some residents whose ancestors predate man.

Tomorrow we will investigate some of the local mountain sites, and check out downtown Durango.