Mesa Verde, Part I

Used my day off to visit Mesa Verde National Park today. Figured since I look at it all the time from my front porch, I ought to see it for real. It's huge! It takes 15 miles of mountain driving just to get to the Visitors Center (which doesn't sell individual postcards--I guess that era is over, but that's a separate topic). You're literally driving up to the top of the mesa...it's all switchbacks, and the speed limit never gets above 45. In several places you are warned not to park or stop your car due to the danger of rockfall. It was a quiet day there, but still saw license plates from probably 25 states at least (plus a couple of provinces, including Quebec). I also saw someone who had driven over the edge. She did it in the right place--the heavy growth stopped the car before it went very far. It'll be a trick to get it out, though. The original road was far more dicey--they've put in a tunnel to eliminate the "knife edge". Driving in Colorado in the early part of the 20th century must have been true adventure.

The views are incredible. You can probably see all the Four Corner states at some point. The mountains are less dense here, with wide, flat areas between, which is striking in its own way. You look down from this massive height to land with the appearance of a concrete floor, but ringing it in the distance are snowy peaks, each rising individually. The flora changed several times on the way up, and that's not even taking into account all the fire damage from 5 major fires in the last 15 years. Charred trunks and skeleton trees abound. The cactus and yucca were in bloom, though, and really captivating. In the fauna department, saw a wild horse, a raven's nest (if that's what it was...the bird was MASSIVE), scurrying lizards, and scat that I would guess is from a mountain lion (right inside one of the pueblos).

I went to Wetherill Mesa, the road less traveled. On one little trail I did, I was completely by myself (and you can tell, 'cause the trees are all just trunks). Had a guided tour with a bozo ranger (the actual Navajo guide was doing the later one) of Long House, the 2nd largest cliff dwelling in the park. It really was quite impressive, but hard to get your head around. Human hands mixed and laid this mortar 1000 years ago. Our ranger did a good job of conveying the information, even if he sounded like a recorded CD that couldn't quite settle into a track. The Anasazi grew corn, beans, and squash, and moved into the cliffs for food (living in the caves freed up farmland), shelter (caves are comfortable temperature and sheltered from elements), and water (seep springs). Since all the recent wildfires were caused by lightning, it seems to me that must have been a problem for the Anasazi, too. Nobody mentioned that. I should probably go to the museum there. I don't know enough to ask good questions, and for all I learned today, I'm still not clear on most of the whys and wherefores of Anasazi life. I also went to the Kodak House Overlook. I initially thought it was sponsorship (though that was silly--where would Kodak get the money?), but turns out it's called that because a Swedish archaeologist in 1891 kept his 65-pound camera there.

The Step House trail was closed by the time I got back to the parking area, and there's an entire other mesa to explore, so I'll be back.

I think I'm doing a shuttle tomorrow, the job I've been most excited about. I'd better learn how to back a trailer!