Living Under a Rock

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Today we were up early so that we could get to the Mesa Verde visitor center when they opened to help the staff dig up 2 more tickets for one of the dwelling tours since our luck ran out the day before. Or at least hoping they had found 2 more. It was about an hours drive to the park and we arrived right at 8 am. But we were not the only ones there at opening time. There was already a line for tour tickets. We followed the small crowd and took our place in the queue. After about fifteen minutes I heard the park staff say to someone “not going to happen” in reference to a guest needing 2 tickets for today. I then realized they had a screen displaying the tour times and available tickets. The only option was a 5 pm tour and we already had a Jeep tour scheduled for 5:30, so that was ‘not going to happen’.

With fate telling us no tour today, we took our park map and ventured on into the park. From the visitor center, it is about another hour’s worth of driving down to the area of the dwellings. Many switchbacks and cliff huggers on the route, so the pace was slow but beautiful. The ride gave us a wonderful view of the area. We headed on down to the dwelling locations because even though we did not get tickets to actually tour the inside of one, we were able to view them from afar.

The dwellings were amazing. I realized the structures would be in the cliff side, but to see them was incredible. There was so much detail in their construction showcasing multiple levels, numerous rooms, fireplaces (kivas), storage areas and other house amenities. They had their own community in those cliffs. It might be hard and dangerous to go visit your neighbor, but they were hard working people and had a unique lifestyle. Many of the structures were created around 1000 BC and have survived the elements of 3000 years. Just amazing.

The park sets up tours to three of the dwellings, but many more are throughout. Numerous stops along the road allow visitors to view them and learn their history. We spent several hours in the park, visiting the museum, the overlooks, temples (clay structures with no rooftop) and climbed up to the fire tower where the expansive view was endless. Regardless of how many times I tried, pictures just could not capture the 360 degree of view we had.

After visiting the park, we went back to the hotel for some much needed rest. A quick nap later, we were headed back into town for our Jeep tour. I had told myself to wear jeans on the tour and had told Donald to wear jeans as well, but neither of us listened to my advice. We met up with our driver, loaded the vehicle and made our way to the La Plata mountains, which is part of the San Juan mountains. The “Jeep” was actually a 4x4 truck that had been modified with bench seating for twelve on the back. Open air seating. We were the only 2 on this trip, so a specialized ride for us. It took about 20 minutes of open air highway riding to reach the forest. It was then that Donald requested a blanket (we had already put our jackets on). We made our way up the dirt road onto the rocky 4x4 road. We saw some remnants of the old mining town on the route along with a couple of marmots and deer. Then we saw a large brown bear up on the hillside. We watched him for a few minutes and moved on up the mountain as did he. A short while later, we hit the turn around spot.

The Jeep tour was the “twilight” tour, and twilight had come just about come and gone. We were in the shadows of the mountain so the temp dropped fast and darkness was about all that was left to see. Darkness in the mountains is very dark. After making our way off the mountain we asked for a couple more blankets, for it was COLD. And before we got back on the highway we joined the driver in the cab of the truck for the ride back to town. Since it was only the two of us, he offered and we accepted. So we were no longer freezing and he could drive faster back into town. Reaching town, we said our thank-yous, tipped him nicely for his generosity and made our way back to the hotel. There would be no need to run the AC tonight, not even for me.

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