Day 6 Mesa Verde


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Published: May 22nd 2006
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May 21 Day 6 Cortez, Co, Mesa Verde, Durango, Co.
Just a few minutes to Mesa Verde from Cortez. We show our "old fart's pass" at the entrance ($10 gives you entrance for the rest of your life, if you are 50 or older.) and start the climb UP to the top of the green mesa. And I mean UP. For 40 minutes we go UP and UP. The views becoming more and more spectacular. At 8,000 feet we level off and stop at Park Point for a jaw dropping 360 degree view that easilly extends for 100 miles. We drive to the visitor's center, a moderate walk up a minor slope and ask the park ranger what we can see that does not entail strenuous walking. Noticing our huffing and puffing, he immediately offers us the handicapped brochure. Well! I didn't think we looked that bad! My atheletic appearance has diminished somewhat since my highschool days, but I can still walk. M and I laughed as we left vowing to go on a diet "as soon as we get home."

Spruce Tree House was our first stop. From the opposite side of the canyon we can see the pueblo about one-quarter mile away. The park offers a free entrance to the pueblo with park rangers explaining what can be seen, if we are willing to walk one-quarter mile. We go for it. It's an easy walk down the canyon and in a few minutes we are inside the pueblo. It's fantastic. We are walking inside a pueblo that was built around 1100AD and preserved beautifully. We can see the sandstone mud bricks and the mud morter that holds the wall together. There are ancient designs inscribe on some of the bricks. I climbed down a ladder to view the inside of a kiva - a hole dug into the ground, covered with cieling of twigs and mud with and entrance ladder jutting out of the roof. It's cool and dark inside. Ancient ceremonies were performed here. There is a tunnel leading to another room somewhere inside the pueblo. Spookey! Neat! M and I wander around the ancient place for a while asking the ranger many questions. Really interesting.

Then we started back to the car. We started up the trail and lasted 50 steps before I was gasping for breath in the 8,000 foot altitude. We stopped, walked a few more feet and rested. I pretended to be interested in the little bronze placques that describe the vegetation. Fortunately there were many of them. Did you know that many of the plants were used for stomach problems and dye for the basket weavers? I read each and every one of the descriptions and am now an expert on desert vegetation.

There are many interesting stops along Ruins Road with views of other peublos including the largest one, the Cliff Palace. My friends, Dick and Sheri were here a few days ago and challenged us to take the guided tour which includes climbing up and down ladders and scrambling over rocks, etc. They are much younger than M and I and I am sure that if we were young like them we would have accepted their challenge. As it is, we stood across the canyon and took pictures.

We drove around the loop road viewing the kivas and pueblos, and stopped at the museum to watch the 30 minute video. All in all it took us about 4 hours to check this place out. This is a fascinating glimpse back in time of the ancient Anasazi culture. No one knows what attracted the people to this place, nor do they know why they left suddenly after 200 year. There were thousands of these people and they just disappeared.

Our drive to Durango took about one hour through a green valley ringed with snow capped mountains. Durango is a quaint town that has managed to keep it's "old west" look. Judy, Marilyn says this is your kind of town. Of course, there are many shopping opportunities and restaurants. We ate at an Italian place, recommended by a bartender, that was OK. Afterwards we walked up and down Main Street enjoying the warm air.

Our weather has been just perfect. Our only hot days were in Las Vegas (to be expected) and Zion where it was an unusual for May 92 degrees. The rest of the time its been in the low 80's during the day and 60's in the morning. The dress code is my favorite, tee shirt, shorts, and flip flops.



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22nd May 2006

Durango and "cielings"
I can't (read don't want to) believe you were in Durango and didn't take the Narrow Gauge train to Silverton (?), Shame on you, as a old ferrooequinologist, I hereby officially chide you for not doing so. As far as "cielings" go, do you suppose I might have some of these in my house? Keep these coming, very entertaining and, believe it or not, enlightening.

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