Road Trip: Mesa Verde National Park

Compared to other national parks, Mesa Verde isn't all that big (it's only 52,485 acres). But it contains over 5,000 archaeological sites and over 600 cliff dwellings. It is home to the largest cliff dwelling in North America and has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

I visited Mesa Verde back in 2010, but on that trip most of the cliff dwellings were closed so the park could do some maintenance. So on this visit, I made sure to book tours to Cliff Palace, which is the largest and most prominent cliff dwelling in the park.



The Ancestral Puebloans began building Cliff Palace around the year 1190.



The tour starts out at an overlook, which provides a great view of Cliff Palace and of the valley.





Here you can see a group of people standing around one of the kivas during a tour, which provides a bit of scale:



We met the ranger who would be giving our tour, who escorted us through a gate and then down some steep stairs and a ladder. We then followed a trail that ran under the bluff towards a flat area with enough room for our tour group to sit. The ranger talked about the history of the site for a few minutes, and took a few questions from the group (including one about kivas from Jonah). I took a few pictures...



Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America, and contains over 150 rooms and 23 kivas. At its peak, about 100 people lived here.



It's thought that Cliff Palace was an important social, administrative and ceremonial site for the Ancestral Puebloans.



The ranger moved our group along a paved path towards a large kiva. As we were gathering around, we heard someone scream "WOAH WOAH WOAH!!" The yelling was coming from the overlook, on the bluff above us. A small child had climbed over the guardrails and was standing precariously on the edge of the overhang. The person yelling managed to grab the kid before anything bad could happen. Our ranger paused in her talk, glanced over at the commotion, and then nonchalantly said "well he was almost on the news."

The Ancestral Puebloans lived here until the year 1300, when the site was mysteriously abandoned. No one really knows why. But it's thought that several years of droughts disrupted crops and food production.



After the Ancestral Puebloans left, the cliff dwellings sat abandoned for centuries. In that time, Cliff Palace "slowly deteriorated from the effects of water, wind, freeze/thaw cycles, differential fill levels, a variety of animals, spalling of the alcove roof, and the inherent qualities of the prehistoric structures themselves" (according to the NPS).



In the 1880s, Mesa Verde was rediscovered. But that ended up accelerating the decline of the ruins as looters descended on Mesa Verde. They used pickaxes and dynamite to blast through the dwelling walls in order to find artifacts. They tore out century-old wooden beams to use as campfire. The dwellings were in rough shape. Here's a photo from 1891 that shows Cliff Palace before it was acquired by the National Park Service.

In 1906, Mesa Verde National Park was established as the first national park that preserved a man-made site of cultural significance. Starting in 1908, efforts were made to stabilize and restore the cliff dwellings. Significant work was done at Cliff Palace, which included restoring the four-story square tower. Slightly-different colored materials were used in the restoration, so that it would be evident which parts were reconstructed.



As the tour ended, and before our ranger could usher us back to the top, one of the members of our group stopped and then fell to the ground. It wasn't really that hot out there (in the 80s), but she must have been standing in the direct sunlight during the tour and suffered heat exhaustion. But after a few minutes, she got up and we all headed back up to the trailhead. We asked our ranger if everything was ok, and she assured us that everything was fine. Then she said that was good, since it would be less paperwork for her.

We got back in the car and then drove over to the overlook for the Square Tower House. This cliff dwelling contains the tallest structure built in the park, which stands at 27 feet.



This dwelling is thought to have been occupied between the years 1200 and 1300.



Although the site has been stabilized by preservationists, the vast majority of it is original. The wooden beams that you can see are all original, meaning that they were installed centuries ago.





We went to another overlook, this one presenting a different view of Cliff Palace. It looked so tiny from here, like a little model you'd see in the visitor center.





Most of the dwellings at Mesa Verde are small, and are tucked under hard-to-reach cliffs. It's hard to imagine how difficult it was to build these structures so long ago.



Not all of the dwellings here are in the cliffs. There are many archaeological sites on the mesa top, which were built long before the cliff dwellings. We stopped at the Far View Community, which "was once an extensive farming community and one of the most densely populated regions of the Mesa Verde....In ancient times, it was a place of modest homes interspersed with small farm fields. It was a place filled with people, vibrant life, and constant change."



Construction at Far View began around the year 800, and people lived here for centuries.





At this point we had already well exceeded the amount of time that you could reasonably expect an eight year old to be excited about seeing old buildings. So it was time to head back to our place in Durango. Along the way we made a few stops at some of the overlook on the curvy road that heads out of the park...

Road Trip: The Dancing Aspens

One of the coolest things about Colorado are the aspen trees. I wish we could grow them here in Arkansas, I would turn my entire yard into an aspen grove if I could. So while we were in Colorado, it seemed imperative that we try to find the famous and iconic Dancing Aspens.

The Dancing Aspens are a small collection of aspens that are curved and bent so that they appear to be dancing. They are very photogenic, and have become a popular destination for photographers and artists. In order to protect the trees from being overrun with Instagram influencers and vandalizers, many are trying to keep the exact location of the trees a closely-guarded secret. Before our trip I spent a few months researching the trees, trying my best to find out where they are hiding. I found lots of vague hints, and got a general idea of the location.

So when we were in the area, Eric and I tried to find the trees. We thought they were along a certain dirt road, part of which was closed. It was hard to find any details online about where exactly the road was closed, and which section. So we drove as close as we could, parked the car and started walking as the road passed through a grove of aspens.





And after a little bit of walking, we saw them. They were off to the side of the road, just far enough away that they would be easy to miss if you weren't paying attention. We rushed through the tall brush along the roadside and made our way to the trees. They were amazing to see in person.





No one knows why the trees are curved like this. It may have been from "soil creep," or perhaps the trees were hit by an avalanche when they were younger.



The trees actually sit by a large clearing, which is probably because it's a good place for avalanches to tumble down the mountain.





Being here, I can easily see why so many people want to keep the tree's location a secret. The trees still seemed to be pristine. No one had carved their names or initials in them yet. The area around them wasn't trampled down or trashed. There was no graffiti or vandalism. It's sad that places have to be protected from people. But I've seen lots of natural places that have been "loved" to death.



It makes me think of the person who visited the Glory Hole Waterfall in the Ozark Mountains a few years back, one of the more unique and interesting waterfalls in Arkansas. That person decided that this place needed their "artistic" input, and they added hundreds of handprints on the bluff behind the waterfall. Which are still there, years later. That one action has forever altered the scenic beauty of that waterfall. My Father-in-Law likes to tell people to "Leave It Better Than You Found It." I wish more people would take his advice, and keep natural spots natural.

Road Trip: Alta

The ghost town of Alta sits deep within the San Juan Mountains, at a lofty elevation of 11,800 feet. Hundreds of people used to live here, but only a few scattered buildings remain. Most of them are barely standing, their wooden boards bleached and weathered. Many of the buildings have collapsed, leaving behind nothing but piles of wood and debris.

Alta was established in 1878, and was the company town for the Gold King Mine. At one point, Alta had a general store and a school, along with several homes. This building, which looks like it could collapse at any moment, was once the mining company office and store.







Looking through the window, you have a great view of Mt. Wilson.









Next to it is the old boardinghouse. It looks like it has been renovated recently because it is in much better shape than the other structures here. It was built in 1939.





The mines operated until 1945, when a fire in one of the shafts ceased operations. The town started to wither away after that, the buildings left behind as a weary and fragile reminder of the San Juan's mining history.





It must have been hard to live here back in the olden days. But it would have been totally worth it, for sure. The views from Alta are breathtaking. Here you have a grand view of Mt. Wilson, which stands at 14,252 feet.



The mountain is named after A.D. Wilson, a topographer who was among the first to reach the summit of the mountain (and not named after the neighbor from Home Improvement or the volleyball from Cast Away, apparently).



If it looks familiar, Mt. Wilson is the mountain shown on the logo for Coors beers.



After that it was about time to start heading back to Durango. Luckily the drive was just as scenic and amazing on the way back.