We had our ticket to get into Mesa Verde good for seven days. The last day was Friday. I was dying to get down to Cliff Palace. The boys said that they wanted to go.
They both read a book on the way there and back. I missed Craig-a lot.
We were about 25 minutes early for the tour. The boys were unhappy. They like arriving right on time. I like to be early.
Our tour guide was problematic. Josh took a look at him, turned to me and said, "I blame you."
He was a bit socially awkward and he talked like he had a quarter of his mouth full of marbles. His consonants were mushy and he talked fast. He had two belts. One holding up his pants, and one several inches higher up holding his water and ranger
stuff. However he did know his stuff. He reminded the boys of scout camp leaders. He made corney jokes and he didn’t seem to realize how bad they were. Actually it was a bit endearing.
We went down stairs and a ladder.
Notice the diagonal line of people descending. Top right corner to bottom left.
Slight altitude adjustment. We went up this ladder. The path was well marked and we waited for our guide at the edge of the alcove.
No sitting on the walls. We gathered and talked about the history of the site. About 40 years after they stopped building, they abandoned Mesa Verde. They built in a drought. There is eveidence they used up all the lumber. They over hunted and ran out
of game. There was not enough water to water their gardens and for the population. They had lived there for about 500 years, but had to move to find better hunting and water.
Micheal, our guide, said it took about eight hours to cut down a tree. It took almost 500 years for that tree to reach maturity. You can see how they used the lumber to divide their rooms, towers.
A wooden smile or a toothy grin made of wood.
We paused our information session while the tour guide in front of us serenaded is with his wooden flute.
He was very good. The acoustics were incredible. It was haunting and a bit sad. But totally an appropriate sound. Josh, who is very musical loved it. As did we all.
I spotted a little friend. He was probably as big as my little finger.
A picture of a kiva. I think Micheal said there were 21 kivas in this one site. They each had a fire pit, a ventilation shaft at the bottom behind a reflection shield for the fire. You can see the pillasters that supported the beams for the roof, or covering.
The top of the ventilation shaft. I was sad it was filled in.
Two kivas right next to each other. They had a window that connected them. I thought that was very cool.
We couldn’t wander the cite at will. We could only go in designated areas. But it was very cool. I wanted to be able to explore the tunnels and passageway that linked the structures.
Our tour was an hour long. We had to climb out.
The path cut behind the big boulder.
Up the steps carved in the stone.
Up three wooden ladders.
I have noticed I huff a lot more than I would like to. Even after climbing the hills in California and working out for over a year, I still huff and puff.
True, we were about 7000 feet, but I wish I could climb like I used to.
I drove back to the sun temple to get a picture of the diagram of the structure.
The baptismal fount outside the walls. They aren’t really kivas, or they have been filled in. No fire pits.
The Telestial and Terrestrial kivas in the courtyard.
The Celestial kiva in its own space, surrounded by rooms and a smaller kiva.
I do wish we could have gone in.
Last week I stood on the rock to boost me up to see over the walls. This week there was a line to be able to see. And the boys were waiting in the car for me. They had already seen it once.
All in all, still an amazing cite. A reverence settles over people as they visit. It feels sacred.
