Mesa Verde: Land of the Pueblo People

I've always wanted to visit Mesa Verde National Park.  In fact, it had been on my wish list every time I go on one of my road trips.  But, it just never seemed to work out.  Not along my route and too far away come to mind as the reasons the park was never included on my itineraries.  But, this trip was different.  When I was planning my vacation, I made it a point to include Mesa Verde first, then work everything else around it.  So, today was the culmination of a couple months of planning. 

I arrived at the park nice and early, about 8:30 am.  At the visitor's center, I bought a ticket for a ranger-led tour of their largest and most famous cliff dwelling, Cliff Palace.  Mesa Verde is famous for their cliff dwellings, the remnants of ancient peoples who lived in the area from about 550-1200 AD. 

The photo above gives a closer view of how the Pueblo People...formerly known as the Anasazi...constructed the walls of their dwellings.  Researchers have determined the age of these dwellings by analyzing the rings of logs used in their construction. 

 

The circular structures you see in the photos are kivas.  These dwellings originally had roofs and were generally thought to be used as meeting places rather than homes.  After my tour of Cliff Palace, I drove to the Spruce Tree House for a self-guiding tour of another cliff dwelling.  Here, I was able to actually climb down inside a kiva...pretty cool!  Spruce Tree House is the best preserved cliff dwelling in the park. 

 

 

The rest of my day was spent exploring the park and viewing other sites previously inhabited by the Pueblo People.  Traveling south along the Mesa Top Loop road, I first stopped at the Navajo Canyon overlook to take in the view.

 

Before moving to the cliffs, the ancient people lived above ground on the mesa.  This fact is most evident in the remnants of pit houses and stone masonry buildings found in the park.  Oh, and there were more cliff dwellings to be seen from the mesa top. 

 

And, in case you were wondering...yes, I have a couple of animal pics.  Lizards again!  Not sure what species these guys are, but they were pretty generous staying still long enough for me to get my shots!  Hey, I don't have lizards where I live at home...can you blame me for my enthusiasm?

 

And, so ended my awesome day at Mesa Verde National Park.  Was it what I expected?  Yes and so much more!  There aren't many places like this in the world...especially one close enough for me to visit.  As of now, I've reached the farthest point away from home in my road trip journey.  Tomorrow, I start the slow trip back to the Northwest.  I may still have a short hike or two along the way, but this week the emphasis goes from entertaining myself to someone entertaining me.  Stay tuned...