July 9 - Mesa Verde National Park

Visiting Mesa Verde was probably the best decision we made the entire trip. I was impressed with the park from the minute we set up camp. From secluded campsites to the view of rock faces and starry skies surrounding your tent, the place is amazing. And that was only the camping!

The park is home to 800 year old Ancestral Pueblo cliff dwellings. You can pay $3 to take a tour of most of them or there is a free cliff dwelling you can visit. Jason and I decided to pay for a tour and chose the most physically demanding dwelling to get to.

This is the view from Balcony House, the cliff dwelling we climbed to.

Jason climbing through an entrance tunnel after scaling a 30 foot ladder made of logs. I have no problem with heights, but ladders scare the shit out of me. Yet I was the first one up the ladder! I think it helped that the ladder had been sitting in the sun and was REALLY hot. It did not help that the ladder of logs was propped against a cliff with nothing behind you but the valley floor hundreds of feet below.

This is Balcony House. It is called this for the well preserved balconies throughout the 40 room dwelling. It was amazing to walk around, let alone be able to see, the remains of something that was 800 years old. To imagine what life must have been for these people. Scaling cliffs in and out of their homes, collecting water that dripped through soft rock, and eventually having to abandon their homes due to a massive drought. It was pretty freaking cool.

When we left the dwelling we had to crawl through a 12 foot tunnel that was no more than a foot and a half wide. Good thing we weren't claustrophobic! After that we had to scale a 60 foot cliff face with nothing but toe holds a few inches deep and a chain to hang on to. Once again, it was pretty freaking cool.

This is Spruce Treehouse, the free dwelling. It is basically at valley floor level and requires no crazy physical activity but it does offer more than the other dwellings.

Jason and I inside a Keeva (circular ceremonial underground cave). Most of the Keevas we previously saw were not fully intact and did not have the roofs. Being inside one that was completely intact was exciting. Each Keeva has one or more Seepapoos (a small circular hole in the floor for the spirits to travel through).

We left Mesa Verde all pumped up on excitement and adrenaline. Personally, I was blown away by the whole experience and couldn't stop myself from saying "That was so cool!" for the next few hours. We then headed to Four Corners.

Four Corners is actually REALLY lame if not for the fact that Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah all meet there. I think I'm standing in Utah? You even have to pay to get there! Lamo! But, we did get a delicious funnel cake that later scattered powered sugar all over the car.