I am not sure how I fell in love with the Southwest United States. I certainly didn't grow up there. As much as my heart loves Montana, where in my opinion, every square mile could be a national park, there is a something that draws me to the Southwest. Maybe the fascination stems from the fact that it is such a different world than I am used to. I don't know, but the fact remains that while my Yellowstone is my first love, the Southwest could be dubbed as a love affair that I can't pull away from!
While driving with my sister to Southern California after her summer break, we made a couple of detours to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon (both of which hold their own stories I will share at a later time!). In 2007, my mom, my sister, my 2 year old daughter and I jumped in the car and did a 8 day tour of the Southwest, we went to Zion, the Grand Canyon, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Mesa Verde, Canyonlands, Arches and Dead Horse Point Utah State Park.
Fast forward to 2010, after planning since the previous trip, my husband, my now 5 year daughter and I took a full two week tour of the Southwest. We visited many of the same locations, but this time got to spend an extra day at most of them. I was in absolute heaven.
I hesitate to say I have a "favorite" place we visited in the Southwest, but certainly at the top of the list would be Mesa Verde, home to the Ancestral Puebloans (formerly referred to as Anasazi) and the incredible cliff dwellings. As you venture through the sites, you can feel yourself being swept into the past and can imagine just how these people lived and worked and died. It is a place that definitely allows you to journey into the past, almost mystical in the way it feels.
I have already started to plan my next trip. For now, pictures must suffice!
| This is called the Point Lookout Formation and is one of the first views as you enter Mesa Verde National Park. |
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| A view from on top of the mesa looking down into the Cliff Palace. Mesa Verde area was first named by Spanish explorers calling it "green table." The Ancestral Puebloans lived in the Mesa Verde region from approximately 600 A.D. to about 1275 A.D. They lived primarily on the mesa top until about 1190 A.D., when they moved down to the alcoves and built the cliff dwellings. The Ancestral Puebloans would access the dwellings by climbing down from the mesa. They still used the mesa top to farm. The mesa top is about 7000 ft above sea level. |
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| At the Cliff Palace, you descend down into the canyon and then access the dwelling by climbing back up a ladder into the site. The total tour length is only about 1/4 mile, but it is down, down, down, then back up again! |
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| This is a view of the Cliff Palace as we are just starting to get into the site. There were over 150 rooms, 23 kivas and about 100 occupants in the Cliff Palace. Some experts feel that the size indicated that it was somewhat of a cultural center where trade and commerce took place. You can see above the ruins there are storage rooms that held crops throughout the seasons. On this tour, you enter from the far left of the ruin and then exit via stairs and ladders at the far right. |
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| Kiva is a Hopi word that means "ceremonial" room. Researchers feel that based upon the current use of kivas in the Hopi and modern Pueblo people, that the kivas were likely to be a place of worship, comparable to modern day churches, as well as a place for gathering. Kivas were covered with a roof and entered via a ladder from the top. |
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| Besides a picture of my super cute daughter and my husband, the red arrow points to climbing holes. The holes were worn into the rocks and used by the Ancient Puebloans to access the top of the mesa. They also would have used a system of ladders as well. |
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| This is part of the Spruce Tree House site. The walk to Spruce Tree House is about 1/2 mile round trip on a paved road with about a 100 ft descent and ascent. It is a beautiful little alcove that has much vegetation surrounding it. This site is remarkably preserved. You are actually able to climb down into a kiva here! |
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| Another structure in the Spruce Tree House dwelling. The black on the ceiling is from years and years of fires in the dwelling. There was a lot of lung disease in the Ancestral Puebloan people from this time period from being cooped up inside and not having proper ventilation. |
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| The people of Mesa Verde were farmers. The mesa tops actually had quite fertile soil. In turn, the Ancestral Puebloans began to "capture" the rainfall and create canal systems. The rock wall you see here is a retaining wall on the walk down to the Long House site. The water would have been routed to this place and retained behind a series of these walls as it flowed down the hill. |
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| These are the steps on the way down to the Long House site. The Long House is located on the Wetherill Mesa and is the second largest dwelling at Mesa Verde. It was an incredible tour! Round trip the walk was about a mile and descends down about 100 ft via steps and a winding trail. |
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| Probably the most exciting part of the Long House tour is that you are able to actually go into the dwelling and go to the back of it. Being inside of the structure really makes you realize how amazing these people were. |
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| Again, at the top of the picture, you can see the storage area for food. Keep in mind that the walls would have been built up all the way to the ceiling to provide protection from the elements. |
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| The construction of the walls was better in some places than in others. Note the tiny rocks plastered in between to help provide stability. This wall was not as well constructed as others we saw, it may have been put up in a hurry. |
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| These indentations are from corn cobs that had been solidified in the ground for the past 800 years! |
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| Another source of water for the Ancestral Puebloans was rain water that seeps down through ground and comes into the back of the alcoves via seep springs (seep springs are actually what creates the alcoves to start with, by eroding out the softer rock). The people of Mesa Verde would bore holes in the ground to capture the water as no water could be wasted given the arid summers. |
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| Our ranger, Kathleen, shows us how the people would have ground corn into other plants into flour. The hand held tools are called "manos" and the flatter, larger stones are called "metates." |
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| This is a view of Mesa Verde from Cortez, Colorado. You can see the gently sloping tops of the "green tables." The natural slopes helped with irrigation by automatically having a gravity feed system in place. |
Please note: All technical data including dates, statistics and history were learned on the Ranger-guided tours or pulled from the Mesa Verde website sponsored by the National Park Service. Check it out for more information! www.nps.gov/meve
