Ancient Cedars Mesa Verde RV Campground - Cortez, CO

 Ancient Cedars Mesa Verde RV Campground - Cortez, CO

Mesa Verde National Park is an UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Montezuma County, Colorado. The park protects some of the best-preserved Ancestral Puebloan archaeological sites in the United States.

Established by Congress and President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, the park occupies 52,485 acres near the Four Corners region of the American Southwest. With more than 5,000 sites, including 600 cliff dwellings, it is the largest archaeological preserve in the United States. Mesa Verde (Spanish for "green table", or more specifically "green table mountain") is best known for structures such as Cliff Palace, thought to be the largest cliff dwelling in North America.

Starting c.7500 BC, Mesa Verde was seasonally inhabited by a group of nomadic Paleo-Indians known as the Foothills Mountain Complex. The variety of projectile points found in the region indicates they were influenced by surrounding areas, including the Great Basin, the San Juan Basin, and the Rio Grande Valley as they learned and adopted the practices of other communities. Later, the archaic people established semi-permanent rock shelters in and around the mesa. By 1000 BC, the Basketmaker culture emerged from the local Archaic population, and by 750 AD the Ancestral Puebloans had developed from the Basketmaker culture.

The Pueblonians survived using a combination of hunting, gathering, and subsistence farming of crops such as corn, beans, and squash which were staples needed for their survival. They built the mesa's first pueblos sometime after 650, and by the end of the 12th century, they began to construct the massive cliff dwellings for which the park is best known. By 1285, following a period of social and environmental instability driven by a series of severe and prolonged droughts, they abandoned the area and moved south to locations in Arizona and New Mexico, including the Rio Chama, the Albuquerque Basin, the Pajarito Plateau, and the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. I am not convinced their lives were greatly improved after they left the area, but the weather was less brutally harsh than the winters here.

Karma wanted to make sure he had a prized spot to pose for the picture.  He knows to "assume the position" for photo ops. He does keep us entertained with his antics. 

This sculpture in front of the Mesa Verde Visitor Center depicts an ancestral Puebloan climbing a cliff face using hand and toe holds.

We had a wonderful view of the Butte at Mesa Verde from our campsite.

Supposedly, there is a ridge on the side of this cliff where the original visitors rode horses and eventually cars to get to the cliff dwellings.  This continued until a tunnel was blasted through the mountain and a road was established.

The altitude has been challenging for Lisa. We have been at these elevations and higher for over 2 months now, and she still struggles hiking the mountains due to the altitude. We tried to find somewhere to give her an iron infusion, but we could not find anything other than going to ER.

A higher view of the original "road" which brought visitors out to the cliff dwellings.

Lisa was at the highest point in the Mesa Verde just outside the fire watch station, which is manned 24 hours a day during the summer and fall. The remnants of forest fires from over 20 years ago have left thousands of acres scarred and barren.  Many of the scorched areas still do not even have grass growing yet.

Spruce Tree House, the third largest cliff dwelling, was constructed between about 1211 and 1278 AD by the ancestors of the Pueblo people of the Southwest. The dwelling contains about 130 rooms and 8 kivas (kee-vahs), or ceremonial chambers, built into a natural alcove measuring 216 feet at greatest width and 89 feet at its greatest depth. It is thought to have been home for about 60 to 80 people. It is amazing how many pueblos there are and how intact so many remain. 

The cliff dwelling was first discovered in 1888, when two local ranchers chanced upon it while searching for stray cattle. A large Douglas Spruce tree was found growing from the front of the dwelling to the mesa top. It is said that the men first entered the dwelling by climbing down this tree, which was later cut down by another early explorer.

A concretion is a hard, compact mass formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular shapes also occur. Concretions form within layers of sedimentary strata that have already been deposited. They usually form early in the burial history of the sediment, before the rest of the sediment is hardened into rock. This concretionary cement often makes the concretion harder and more resistant to weathering than the host stratum.

The House of Many Windows is over her right shoulder.

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The House of Many Windows is a small cliff dwelling perched on a ten-foot-wide ledge in Cliff Canyon. Its many windows are actually doorways into rooms made of hand-shaped sandstone rock. House of Many Windows is comprised of 15 rooms, and there is evidence of a kiva. This cliff dwelling might have been home to an Ancestral Pueblo family in the 1200's.

Perched on a remote cliff in Soda Canyon, Hemenway House looks ready to fall off the small ledge on which it rests. Built in the 1200s, the cliff dwelling has 26 rooms and one kiva and was part of the larger Balcony House community. Hemenway House was named for Mary Tileston Hemenway, who funded the first scientific archeological expedition in the southwest. She never visited Mesa Verde, but she helped protect Ancestral Pueblo sites throughout the region.

 This is  the National Park's attempt at humor. The sign is posted at the overlook directly above Balcony House.

Lisa was looking at a model of the Balcony House.

The Far View area was once an extensive farming community and one of the most densely populated regions of the Mesa Verde. This mesa top community includes Far View House, Pipe Shrine House, Coyote Village, Far View Reservoir (currently dry), Megalithic House, and Far View Tower. 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.

Beginning around 800 AD, Ancestral Pueblo people lived here for several centuries, farming the deep mesa-top soils, building their homes, and raising their families. This was not always a quiet woodland. On a summer day in 1050, this ancient community would have been filled with the smell of juniper smoke and the sounds of everyday life: conversations between people working together, barking dogs, laughing children, ravens calling overhead, and the wind rustling through the shiny corn leaves. In the mid-1100s, there may have been at least 35 occupied villages and surrounding farm and garden plots within a half-square-mile area, including those we visited today.

The archeological evidence at Far View reveals the presence of thriving mesa top communities long before the existence of the more famous cliff dwellings. Their remnants also help disclose another little known fact. Not everyone ultimately moved into and lived in the cliff dwellings. Some families clearly chose to remain on the mesa top, like those at Far View, well after many of their neighbors moved into cliff alcoves.

No one knows why only this one block out of the complete building is decorated with art or what the symbol means.

Castilleja, commonly known as paintbrush, Indian paintbrush, or prairie-fire, is a species of annual and perennial herbaceous plants native to the western US. It was the only spring flower in bloom now in this area.

                                    These were some of the views we saw along this hiking trail.

 Saddlehorn Pueblo, which dates from the mid to late 1200's is the star attraction of the lower part of the trail. This scenic cliff dwelling is perched in an alcove set in an equally scenic butte. In the late afternoon sun, the masonry architecture glows.

Lisa went exploring on her own and this is what I found. She denies seeing the posted signs about not climbing on the rocks or the ones about not removing any rocks from the national park. I am moderately confident there are at least a few rocks in her pockets. This fascination with rocks is new since we started on our adventure. We keep adding to her collection of rocks in the RV, but we still do not have a long term plan regarding what we will do with them.

Karma was her lookout as she explored this cave dwelling, since no one is supposed to be up in that area. He gets rewarded for keeping up with her when we eat our picnic lunch. He most definitely knows the words "ham and cheese" and all about "good boy treats". Good boys get rewards and bad boys get left in the RV. We truly believe he has this concept figured out, because he sure does respond promptly when she mentions good boy treats.

As we reached the bottom of the canyon during our hike, this view was our reward.

She wandered off- again..... I do not have to worry about her falling off the edges of these cliffs, because she keeps a healthy distance away from them. Ledges are most definitely not her thing.

and so did Karma.... We do have to worry about the clumsy oaf falling over the edges though.

We hiked from the bottom to the top of the canyon and had our lunch here. I think our lunch breaks are often the best part of our day/hike. We find a spot to take a break and just enjoy the beauty around us. We typically find such tranquility as we bask in the peacefulness. We will often sit quietly, without talking for a bit, to just soak up the sights around us and and feed our souls. It is an inner peace that must come from within yourself.  Sometimes we don't talk because we are so out of breath, but that is a different story we will skip for now.   

Hard to capture with the camera, but it looks as though the white is running down the edge of the cliff.  It reminded me of the way people used to melt candles over the edge of wine bottles.

 We saw so many cliff dwellings on this hike. We continue to be amazed how well these ruins have survived so many years being exposed to the weather. It was such a beautiful day and we met several really interesting people. This ended up being about a 6.5 mile hike, which was a lot for us, but it was so worth the huffing and puffing that it caused. 

 We spotted this hole in the side of a cliff.  We were unable to get to a good vantage point to see if there were remnants of it being inhabited or what kind of depth it had.

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The Four Corners is a region of the southwestern United States where Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico square up and meet.  Most of the Four Corners region belongs to semi-autonomous Native American nations, the largest of which is the Navajo Nation, followed by Hopi, Ute, and Zuni tribal reserves and nations. The Four Corners region is part of a larger region known as the Colorado Plateau and is mostly rural, rugged, and arid.

The Four Corners area is named after the quadripoint where the boundaries of the four states meet, and are marked by the Four Corners Monument. It is the only location in the United States where four states meet like this. The monument is located on tribal land and an entrance fee is charged to enter the area. The park helps support the tribes and creates job for them. 

We saw these buttes as we travelled towards the Four Corners.

Lisa was physically in all four states at the Four Corners Monument. The courtyard was surrounded by these booths in each state where Native Americans sell traditional handmade crafts and jewelry from their respective tribes. We bought several things to help support the community rather than buying stuff from the park system or other more commercial retail stores. Most of the vendors were demonstrating their craft and creating new pieces between customers.  Many of the booths represented a family, rather than a person, who worked together to create the pieces. The skills are handed down to both male and female family members through the generations so their traditions live on. One booth I visited had three generations present and each had a certain role in the process to create the pieces they sell. I loved seeing the families working together to create their traditional crafts to support their families. Family is obviously very important to their culture. It made me want to create something with my kids. Unfortunately, I have no creative skills to pass on to the kids. We spent over an hour chatting with the various vendors as we visited their booths. Most of the vendors were incredibly polite and friendly. They seemed thankful for the purchases we made and the interest we showed them. They asked many questions about our lives and our history.

There were several food trucks outside the courtyard selling traditional Native foods, such as fry bread and Navajo tacos. We shared several items that neither of us had tried before. 

The Four Corners is actually a tourist trap, but we enjoyed our visit. It was a must see/do thing on our bucket list. Basically, it was an expensive but enjoyable photo op. If we had not interacted with the vendors and eaten from the food trucks, seeing the actual Four Corners monument would have taken about 2 minutes. The monument is located out in the middle of absolutely nothing but desert, rock and sand. We wondered how far the vendors had to travel to the monument since there are almost no homes visible within many miles in the area.

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Shiprock is a monadnock rising nearly 1,583 feet above the high-desert plain of the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico.  Its peak elevation is 7,177 feet above sea level.

Governed by the Navajo Nation, the formation is in the Four Corners region and plays a significant role in Navajo religion, myth, and tradition. So many of their traditions  are directly tied the land and their history. It is located in the center of the area occupied by the Ancient Pueblo People, a prehistoric Native American culture of the Southwest United States often referred to as the Anasazi. 

This is a view of Shiprock from Four Corners.

This is a close up view of Shiprock.

These Buttes are located between Shiprock and Cortez.  We were curious why Shiprock was so important to the Navajo Nation.  Why was that particular butte the one they selected as being sacred?  We asked some Navajo Indians we met and they really did not have an answer about what made Shiprock magical and these others are not. We assume it is a question for the Ancients. Apparently, younger generations do not hold their Native history as valuable as their ancestors before them did. As you travel through the area, all you see is miles and miles of sand and rock.

Lisa was at the Spruce House overlook prior to starting the Pertroglyph hike. It was a bit nippy and windy outside. 

The Petroglyph Point Trail offers excellent views of Spruce and Navajo Canyons and takes you past a large petroglyph panel south of the trailhead. 

The trail follows a foot-worn trail of the Ancestral Pueblo people into the forested Spruce Canyon landscape and along a sometimes steep, rocky path back to the canyon’s rim. At one time, this path connected the community at Spruce Tree House with other outlying sites within the canyon and the rest of the Pueblo world.

The large petroglyph panel seen along the trail, represents the written language of the people who inhabited and traveled through this canyon. More than thirty human and animal figures, spirals, and handprints cover an area of over 35 feet wide.

We could see the Balcony house from across the canyon while we hiked. It was still closed for the winter season. During the summer, they do guided tours and take you up the ladder into the ruins.

Lisa had to go get a closer look at this juniper tree, they seem to amaze her, so we turned it into a photo op. 

  We talked with a park ranger about the Junipers we have seen.  Many of them are believed to be  as much as 700 years old. They believe these started growing in the fields the Ancients had cultivated for crops. Areas of the park that have suffered from forest fires over 20 years ago and the new Junipers are barely knee high. Other areas destroyed by fire remain basically barren many years afterwards.

We saw another small dwelling in the cliffside. If you look closely, it is common to see many remnants of the history of the area and its inhabitants. It is very easy to miss many of these because they blend in so well with the landscape.

Lisa was walking through Mesa Verde's version of Fatman Squeeze in this slot canyon.  I did make it through, but I had to remove the backpack I carry with our water and food. Karma carries his own.

This pine tree is obviously a fighter- it is growing over and around this rock. Mother Nature shows us how amazing she really is. The desert and the mountains are both places where nature has demanded life adapt to survive the harsh conditions. It is common to see something growing out of a rock where there is no soil or water source to feed it.

How did this square rock get placed into this opening? There are many mysteries and unanswered questions in nature- especially in the desert and the mountains. 

Erosion in this cliffside left unique formations. These remind me of stalagmites.  

You can see the hike took a toll on one of us worse than the other. We stopped for a lunch break under this tree to recover and enjoy the beauty God created for us. We both feel a sense of peace, tranquility and amazement on these hikes up in the mountains. We may not see another person for an hour or two and the only sounds are those made by nature, not man. The serenity found here is better than all the prozac in the world. The ugly stuff man has created is all around us in cities, but up here only nature exists.  I am sure crime and violence occur out here, but that is the exception and not the rule. Many people escape to the beach to find tranquility. The serenity of the mountains and the absence of crowds in the mountains soothes my soul unlike any other place I have ever been. Some parks are much more crowded than others. We have been very lucky and have encountered very few people on many of our hikes. We have stopped to chat with several interesting people at some point during many of our hikes, but today we have encountered very few people. Most of our chats start with comments about the dog. He gets lots of attention wherever he goes. On these isolated hikes, we let him go off leash as much as possible. He knows what is expected of him and follows our commands most of the time. It is against the rules to have him off leash, but most people see how well he behaves and follows voice commands so no one has ever really been nasty about it. A few people have been terrified of dogs, especially big dogs, so we get out of their way and put him in the down position. He truly seems to know the rules and what is expected of him.

Most of the Cliff Dwellings in the park are created from  white rock.  However, this particular one was built out of red rock. We enjoy noticing the differences and similarities in different parks and sometimes within the same park. We have both become much more observant as we continue to learn and witness the wonders and beauty found throughout our country. 

Lisa was inspecting another set of ruins in the cliffside. The walking poles were most definitely a good investment. 

The path to the petroglyphs had so many different colors, types of rock and vegetation to inspire us to go on as we hiked these miles.

Looking at the cliffside, we could see the effects of wind, water and freezing as it continues to change the world around us. This process is a constant, ongoing series of changes that continues to sculpt and redefine what is around us. Change is inevitable and is a never ending process. Because these changes occur so slowly over time, people tend to forget that change is a constant process.

A lion head (Lisa saw a cow head) overlooked the path.  It would be interesting to return in 10 years and see how it changes.

These are the petroglyphs that we hiked several miles to see.

After completing the cliffside climb to the top of the Canyon, this was our reward.  The climb required us to be on our hands and knees and to use steps carved into the rock by the Ancients. Neither of us like heights, but Lisa really, truly hates high ledges. This hike was a bit of a challenge and took us a bit beyond our comfort zone.

Lisa found a Juniper tree that had died sometime ago and she needed to go inspect it. These trees are pretty amazing and unique. 

 At the end of our hike, another view of Spruce house was waiting for us.

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The Million Dollar Highway

Tucked away in western Colorado, and part of the San Juan Skyway, the road is about 25 miles long, running from Silverton to Ouray but takes about 42 minutes.

It's one of the most scenic drives in the USA. Offering breathtaking mountain, valley and gorge views, the Million Dollar Highway is one of the most beloved roads in the country. The highway cut from the side of the mountain delivers jaw-dropping vista after vista. This classic stretch of two-lane blacktop snakes its way through the San Juan Mountains, the wildest and most rugged peaks in the Rockies. The countryside is decked in wildflowers during the spring, and sustains elk, mountain goats, black bears, and deer.

It climbs up to 3 very high mountain passes. Coal Bank Pass (10,640 ft); Molas Pass (10,970 ft) and Red Mountain Pass (11,018 ft). It boasts North America's highest avalanche hazard (per mile). So, use caution and enjoy the magnificent scenery.

This road is not for the sissies. Enough that, on several occasions, there are drivers "frozen" in the middle of the road, unable to drive another foot. Driving south you'll be on the "outside" with no guardrails. First time you drive it, it's a real breath taker. Lots of sweaty palms. You'll be on the "outside" for a while with a hell of a view to your right (let the passenger look. You'll want to watch the road). There are a number of turns around mountains that you'll take at 10 mph. Though the entire stretch has been called the Million Dollar Highway, it is really the twelve miles south of Ouray through the Uncompahgre Gorge to the summit of Red Mountain Pass which gains the highway its name. This stretch through the gorge is challenging and potentially hazardous to drive; it is characterized by steep cliffs, narrow lanes, and a lack of guardrails; the ascent of Red Mountain Pass is marked with a number of hairpin "S" curves used to gain elevation, and again, narrow lanes for traffic—many cut directly into the sides of mountains.

The origin of the name is unclear. There are many legends, though, including that it cost a million dollars a mile to build it, and that its fill dirt contained a million dollars in gold ore. The original route was widened in the 1930's but was still dangerous and narrow. As the locals say, though, you'd have to "pay me a million dollars" to drive that stretch in the snow. Understandably so.  Today it is surely one of the most breathtaking, historic and amazing roads in the country.

We saw another waterfall on the Million Dollar Highway.  With the abnormally high amount of snow finally starting to melt in the mountains, we were able to see it at its peak.

We encountered many snow topped mountains along our journey through this area.

Courtesy of the melting snow, we saw another waterfall.

The craggy Black Mountains are very different from what we have seen for the last couple of months.  Most of the cliffs and open areas of the mountains have been white to red. We love all the new experiences and very different scenery along our journey.

This waterfall was fairly well hidden, despite its nearly 400 foot length. We really have to pay close attention because so many of these hidden gems are easy to miss.

We looked but did not see any wildlife on the highway.

Bear Creek Pass waterfall was another one we almost missed seeing.

 We finally saw several herds of elk in the wild outside of Telluride.

This was the first magpie we have ever seen.  They are actually a very common bird in this area. The blue streak on them is very vibrant.

We were on Main Street in Telluride and were rewarded with so much beauty.

We saw this large herd of about 50 elk south of Telluride. There were about as many outside the scope of the shot as those we captured in this picture.

We ended our tour of the Million Dollar Highway and returned to Cortez.

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Canyons of the Ancients National Monument is protecting an archaeologically significant landscape located in the southwestern region of Colorado. The monument's 176,056 acres are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, as directed in the presidential proclamation which created the site in 2000. This system comprises 32 million acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management to conserve, protect, and restore these nationally significant landscapes recognized for their outstanding cultural, ecological, and scientific values. Canyons of the Ancients encompasses and surrounds three of the four separate sections of Hovenweep National Monument. The monument was proclaimed in order to preserve the largest concentration of archaeological sites in the United States, primarily Ancestral Puebloan ruins. As of 2022, over 8,500 individual archeological sites had been documented within the monument.

Sleeping Ute Mountain is located on the northern edge of the Ute Tribe Reservation. The sacred mountain range got its name because the Indians saw a sleeping Ute chief lying on his back with his arms folded across his chest. The sacred legend is the chief fell asleep as he was recovering from wounds he sustained during a great battle with the "Evil Ones".

 The legends passed down through the generations of the Native Americans demonstrate some very creative and elaborate stories.

More views from the top of the Sleeping Ute Mountain.

 

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Hovenweep National Monument is located on land in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah, between Cortez, Colorado and Blanding, Utah on the Cajon Mesa of the Great Sage Plain. Shallow tributaries run through the wide and deep canyons into the San Juan River.

Although Hovenweep National Monument is largely known for the six groups of Ancestral Puebloan villages and its kiva, there is evidence of occupation by hunter-gatherers from 8,000 to 6,000 B.C. until about AD 200. Later, a succession of early Puebloan cultures settled in the area and remained until the 14th century.

Her trusty sidekick appears to be MIA.

Strong Hold House is the name given to this ancient Pueblo ruin.

The remains of Boulder House was part of this ancient Pueblo community.  

The remains of Tower Point still stand proudly.

Karma was investigating a hole in the rocks. He freaks out when animals go in or out of some of the random holes. The prairie dogs really confuse him because there are so many and they pop up and down through the holes quickly and frequently. We were not sure what caught his attention this time, but this was as far into the hole as he could go. 

Twin Towers is another group of ruins in this former community. It is utterly amazing how intact these ruins have remained for nearly a thousand years while being exposed to extreme weather conditions.  We had never seen nearly this many ancient ruins cummatively before this trip. 

Lisa was inspecting Rim Rock house, but then she saw this......

It failed inspection when she discovered the rattlesnake. It is surprising how quickly one old lady can move when she is this close to a rattlesnake. Mark was not convinced she actually saw a rattlesnake, so he went back to see for himself. She did not stand around long enough to take a picture.

Round Tower was another ruin in this ancient community.

I was immensely curious how in the heck they got the rocks up here to even build this home. Can you imagine raising a toddler in this home or even in the cave dwelling pueblos? I would not want to carry a baby, much less a few tons of rocks up to the top of this. The natives apparently were an agile group without any fear of heights. I cannot even imagine what their daily lives were like during that era located up in these canyons. It is still mind blowing how many years of extreme weather these ruins have withstood the test of time. 

Square Tower was the name given to this set of ruins. It amazes us how square they constructed the corners and how round the Kivas were. Whatever mixture they used for mortar has definitely withstood whatever nature and time have thrown at it better than what we are using this century.

Hovenweep House has stood proudly for nearly a thousand years against the odds.  

Fortunately, we did not see any rattlesnakes at Hovenweep Castle. The walking poles have multiple uses and benefits- including being a weapon against snakes.

We saw this hole in the cliffside wall where a raven was raising its young. We had been informed to look for them. Several species make their homes in the canyon walls.

Tower Point has multiple remaining buildings clustered in this community. We read there are many known ruins still buried throughout the area which have not been excavated. Several ruins have been reburied out of respect to protect them from the elements. The Native Americans consider the ruins to be sacred and measures have been taken to protect  them while paying respect to their history. The ancient people have been long gone, but their legends and proof of their existence remain to this day. Modern man has learned about many aspects of their daily lives as the sites were carefully excavated and studied.   

This was the only cactus in bloom we have seen in this area. We were hoping to see a variety of blooming spring flowers, but it appears we were not here at the right time.

This was obviously a very active community consisting of multiple families who worked together for survival during a harsh period in history with many obstacles and very limited resources. They left many clues so modern man could have a glimpse into the past to tell their stories. We cannot imagine how hard their life and survival actually were, especially during the harsh winter weather with such limited resources. They abandoned the area as a result of the hardships they faced daily.