Mesa Verde National Historic Park
(Be sure to click on the Thumbnails to expand to full size
photos)
Mesa Verde is an enchanting place. There are more cliff dwelling sites tucked in the remote corners of the park than you could ever imagine. Park Rangers conduct tours of the four major sites and you have to have reservations to take these tours. Needless to day, we took them all. If you're coming here, keep in mind that the Balcony House tour was the best of them all. It piqued our interest immediately when we were signing up for the tours and the Ranger asked if we were afraid of heights or got claustrophobic in tight places! I guess they scared the other tourists away because we didn't get the usual large crowd on this more "adventurous" tour".
Although
the other tours were significantly more crowded,
the Rangers handled it well. All of the tours took us right into the heart
of the dwellings and their narratives made us
feel what it was like to live there. We were impressed with the complexity
of the structures, especially when considering their location at the head
of steep-walled canyons. We saw examples of
the way interior rooms were sometimes painted
to make an individual's living space feel like a home. The kiva structures
were the most interesting of all. Although they came in different sizes, every
one was constructed with the same floor plan. At a
few of the sites there were recently uncovered artifacts
piled nearby. It was all Patty could do to keep her hands off those treasures!
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