June 30 - July 2
Picasa web album link:After leaving Moab, we headed to Cortez, Colorado to visit Mesa Verde National Park. The RV park where we stayed was a commercial park that is a first class facility and very well managed. We were surprised to find such a nice park in a remote area. The park had a very nice dog walk area where we could let them off leash, which the boys really enjoyed. The park was about 1 mile from the entrance to Mesa Verde, which was convenient.
The next morning we headed out to Mesa Verde National Park.
This park is the only N.P. that preserves the “works of man”. The Ancestral
Pueblo people made it their home for over 700 years, from A.D. 600 to 1300.
Today the park protects nearly 5,000 known archeological sites, including 600
cliff dwellings. The park mainly consists of two mesas with roads along the way
for visitors to view and visit the ruins. The three main and largest ruins
provide ranger-led tours in order to actually enter the ruins; otherwise, they
can be viewed at a distance across the canyon. Our first mesa drive was on
Chapin Mesa, where we were able to enter the ruins of Spruce House. Then we
drove the loop drives and visited several villages with pit houses (the oldest
known residences) and other ruins along the way. We were able to view Cliff
Palace and Balcony House from a distance, they were still spectacular! The next mesa we drove was Wetherill Mesa.
Along this drive and loops, we saw the Long House Ruins and Kodak House from
across the canyon and several pit houses arranged in a village. This mesa drive
only allowed vehicles up to a certain point, at which they provided trams to
gain access to the ruins and viewpoints. Heading back out of the park, along
the road there were several overlook points with views of the surrounding
valleys and canyons within the park. Mesa Verde is an amazing collection of
ancient ruins, but the downside involved about 100 miles of driving (many with
steep grades) to get to the remote areas of the ruins. We spent more time
driving than actually viewing and exploring the ruins. It was a long day , but
we were glad we did visit this park.
We were ready for some exercise, so the next morning we
drove to Cortez to a great group of mountain bike trails called Phil’s World.
The trails were excellent, with all levels from easy to technical. Kurt rode a
couple of miles with me on the easier trails, and then he headed for the
advanced trails. I continued on the easier trails and really enjoyed the ride.
The trails were so well designed that it made them really fun without too much
difficulty. After a couple of hours of riding, we drove into Cortez and found a
local place for lunch. It was an old fashioned “drive in”, with the car hops
that come out to the car, take the order and then deliver the food. The food was good and we were full. After a
couple of shopping stops, we headed back to the camper and began some
preparations for our departure the next day to Durango, Colorado.
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