In the cliff face...

Most of the ruins are not available for close up viewing.  There are so many in the cliff faces of this valley you can take a 27 mile trip up one side and down the other to see them from viewing spots.

The Ancient Puebloans were farmers.  They cleared the mesa tops above their settlements for crop fields of corn, beans and squash.  The land below was usually left overgrown to protect the water source which flowed through the valley and hid the paths up to the village.

Most of these ruins are named:  New Fire House, Fire Temple, Square Tower House, etc.  Fire Temple has what appears to be a dance plaza with a fire pit and toe holds in the cliff to an upper area.   

Square Tower House was like a 4 story apartment building where the dwellings radiated out to the sides from the entrance tower.

Looking at the stonework, mortar, and architectural  details used in the construction of these buildings without benefit of "modern" tools is amazing.

It was simply staggering, the number of ruins in the cliff.  The staff of the park, including archeologists and conservationists continue to work on preserving the ruins and discovering as much as possible about the people who lived here nearly 1000 years ago.

Mesa Verde - Cliff Palace

At Spruce Tree House, anyone can get up close and personal.  However, at the other sites you must be on a Ranger guided tour.  Some of the sites are no longer available for a visit even with a Ranger because all human contact does some damage, even with care and conservation techniques.

This is the view from the platform where everyone can experience the wonder of this place.  From here a Ranger will take a group of up to 30 people on the tour.  Caution, there is climbing and tight places to navigate.  Beware if you have fear of heights and tight places.

You climb down the cliff face on a fairly steep, but protected path and come out on the open plateau which houses the pueblo.  The Ranger spends about half an hour with the group, explaining the life and culture as it is now understood. 

Now comes the fun part, and the reason I wouldn't even think about the tour (much to Tom's disappointment).  To get back to the rim of the cliff face you have to climb a 35 foot wooden ladder (not a modern ladder) through a chimney-like hole.  Claustrophobia, anyone?

 

 See the people in the lower left corner?  They are headed for the exit.

Now, if you look close, you'll find someone in blue in the lower right and someone else climbing out of the exit toward the top center.  Not for me, thanks.

Spruce Tree House, part 2

Spruce Tree House is the third largest cliff dwelling in the park containing 130 rooms and 8 kivas for about 100 people.

The Kiva is a round room which was used for ceremonies.  The top picture of these 3 is one of the kivas without a roof, the one on the right is the ladder entrance, and the one just above is the same entrance as seen from outside. There is one kiva that people can go into so Tom climbed down into it.

 

One of the Rangers heard us playing the flutes and stopped to talk.  She told us the archeologists found a wooden flute in the rubble that was about 2 feet long in 3 pieces about 600 years old.  

Pueblos in Colorado

Ok, so now we've moved on to Colorado.  The campground we stayed at is 8000 feet high and is about to close for the season.  The air is thin, but the smoke is finally gone.  We drank a lot of water to combat the altitude.  Our first place to visit was Mesa Verde National Park; the next several posts will be about it.

This is Spruce Tree House Pueblo, the only one visitors can easily get to close up.

This is a path to the pueblo that winds back and forth down  the cliff side.  It is paved and the slope is gentle enough for even wheel chairs most of the way.

 When you make it to the pueblo there are Rangers to answer questions and give more information about the structure and the people who lived here.

You can walk right up to the Kivas (round rooms for  ceremonies and gatherings.

You can also see the smoke blackened ceiling from the cooking fires.

Canyonlands and moving on...

These are the last pics I'll post on Canyonlands,  we'll move on to our next stop.

We were in Bullhead City, AZ and the weather was so windy we couldn't get good data service, so we had to wait until we got to Ehernberg for better cell coverage.  Next post will be Saturday.

Canyonlands...part 2

The park itself is divided into 3 sections and is so big you couldn't see all of them in one visit.  The Needles section is 76 miles southwest of Moab, where we stayed.

Needles and the Maze are both suitable for backpacking or 4 wheeling, but not for the casual hiker, like Tom and I.

The elevation of the park is between 4,000 and 6,000 feet.  We're still way up high, but at least the air is getting clearer.