Prepare to get your Ancient Puebloan on! Mesa Verde (green table) is one of the largest and best preserved sites of cliff dwellings in the world.
This statue at the visitor's center helps illustrate what life was like in part, climbing rock cliffs with small hand and foot holds, babies or harvest goods on their back.
Jim and I have never camped together before, or really ever. But we decided to make a go of it. The low at Mesa Verde got down to about 36 degrees. We both feel that's maybe a little too cold to sleep outside. Also, one of our air mattresses died. But we were not discouraged and did camp the rest of the week across the Colorado Plateau.
See, Green Table.
One of the ranger led tours you can sign up for is the Balcony House Tour, an opportunity to scale the cliffs, and climb inside the actual dwelling. When I say scale cliffs, I really mean a series of ladders and steps, but pretty steep ladders and steps.
Looking through a window in Balcony House
Claret Cup Cactus, some of these desert flowers are really colorful
View of Balcony House from across the Mesa. We were just there!
The ladder into the Kiva at Spruce Tree House. A kiva is a round pit with a ceiling, fire pit, and was used for spiritual and social gathering place.
Practicing grinding corn, using a mano and metate
Us exploring Spruce Tree House
View of Cliff Palace, the largest dwelling in Mesa Verde
The next junior ranger badge
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