May 15, 2012 – How green is my mesa

We arrived at the gates to Mesa Verde National Park before 8 am after leaving the Day’s Inn in Cortez, Colorado.  Our hotel was only a few miles from the entry gate to the park but the visitor center was over 20 miles into the park from the gate.

I have wanted to go to Mesa Verde since reading about the cliff dwellings as a child.  My favorite book as a small child was a big book on Indians.  While I am certain that the book was very politically incorrect by today's standards, I recall seeing drawings of how the residents of Mesa Verde may have lived long ago.  That has made me want to visit the ancient cliff dwellings for over 50 years now.  However, as teachers, the only time we could go was mid-summer which is a terrible time to visit this part of the desert.  For one, although the park is at 8,000 feet, it is still very hot in the middle of the day.  Secondly, the park is really busy in mid-summer.  We were there in mid-May on a weekday and it was still pretty busy.  In a way, it is very encouraging that so many people want to come to an area that is very educational and historic.  There were a lot of families visiting as well as student groups from schools.

We purchased tickets for a ranger-led tour to one of the larger cliff dwellings called the Cliff Palace.  Our guide was excellent and gave us an interesting and informative walk into the cliff dwelling.  We were able to walk into the remarkably well preserved dwellings and see how the Pueblo people lived 800 years ago.  On the walk back up to the canyon rim from the ruins site, I got really winded.  That was the first time that the altitude has affected me since we have been here.  At over 8,000 above sea level, there is a significant reduction in the physical activity that is possible.  Even when I was 25 years younger, I recall noticing a reduction in available air when we would visit places in the Wasatch Range which can be above 10,000 feet.


Following the Cliff Palace tour, we drove around the Mesa Loop making 12 stops at overlooks and archeological sites.  Our final stop for the day was at the Spruce House Ruins where we took a self guided tour down a long and steep path into a canyon to see some extremely well preserved cliff dwellings.

One of the day’s highlights was seeing collared lizards.  There were two of them on one of the trails to an overlook.  The males of the species are stunning with bright colors and the lizard’s large size.  The rangers were surprised when we told them we saw the lizards since they are not common in that canyon.

The drive from Mesa Verde to Farmington, New Mexico was not long but it was very hot with the rental Corolla’s thermometer showing outside temperatures of 89 degrees.  Although we had planned to leave Mesa Verde early, we didn’t leave until after 3 pm.  That put us in Farmington a little before 5 pm going south on Route 491 (former Navajo 666) past Shiprock, New Mexico.  We checked into the Farmington Super 8 which is clean and comfortable as well as quiet.  Several local people we talked to recommended a place called Si Senor.  Mary had chicken sopapillas and I had the local combination platter.  We were impressed that a cook was mixing, forming and frying tortillas in a corner of the dining area.  You can’t get any fresher than that.  Our meals were very good.

We will need to leave early in the morning since Chaco Culture National Historical Park is a 20 drive down a dirt road once we turn off the road.  When we leave Chaco, we will have a long drive to Bernadillo, New Mexico.  The blog may not be updated until the morning (or later) on May 17.  I suspect that when we arrive in Bernadillo, we will get a shower and go to sleep.

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