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Saturday, August 30, 2014

Mesa Verde- Cliff Palace


We took a special twilight tour of cliff palace. It was cool, we learned a lot about the early ranchers and homesteaders in the area (on the other tours we learned more about the architecture and pre-columbian history of the ancestral puebloans (formerly known as Anasazi)). It was nice to be in the dwelling in the evening when things were mellow (although things were pretty mellow all the time we were there). After the tour another ranger played a native american flute, it created a pretty incredible ambiance, with music, the scenery, the sky and the ancient history.








Isaac took all of the ones below. He is developing quite the photographer's eye.







Mesa Verde- Petroglyph Trail and Spruce Tree House

A great hike along the cliff a few dozen feet below the mesa top, it went under several cool overhangs, up and down several natural staircases and through several narrow slots.

The Petroglyphs, which tell the migration story of several groups of pre- Hopi people


Spruce Tree House

So named, we learned, because to get there an early homesteader decided not to use the ropes his brother brought. Instead he ran and leaped off the cliff into a nearby spruce tree, clinging to the branches then climbing down into the dwelling. His brother, slightly less adventurous but a more skilled rancher, lassoed the tree, pulled it over to the cliff edge then climbed down.

Mesa Verde- Long House

This was my favorite one, they say cliff palace is bigger and famouser, but I really liked this one.

Several of the House and Sky



Although they call each site a "house", each is actually a huge complex (or a small city)
 where hundreds of people lived, worked and worshiped.


The Spring. 
Which is one of the main reasons they built the dwellings in such places.




Homes, Kivas and Sky

Mesa Verde- Step House

The House and Sky

Pottery Shards

which the ranger let Isaac handle 
(which I don't think they normally let people do, but apparently no one really ever goes
 to this dwelling and he seemed pretty bored)

The House and Cliff. In the back are the older (by several 100 years) pit house, 
in the fore ground are the newer houses and kiva.

The House and Sky


Petroglyphs

The House from the trail. Remnants of a forest fire on the clifftop.


Mesa Verde- Balcony House

The House

The House and the Cliff


The Tunnel


One of many ladders


Enjoying the outing


Remnants a part of the house and a kiva


The View

How your shadow can reside in 4 places while you stand in only 1