Today we made the drive to Mesa Verde National Park, near Cortez in SW Colorado. This park is known for its cliff dwellings. We were excited about this park...the dwellings intrigued us all.
We had a guided tour of the Cliff Palace, a large dwelling of 150 rooms. The dwelling is located about 100 feet below the Mesa...about 7200 feet above sea level. The Native Americans had originally lived in pithouses on top of the Mesa where they farmed the land. Theories on why they started building on the side of the cliff like this vary from protection from the weather, to a need for more land to farm, to protection from enemies. They estimate the dwelling to have been constructed around 1200 AD. It is amazing to think that they had the engineering skills to construct this 800 years ago.
It was an experience descending on and ascending from the dwelling. We were using awkwardly constructed steps part of the way and ladders for the rest. The trip up had 3-10 foot ladders to scale!
It is estimated that about 140 people lived in the Cliff Palace. They constructed supports for any sandstone areas knowing it would be a weak spot otherwise. They created stairs and dug tunnels connecting rooms. Storage areas were also constructed high up and way in the back of the structure where they knew it would be coolest.
The most interesting rooms were the kivas. The rooms were believed to be a center room used for many purposes. It had a roof originally but that has since caved in. The roof had a hole in the center for the smoke from a fire to escape.
The center of the room has a fire pit. There is a air vent built in that sucks the air down through it. The air enters the room and hits a deflector wall which forces the air around the room evenly (again...genius). The kivas for different families were connected by tunnels. They also had built in storage areas. It was amazingly constructed. They could work, play, and pray here.
We walked a couple other trails while we had time. One led us to discover more dwellings. It was a 1.2 mile hike that was quite flat...a change from our more recent hikes.
The second hike led us to Park Point, the highest point in the park at 8,200 feet. It had a spectacular 360 degree view. You see one shot from there above.
They have a watch tower up there where rangers keep an eye out for fires. They say you can see for 100 miles in every direction.
It was another glorious day...fast and furious! We leave again tomorrow morning. Next stop...the Grand Canyon!
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