Mesa Verde National Park

[Aerissa_Jade]

For part of my Spring Adventure this year, I made a stop at Mesa Verde. My apologies though I do not feel this one is as good as my previous travel mytakes but here goes.

Visitor center

It is near Cortez Colorado

Overlook

There are many Cliff Dwelling here, but the drive in itself is beautiful too.

Cliff Dwellings

This time of the year, at least half the park is closed for the winter.

Ruins on a cliff

Next time I'll be trying for the summer. I did do some hiking out to see some sights, such as this one.

Dwellings pre-dating Cliff dwellings

It was still really educational and fun.

Really squished in there

I try to imagine myself living as they did.

Cliff Ruins

Many of the sites have trails you can hike down to them on, but many are closed due to ice and snow, at this time of the year.

Communal area

Very interesting as I am big into history.

From the road

Zoomed in some

A little closer

Some more

I need a better camera with a good zoom

Learned I needed a camera with better zoom as I had to hike over some and then zoom in.

From here I ended up at four corners before moving on.

Lots of people here taking pictures

I had to wait a bit to get this picture and do it fast, as there was a massive line of people who wanted to stand in all four states...I didn't care enough to do that, just wanted a picture without strangers.

[exitseven]

I had a teacher in junior high school that told us about being in all four states at the same time.
Who was it that left all these ruins behind? Native Americans? Aztecs?

[Aerissa_Jade]

(Straight from the NPS website)

Ancestral Pueblo People of Mesa Verde

About 1,400 years ago, long before Europeans explored North America, a group of people living in the Four Corners region chose Mesa Verde for their home. For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived and flourished here, eventually building elaborate stone communities in the sheltered alcoves of the canyon walls. Then, in the late A. D. 1200s, in the span of a generation or two, they left their homes and moved away. Mesa Verde National Park preserves a spectacular reminder of this ancient culture.

[exitseven]

Interesting. It is amazing how things can change after hundreds of years. How long of a drive was it from where you live?

[Aerissa_Jade]

Not sure, I didn't go straight there from home... this was just another stop. The entire trip was 2500 miles. I'd guess 12 hours

[exitseven]

yowza., I am lucky to drive ten miles to the beach these days.

[exitseven]

Thanks for the MHO😎

[Bluemax]

The Navajo called them the Anasazi, which translates to ancient enemies. Many anthropologists still refer to them by this name. It is unclear why the Navajo call them that.

[Slartybartfast]

@Bluemax north and south america fought their own WWI and WWII right before columbus the wests climate had changed after the mini ice age became much dryer possibly exaggerating this conflict. one reason for the cliff dwellings was they hid their food (corn) in hidden caches on the cliff edges (in truly scary hard to reach places)

The north lost the war (lacking the numbers of the south as north america was never very populated) like south america and the unity of the northern tribes was shattered, the west was taken over by the south americans thus they were the "enemy" , the eastern half of N. America mostly spent the next few hundred years fighting each other in endless territorial struggles with a declining population that oddly given the conflicts with europeans, didn't start to recover until around 1780!

[SmokyOne]

Mesa Verde is amazing, I'm glad I live relatively close to it. Same state at least lol

These are a lot of fun to read and very informative.

[Bluemax]

I visited Mesa Verde in the autumn of 2013. It was LOVELY. Very interesting. At that time the temperature was perfect. Cool, but not cold (though it plummeted after sunset). I got to walk among one of the cliff dwellings and go down into a kiva.

In 2017 I visited Chaco Canyon and toured with a professional archaeologist. She was fascinating. It is strange how almost all the pueblos across the Desert Southwest were abandoned abruptly and almost simultaneously. Many believe they were abandoned within a generation and some were sealed up. Very odd mystery why the Anasazi did that.

[Bluemax]

When you stand right on the center of the four corners, you are not just standing in 4 states simultaneously, but three nations as well: of course the United States, the Navajo Nation, and the Ute Nation.

[Slartybartfast]

I drove out to Mesa Verde years ago after a forest fire. The night I got there it was pooring down rain. The park had been closed but I guessed they would re-open as the fires were out.

When I got to the park entrance two women park employees came out, I recognized them as my moms neighbors from OHIO! It seems no matter where I go in this world I meet people I know.

They let me in for free and we went to several sites up close (some were not usually accessible to the public) as they wanted to check to see if they were damaged. I even got to enter some of the structures!

It was a great, there are several stables in the area and horseback is a good way to see the park. Id recommend taking it easy the first few days if you're not used to high altitudes. (7,000 to 8,500 feet above sea lvl) even the horses needed frequent stops at the top of the trails.

[t-8900]

I was at a Verdes 2 days ago myself lol. I get all these names mixed up after a while and was like no way we were in close proximity to each other. And I was like you in California? That can't be right lol. Plus the scenery is very different. I was at Rancho Palos Verdes.

[Aerissa_Jade]

HAHA, very funny.

[zagor]

Wow, Four Corners is a lot more developed and touristy than when I was there as a kid; then just the markers were there.

[Aerissa_Jade]

Except the toilet, no toilet paper... that part sucked. They have booths all around though, each of the four sides. For tribal members to setup stands to sell things.

[zagor]

I guess it's BYOTP.

Last time I went to Tijuana there was no TP or soap in any of the bathrooms in the establishments I visited. I made sure everything I ate was well-cooked...

[KostasKouvalis]

I've only been there in the summer, but the snow certainly adds a cool vibe to it. Makes me wonder how the Indians survived in the winter.

Nice pics

[ArrowheadSW]

I've never been to Mesa Verde but it looks like a place that I would love.

[ohshee]

It looks beautiful though I think I would even like to go there

[Andres77]

Absolutely beautiful.
I'm glad you are having fun.
I'm even more impressed that you hold dear experiences like this.
Big fan.
👏👏👏

[Bklynbadboy12]

It looks fun like something you should hike and explore as a couple

[BadTameez_DJ]

I went to Cliff Dwellings and it is beautiful place

[Neilbud]

The holes in the dwellings are interesting.

[Aerissa_Jade]

You mean like the windows or something else?

[AngelOfLight258]

This is breathtaking <3

[Wise4myage]

Beautiful, I love the cave dwellings.

[nawtee_me]

I love your scenic routes and adventures...

[Xtendable]

I would love to explore that area

[CrazyGirl2]

Beautiful pictures!

[Staximus]

Very cool