Dear Nadia,
Emily and I are currently riding out a thunderstorm outside
of Canyonlands National Park.
Today has been quite packed to say the least. We awoke early after a rather cold night in the Sand
Dunes. So much for the desert
being warm. After a breakfast of
eggs, green peppers, onions, and Colby jack cheese, we worked our way west
towards Mesa Verde National Park.
I had estimated that we would need gas by Durango, and sure enough we
had just under a quarter tank. We
stopped and filled up before continuing in search of a grocery store.
Thankfully there was an Albertson’s where we bought fuel for
the stove, matches, sponges and foil.
Dad would’ve been proud of me for finding the propane marked at two
different prices and for haggling the checkout lady to save a dollar. The rest of the drive to Mesa Verde was
pretty but uneventful. Emily and I
played cow poker. I had a lead
until she spotted a graveyard on my side of the car.
We stopped at the Mesa Verde visitor center to buy tickets
to the 3pm Balcony House tour. It
wasn’t until this point that we realized all the good stuff was a windy hour
long drive into the park. We
stopped for lunch at a geologic overlook and admired the scenery.
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Mesa Verde National Park!
(And Aidan taking pro self-timer photos) |
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| Statue outside the visitor center |
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| A view on the drive in |
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| A fire swept through a few years ago... |
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| A view of the canyon where the cliff dwellings are found |
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| A cliff dwelling across the canyon |
Cheese, crackers, fruit, veggies, and peanut butter hit the
spot. We made it to the Balcony
overlook parking lot with just enough time to run to the restroom, apply
sunscreen, and change shoes before the tour.
We were in the able hands of Ranger Kevin Lloyd who lead us
down steep stairs, up steeper ladders, and through narrow passages to reach the
Balcony House. We learned that
Balcony House was more defensive than other dwellings. It was really neat to see the Kivas and
learn how the Pueblo people obtained water.
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| Balcony House Tour |
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| Ranger Kevin Lloyd |
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| A room in the cliff dwelling |
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| Climbing higher towards more rooms |
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This wall used to reach all the way to the ceiling. It was built
for unknown reasons when the Pueblos in the House decided
to cut off and abandon part of the dwelling. |
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The precious water source dripping from the rock that these
people depended on for life. |
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| Aidan wants to move in. |
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| A Kiva |
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| Cliff paintings. Thought to be mountains. |
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| How to flatten stones for building |
After the tour, Emily and I piled back into the car and she
drove us to Canyonlands. The road
into the park was breathtaking.
Like an infomercial there was always more to be seen around each
bend. Arriving near dusk only
added to the beauty. I’ll let the
pictures speak for themselves…
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| Cows on the road. HEY COW! |
Like Joseph and Mary, there was no room at the Inn, or the
for-profit campground right outside the park gate. We backtracked to find the gem on BLM land.
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| Aidan finishing off the soup |
Notice those dark clouds in the background… We raced to beat the storm. In the time it took me to write this,
one wave of rain has already gone through. Hopefully there won’t be too many more. For now it is a comfortable change.
Hope all is well.
Love,
Aidan
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