By Jenni
Gate
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| Cliff Palace - one of the largest dwellings in Mesa Verde |
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| Tower in Cliff Palace |
These days,
Mesa Verde National Park
is not too far off the beaten path. It has a rich and mysterious history, a
setting high on the mesa cliffs of southwest Colorado with deep canyons and expansive
vistas. The Anasazi (ancestral Puebloans) lived on top of the mesas about 2,000
years ago, farming the fertile soils at about 7,000 to 8,000 feet in altitude. The
area was most likely settled around 400 AD. By around 1100 AD, resources on the
mesa tops were being depleted, and a lengthy drought forced people to the
cliffs where water seeped through the sandstone until it hit bedrock, pooling
and seeping into springs within caverns. The Anasazi built homes, towers, and
kiva structures right in the arched caverns that were cut into the cliff face
by erosion. They only lived in these cliff dwellings for about 200 years, and
then they disappeared. Modern Puebloan people believe the Anasazi are their ancestors,
that the drought drove these ancient people from the mesa and into more fertile
parts of the Southwest.
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| Painting inside Cliff Palace 2-story dwelling |
The Anasazi
kept dogs and domesticated turkeys. They farmed corn, beans, and squash. The
mesa forests provided pinyon and juniper trees. Various berries were abundant. They traded
with other Southwest people for cotton, and they developed unique pottery
designs.
Some of the dwellings are decorated with paintings on the walls and
hand prints. One of the popular hikes in the park meanders along a
boulder=strewn cliff path to a wall of petroglyphs. The petroglyphs throughout
the South West only intensify the curiosity about the way people lived, their
struggle for survival, and their life in the cliff dwellings.
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| 30' ladder entry to Balcony House |
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| Through a tunnel & up a cliff face to exit |
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| View from Balcony House |
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| Cougar & Kachina whip petroglyphs |
My husband and I went in late April this year, which is a good time to go because temperatures soar into triple digits in the summer, and the altitude takes a toll. Bring plenty of water. The highest point in the park, near the guest lodge, is about 9,000 ft. Most of the sites can be seen from overlooks and drive-to vista points, but if you hike the trails or take the ranger guided tours, be prepared to climb ladders, crawl through tunnels, climb rock faces, clamber over rocks, and be awed by the beauty of this national treasure.
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| Petroglyph wall |
