Meandering About At Mesa Verde

Our time in Utah had come to an end so we packed out gear and headed south towards Colorado.  We had a tight schedule so we eschewed some of the possible sights along the way.

Wilson's Arch is named after an early explorer to the region.  It
has no relation to the structure with the same name in Jerusalem.

The Hole N' the Rock is the former residence of a couple who spent 20 years burrowing a
5,000 sq ft home into this sandstone structure.  These days it is a museum and gift shop.

Our first scheduled stop was the Four Corners Monument, where the borders of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico all meet.  Since the site falls in the boundaries of the Navajo Nation, all the people working there were American Indians.  Several Navajo vendors had booths set up selling kitschy souvenirs and traditional art.  We took our obligatory photos at the monument, and were then on our way.

A state for everyone, and everyone in a state.

We drove eastwards until we reached Mesa Verde National Park.  In this area are the ruins of several well-intact dwellings from Ancestral Puebloan or Anaszi people.  Over the last 1000+ years, pueblo Indians migrated to this area and built large-sized villages.  They initially lived and farmed on top of the mesas.  Eventually, adverse climate changes and overpopulation led to a scarcity of resources and conflict.  Around 1200 A.D., The Ancestral Puebloans eventually moved their villages into the sides of cliffs to maximize their defensive positions.  However, this did make life more difficult as villagers had to scale the cliffs to bring food and resources to their homes and families.

Several of the lesser ruins at Mesa Verde can be visited on one's own.  However, three of the more exquisite sites, the Balcony House, the Long House, and the Cliff Palace, require the purchase of ranger-guided tours.  These tickets which often sell out can be purchased up to two days in advance.  Unfortunately, we didn't have that luxury of buying them in advance.

We were hoping to see all three of these special ruins but were wary because of our limited time.  Unfortunately, by the time we had arrived at the visitor center,

When we arrived at the visitor center, we were able to purchase tickets for the Balcony House and the Cliff Palace.  Unfortunately, the Long House tours were already sold out for the remainder of the day.  We had to purchase tickets for late morning on the following day in order to squeeze that visit into our itinerary.

To make matters worse, The Girl...

...and The Wife were harassed by some of the locals.

We had several hours to kill before our scheduled ranger tours, so we decided to visit some of the non-guided archaeological sites.  There were several excavated artifacts on display at the Chapin Mesa Archaeological Museum.

This jar full of corn was stored away and forgotten back in the 1200's. 
Like modern varieties, it also shows up undigested in your poop.

The Ansazi were not foodies.

The nearby Spruce Tree House, the third largest ruin at Mesa
Verde, has been closed to the public since a rockfall in 2015.

We drove along the Mesa Top Loop, stopping periodically at the excavated villages and pit houses.  These structures were constructed on top of the mesa, dating to the earlier years of settlement by the Ancestrual Puebloans.

The excavated foundation of an early, primitive pithouse that dates to about 600 AD.

This later pithouse from around 1000 AD shows much more intricate organization.  The
firepit, ventilation tunnel, and sipapu (spiritual entrance) are all aligned on the same axis.

Workers survey the Square Tower House.  It had been open to the public in 2015, but remains closed now.

After finally tiring of seeing the remnants of endless kivas and ceremonial structures, we drove to the Far View sites which are remains of what was once some very densely-populated villages.  Dating to about 900-1200 AD, these structures also pre-date the cliff-side dwellings.

The Far View buildings weren't too interesting, but at least they had walls.

It was time for our first ranger-guided tour, so we headed over to the Balcony House.  This medium-sized dwelling is comprised of about 40 rooms.

The ranger warned us that there would be plenty of ladder-climbing...

...and tunnel-crawling on this tour.

Intricate balconies provide the name for this site.

The view of Soda Canyon that inhabitants of the Balcony House would see every day. 

Balcony House is divided into three separate plazas with a total of 38 rooms.

The buildings were mainly constructed using large stones.  Small stones
called chinking were embedded in the mortar to give it added strength.

In some areas, the plaster that was used to cover the stone walls still remains intact.

There are two kivas at Balcony House that have long lost their log covered
roofs.  Inhabitants would have entered from above by climbing down a ladder.

After our tour of the Balcony House was complete, we had to rush to make it in time for our ranger-guided tour of the Cliff Palace.

The view of the Cliff Palace from the start of our tour.

Unfortunately, I had left my spare brick back in the car.

Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America.  Its 150 rooms housed about 100 people.

In some of the more intact
buildings, visitors can look up...

...and see ancient murals that were painted on the plaster that covered the walls.

Rectangular windows are found on the bottom floor of the settlement.

T-shaped windows can be found on the top floor.  Their function is unknown.

Our tour was one of the later ones of the day.  The sun was beginning to dip low towards the horizon when it was time to depart.

We did have to do a little bit of climbing to leave the Cliff Palace.

But the ladders are nowhere as high in the Balcony House.

After we concluded our visit to the Cliff Palace, we drove to our hotel, the Far View Lodge which is the only housing within the confines of the park.

Although the bathrooms were suitable at the Far View Lodge...

...I decided to be eco-friendly and use the recycling bin.

The Far View Lodge has a more modern flair compared to the cabins at Zion and Bryce Lodges.

The view from our balcony at the Far View Lodge

For dinner, we walked to the nearby Metate Room where we had made reservations a few weeks in advanced.  Several travel websites had expounded on the restaurant's cuisine, noting that it is one of the finer dining options in all of the national parks.  Recent Yelp reviews spoke otherwise.  The food was good, but it wasn't destination-worthy great.  The best dish I had was our rattlesnake and pheasant appetizer.  Where the restaurant truly failed was in its service.  Perhaps it was a bad night or some of the wait staff called in sick, but the service was terrible.  Our waitress seemed to be overloaded trying to attend to way too many tables at one time.  Some of our drinks came out after 20 minutes, others never materialized.  The servers seemed confused about which dishes we had ordered.  Overall, it was pretty amateurish service for a restaurant of that reputation and price-point.  Nevertheless, we were in no hurry, so we didn't raise a fuss, unlike the table next to us who vociferously demonstrated their displeasure.

Rattlesnake and pheasant sausage

Corn and lobster bisque

Elk Wellington

Chili relleno

Gulf shrimp and cumin-scented orzo

Pan seared trout

*****


Friday, August 4, 2017


We were finally able to sleep in on our vacation as our ranger-guided tour of the Long House was not scheduled until noon.  After eventually checking out of the Far View Lodge, we drove to the meeting point for that tour.  Our guide was an enthusiastic older man of Native American ancestry.  To get to the Long House, we had a mile hike through forest that had been ravaged by fires 15 years prior.  New growth of trees has created a forest of short trees.  Along the way, the ranger pointed out various plants that were used by the Ancestral Puebloans. 

Pinyon pines were important sources of nuts and wood for the Ancestral Puebloans.

Prickly pears also served as a ready source of food for the local inhabitants.

The Long House is located on the Weatherill Mesa, much farther away from the other popular sites.  When we arrived at the settlement, it was so quiet and serene, just like the ghost town that it truly is.  The ranger spent the next hour explaining the intricate details of the structures and the ancient village life.

The Long House is the second-largest settlement at Mesa Verde.  Approximately 150 people lived there at its peak.

Using dendrochronology, scientist can tell that this site was last inhabited around 1281 AD. 

One of the traits that allows these cliffs to be habitable is the renewable source of water.  Melting snow
at the top of the mesa would slowly seep down the limestone rock until it pooled into the cliffs below.

Many grinding stones have been found at the site.  They were used to grind corn into meal.

An Anasazi handprint
adorns a wall of the cliff.

By the end of the 13th century, a prolonged drought had ravaged the land.  All of the cliff dwellings were
eventually abandoned when the 20,000 inhabitants of the region relocated to southern Arizona and New Mexico. 

As we were about to leave the Long House, the ranger played us a traditional Native American tune from his hand-made flute.  The song echoed through the halls of the abandoned settlement creating an eerie presence.  Of the three ranger-guided tours, the Long House was the favorite of all members of our family.

While we enjoyed our time at Mesa Verde and the other National Parks, it was time to start heading home.  We had a long, 1,250-mile journey ahead of us.  Since it was already mid-afternoon, we were only able to make a 4.5 hour drive to reach Albuquerque.  We decided to stop for dinner at El Pinto Restaurant on the northern outskirts of the city.  Established over 50 years ago, the 1,000 seat restaurant has been an icon of the Albuquerque culinary scene and has been profiled numerous times on national cooking shows.

The secret to El Pinto's longevity is a good defense against competing restaurants.

Huge crowds packed the equally huge restaurant.  There were several comfortable
couches and plenty of things to distract while we waited for an open table.

"The Best Nachos in America" (their words, not ours)

Green chile queso burger

Stuffed sopapillas

Enchilladas 

Red chile baby back ribs (their signature dish)

Levante

After our heavy meal at El Pinto, we crashed at the Albuquerque Marriott.

*****


Saturday, August 5, 2017


Once again, we were up and on the go as soon as the sun was shining.  We fueled up on coffee in preparation for our 1,000 mile drive home.  On the eastern outskirts of Albuquerque, we made a small detour back to Route 66 to "play" America the Beautiful on the Musical Highway.  This collaboration between National Geographic and the New Mexico Department of Transportation back in 2014 uses rumble strips to create the notes to the song.  Vehicles have to adhere to the 45 mile per hour speed limit to create the proper tune as they drive over the bumps.  In theory it's pretty cool.  In reality, it was kind of hard to hear the song on a windy day with our windows rolled down.  Also, the group of bicyclists crowding the lane disrupted the continuity of our song.

We backtracked past our original route two weeks before through New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma until we reached the Ozark region of Arkansas.  We stopped for dinner at CrawPappy's Cajun Cuisine in the tiny town of Alma.  The restaurant was really just a food truck parked up to a standalone dining area.  Despite the odd layout, the food was good and inexpensive.

Boudain Po'Boy

JJ Special (loaded fried crawfish wrap)

Shrimp, chicken, and sausage gumbo

Oysters on the half-shell

We drove for several more hours until we reached our home around midnight.  The marathon driving session took us 15 hours but it was worth it to sleep in our nice comfortable beds.

Our two week trip took us through nine states and eight national parks where we hiked a total of 31 miles.  Although we were exhausted from all the driving and continuous hotel-hopping, the journey was well-worth it as we had a chance to see some of America's greatest treasures.