Day-trip to Mesa Verde National Park in Southwest Colorado
Our shadows inside the house walls at Mesa Verde, Colorado
Yesterday, Dan, his parents and I took a day trip to Mesa Verde National Park in the Four Corners area of Southwest Colorado. We had a pleasant afternoon drive with a picnic interrupted by a band of black clouds backed by cold winds at the highest point of the Mesa at about 8,700 feet. We resumed our picnic at lower elevation in amongst the pinon and juniper trees.
The village ruins are tucked under a massive cliff…!
I hadn’t been to Mesa Verda since the first time in Summer 1989 on my return move back to Alaska from spending a couple of years in New Mexico. About 10 years ago there were many major fires that swept through the Four Corners region; Mesa Verde was not immune. Though as we drove through the 20-mile drive up to the “Spruce Tree” ruins (which are pictured here), it was amazing how the landscape had been making a come-back; how forgiving is our Earth — the forest continued to grow regardless of the skeletal remains of the burnt trees. Because I am a natural-born harvester, I kept thinking about how much the dead trees were just going to rot; there was so much firewood to collect!
The switch-back path leading down to the “Spruce Tree” mesa is just as interesting and well-engineered as the ancient ruins…!
A park ranger’s shadow during sunset…
A restored kiva — place of ceremony…