Understanding Community in Mesa Verde

The cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde caught us off guard with how enthralled they had us. I suppose we were thinking that we'd take a look, then say, "Well, that's a nice artifact . . . ready to hit the road?" and be on our way. Right away I knew my assumptions were wrong; even from a distance this place was spectacular. On our first day we toured Cliff Palace, and had a great ranger guide (bonus: a recent WWU grad). She emphasized the community aspect of the cliff dwellings, which really helped us frame how we looked at the residences during our visit.

They look so tiny from this angle, like so many beige lego blocks.

The Ancestral Puebloans did not have these ladders, and you can see some of their original climbing grips in the rocks. There's a lot of warning given beforehand regarding the difficulty of the climb out of the dwelling. (It's quite a simple climb, and not long at all.) However, in addition to the general health warnings, they should also warn you of older southern ladies wearing miniskirts, or at least request that they go to the end of the group. Good gracious, that can scar an unsuspecting kid.

On our second day we took the more adventurous Balcony House tour. Physically it's not demanding, but it does require a longer descent, some squeezes, and a climb up at the end that I wouldn't recommend if you have a fear of heights. (I didn't envy the park ranger having to talk a family with a toddler and baby out of the tour; they seemed very adamant that they could do this with the children strapped on, but it really wouldn't have been safe.)

After the descent we went through this corridor before entering the dwelling. Great suspense!

This is their kiva, which likely would have been used for ceremonies and warmth. The engineering is beautiful.

Some of the original decorations were still visible in this dwelling.

I won't lie, I was seriously apprehensive about going through this tunnel to exit the cliff dwelling. My daughter is very petite, and she looked to be the right size to go through, so I was worried that I would wedge myself in and we'd have an embarrassing situation on our hands. Luckily, it wasn't a problem at all for a person larger than 80lbs, and I had plenty of room, whew. (I know it was an irrational fear, as I'd seen all sizes of people exiting the tour on the way out, but that's just where my mind went.)

The kids thought that the final stairs and ladders out were a blast, and I would agree that they got the adrenaline flowing.

We all wished we could go back in time to watch the Ancestral Puebloans climbing in and out without ladders or carved stairs, as well as see how they lived in the dwellings. 

This is a quick snap over the edge of the stairs. 

After those hikes we took the scenic drive around the Mesa Top loop, with viewpoints of Navajo Canyon, pit houses, and early pueblo villages. Normally I don't think you get as good of an experience from viewpoints as you do from hiking, but in this case they were really equal. Without seeing that multiple dwellings are so close and line the canyon, you wouldn't see how these were like neighboring cities, and imagine their communities intertwined.

The museum has a great collection of art and artifacts, and we spotted this little guy while refilling our water bottles.

Our last hike in the park was to the Spruce Tree House, a self-guided tour down to another cliff dwelling, merged with the 3-mile Petroglyph Point hike.

They've reconstructed a fully covered kiva here, so that you can climb down into it to experience what it would generally feel like. 

After leaving the cliff dwelling and departing on the Petroglyph trail, the scenery and hike were amazing. There were lots of climbs, rock scrambles, short slots, descents, views, and well-marked points of interest. We all agreed that this was one of the best hikes ever. If you take this hike, be sure to start from the Spruce House side, and not on the trail head on the other side of the museum. We saw two small groups coming back from hike as we were starting, and they looked miserable! That first half of the hike (or their last, if starting on the opposite side of the loop) is fun, but challenging, and I'm glad we did it while we were full of energy. The way we went, after you pass the petroglyphs you climb up to the top of the canyon then have an easy and mostly shaded walk on the mesa top back to the museum.

Spending quiet moments checking out the petroglyphs, combined with what we learned and experienced at the park made this one of our favorite days and places so far on this trip.