Back in the spring, when we discussed our visit, Geoff said he wanted to do a road trip with their new Subaru to test it out. I suggested the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde. Melissa discovered they were the ones on my bucket list. Sweet! The park is close to Four Corners where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah meet so Glen bought into the trip as the region is famous for hantavirus and plague outbreaks.It's about a seven hour drive to Durango, a town close to the park where we planned spending two nights. It was great travelling through a different part of Colorado. The highway snaked through canyons following the Arkansas River, passing the Royal Gorge where Glen visited as a child. The river, 6th longest in the US, is a tributary of the Mississippi River and flows from mountains in Colorado to Napoleon, Arkansas. Some pronounce its name Ar-KAN-ses, while others call it Ar-ken-SAW. Both are correct.
Near Cañon City, the river was full of hundreds of rafters. The rapids we saw weren't scary--not like what we experienced in Costa Rica (see Whitewater Rafting)--so it might be worth trying sometime. The scenery was spectacular. However, we didn't stop as our destination was the town of Salida (se-LY-de and means 'exit' in Spanish) for lunch. Due to a confusion as we exited the I-25, we arrived well after Geoff in this pretty town. Melissa had spotted a sign for the riverwalk where she thought we could have our picnic. She texted it was off C Street. Who knew there were two parts to C Street and one that was nowhere near the river? By the time we had sorted out where we had to go, they had finished their lunch and the kids were playing in the playground. It was a wonderful place as the tall cottonwoods shaded most of the park.
We crossed the Rio Grande on our way to Durango. This river also begins in Colorado (San Juan Mountains) and flows into the Gulf of Mexico forming most of the border between the US and Mexico. Apparently it is great for fishing as we saw many outfitters along the highway.
Then we began to climb into the mountains and through Wolf Creek Pass. It has a very steep grade but the Santa Fe had no problems. Neither did Geoff's Outback except something popped at the summit which scared the heck out of them. Turned out, the bottom blew out of a bag of chips. We stopped at the town of Pagosa Springs (famous for its hot springs) for gas at a less than savoury station. The bathrooms were wobbly porta-potties and the gas pumps were so old Glen had to ask how to work them.
Durango is a tourist town now but was originally the depot for the Denver and Rio Grande railway which serviced the San Juan mining district. It was named after the town in Mexico. We stayed at the Best Western Plus Rio Grande. Our rooms were adjacent and near the pool so very convenient. It was also right at the edge of downtown so we could easily walk to restaurants.
After checking in, we headed out to a restaurant one of Melissa's friends recommended. Her mom is a local policewoman so we figured she must know. There was a 20 minute wait at Steamworks Brewing Co. but we felt it would be worth it. About 5 minutes later, it became a 40 minute wait so we arrived at the right time. The place was huge with a large elevated patio. It was about 35ºC (95ºF) so we were glad to be seated in the AC. They had a blackboard list of their beers and all the numbers you needed to get what you wanted (ABV, IBU, SRM). Since I had no clue what these numbers meant, I ordered the Steam Engine Lager and it was perfect. Glen had Colorado Kolsch and Geoff ordered Backside Stout and each was happy with their choice. Melissa had to ask for a wine menu but they had a great selection. The kids had lemonade and a special menu which Miles modified by adding his favourite toppings to the plain cheese pizza (and we didn't have to pay extra!). Our food was excellent although I had to have my veggie pizza boxed as it was huge. Our room had a fridge and we had also brought a cooler so it became lunch on Sunday.
After the kids learned that a buffet breakfast doesn't mean you must sample everything, we did the hour drive to Mesa Verde Park (created in 1906) (the video on the website gives you an idea of what we saw). We stopped first at the visitor centre to sign up for one of the cliff dwelling tours. We had wanted to do the Palace dwelling (see photo) as it is the most famous but the only tour for all of us was at 4:00pm which was too late. The ranger suggested the Balcony House as it was her favourite. She warned us there was a 35 foot ladder and a narrow tunnel but she didn't think we would have issues. I suffer from vertigo as does Melissa and she is claustrophobic but we decided to put on our 'big girl panties' and signed up. It was $5/person so very reasonable (we didn't know but you could purchase tickets in Durango--next time). So was the entrance fee to the park of $20/vehicle.
Balcony House is on the Chapin Loop scenic drive and the ranger suggested leaving Spruce Tree Terrace café no later than 1:00 to make our tour. The café is about an hour's drive from the visitor centre as there are many stops along the way. The boys signed up for the junior ranger program and had activities that gave info on the past and how different it is from today. We all learned something.
The first stop was the Park Point Overlook (2613 m/8572 ft). There was a short hike up to the fire lookout which gave us an overview of the park. Due to smoke from local forest fires, we couldn't see the mountains of New Mexico. I got a bit winded not realizing we were so high up.
Next stop, the Far View area was a self-guided walk through a mesa-top farming community (10th century or Pueblo II period). Two rangers answered our questions and pointed out features we may have missed. We learned about the dwelling's circular rooms called kivas. These were usually underground and entry was by ladder through a hole in the roof. They served as rooms for religious and social gatherings. In the winter, they were heated.
One question on everyone's mind was where was the water? There were no springs or rivers on the Mesa and the valleys were a long way down the cliffs. The mesa-top people did have reservoirs but most of their water was brought up from crevices in the sandstone cliffs where rain and winter snow-water collected. Women climbed the cliffs hauling, in clay pots, this precious commodity.
After having lunch at Spruce Tree Terrace (limited menu) and refilling our empty water bottles (yes, I actually drank plain water), we left the area that was also the trail head for several hikes, Spruce Tree House, and the Chapin Archeological Museum. We headed into the Mesa Top loop to find the Sun Temple outlook because of its view of the Palace cliff dwellings. When I saw the dwellings, I got a bit teary-eyed as they were all I had wanted to see and more. We also explored the Sun Temple.
The next loop in the road, the Cliff Palace loop, took us over these cliff dwellings but we didn't stop as we had to reach the Balcony House in time for our tour. This drive runs along the Colorado/Arizona border through a modern Pueblo Native American reservation.
Balcony House was built in the Pueblo III era (12th century) and Ranger Pete, a retired English teacher, was our guide. He again warned about the ladders and the tunnels and I began to wonder if I had made the right decision. He ended his talk saying if the ladders were too scary, we could retrace our steps but miss seeing the house. That clinched it. I was not going to miss seeing what I had always wanted to see.
You must go down to go up and we descend two long metal staircases. It was very hot by now, 38ºC/98ºF but I had on a big hat and a long-sleeved shirt which gave me some protection from the sun. Yes, the ladder into the house was tall but very sturdy. I followed Melissa up and was surprised when I clambered into the cliff dwelling no worse for the wear. The dwelling was amazing. Out of the sun, it was cool and we saw the water that brought life to the mesa. We crawled through a tunnel to the kiva and Ranger Pete told us about the people who lived there. Apparently they believe a 70 year drought forced them to leave the dwellings in the 1300s.
Another ladder and set of stairs took us back to the parking lot. Glen and I were pretty winded from our climb but proud we did it. He was especially thrilled he could scramble through the tunnels. That's what a new titanium hip gives you.
Miles wanted to do the tour again but we had to head back to the hotel. First though, we stopped at the visitor centre so he and Elijah could get their junior ranger badges. Miles had studied the Ancestral Pueblo in school and declared seeing it in person was much more meaningful. Yay!!
On the way to Durango, Melissa confessed to feeling ill so she let the boys swim while she took a nap. We decided to try a different place for supper and ended up at the Irish Embassy pub. When they didn't have potato-leek soup, Melissa returned to their room to convalesce. She didn't miss much. Glen and I had the toughest corned beef ever. Pretty bad when the best thing about the dish is the cabbage.
We headed back to Denver the next day stopping again in Salida for lunch. Geoff and Melissa discovered Sweeties Sandwich Shop near the park and bought us some great eats. I had the Parthenon which was a Greek vegetarian sandwich and Glen had Rob's Roast Beef. I think Geoff had the Rio Grande and Melissa a Caesar salad but I can't remember what the kids ate. After they had a quick romp in the park, we booted it for Aurora.
