Sacred Pueblo Ground

August 26, 2016

START  :    Moab, Utah               TODAY:         178  Miles

END:          Cortez, Utah              TOTAL:      4,037

CAMPGROUND:    Mesa Verde National Park

As we left town, the Moab fault line was clearly evident.  We drove along this 1,500 ft rise for 3-4 miles.  The LaSal  Mountain Range was on our East with puffy clouds obscuring it’s peaks.  The landscape along the highway could have been included in the Arches park.  Settling into driving mode with a Stone Barrington audio novel playing, we rolled down the highway. 

After the small town of Monticello, farmlands emerged with no mountains in sight.  Shortly thereafter we crossed the state line into Colorado—another first for us. 

 As we neared Cortez, the San Juan Mountain Range rose up on the horizon.  A pipeline across the road is a rather unusual sight.  By one o’clock we had checked into the campground in Mesa Verde National Park which is perhaps our best camp site yet. 

Unhooking the trailer we set off to explore this ancient and sacred area.  These are the lands of the Ancient Pueblo People.  For the next twenty minutes we traveled on an overhanging cliff road that spiraled upward, passing an elevation sign of 8,376, ft then we passed two bicyclist.  Wh-a-a-a-t? 

We were on top of the mesa looking down at a vast valley.  With all this valley land, we questioned why the ancients became cliff dwellers and evidently that still remains an unanswered question.  The cliff dwellings were discovered in the late 1800’s, and later documented and excavated by archeological teams. 

Built in 1260 AD, Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America.  The ravine   below this cliff edge is a sharp descent.  The inhabitants climbed up and over the ledge to the mesa above to hunt and tend crops of beans, corn and squash.  

The walls are stones shaped with quartzite hammers, the mortar is made of sand, clay and ash mixed with water.  There are 150 rooms; living, storage and common rooms.  There are also 75 open spaces and 21 round Kivas for ceremonial purposes.

There are over 600 documented cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde.  Spruce Tree House is one of the best preserved, but the hiking trail was closed.  With 120 rooms the archeologist estimate a population of 60-90 people.

 

The most impressive feature of Square Tower House dwelling is the four-story tower mortared into the curvature of the cliff.  Original floor timbers have been preserved. 

Based on the extra large rooms and central fire pit it is believed that Fire Temple was used for community-wide ceremonial gatherings.  There is no evidence of habitation. We found it interesting that hand and foot holes can be seen on the side of the ledge. 

What a difficult life these ancient people lived and why did they move from their pit houses on the mesa top to the cliff ledges below? 

Unable to post the blog tonight - no connectivity in the ancient lands.  As soon as it is dark, we are off to a ranger presentation on the night skies.  We are hoping to see the Milky Way, but the clouds seem to be rolling in so perhaps not.