On to Mesa Verde...

Winding on Route 160 through amazing mountains and valleys summiting at Wolf Creek Pass in the San Juan National Forest, the drive is a bit white knuckle even with clear weather.

Durango, Colorado was a bustling trendy town with friendly staff at eclectic Maria’s Bookstore (see picture). We purchased our Mesa Verde National Park Cliff Palace tour tickets at the Downtown Welcome Center in Durango. Other tickets could be purchased there as well if the time of year/weather allows.

We pitched our tent at Morefield Campground about 4 miles inside Mesa Verde National Park (see picture). The park is vast with a 40 minute drive from the campground to Mesa Verde’s cliff dwellings. If you have something to mail, a tiny post office is near the Spruce Tree House parking spot. Spoiler alert: Happy Mother’s Day to our two incredible mothers whose cards were postmarked from there!

Though the trail was closed, we still were able to view from a distance the Spruce Tree House dwellings (see picture), which were astounding. We recommend the Petroglyph Trail Guide (for 50 cents from the museum) to introduce the natural environment of flora as well as descriptions of the Petroglyphs. We hiked 2.4 miles round trip of the Petroglyph Point Loop (see picture). The elevation begins around 7,000 feet and is fairly strenuous especially with our ongoing respiratory issues. The views of the canyon were beautiful, and the single panel of preserved petroglyphs is about 1.4 miles into the hike.

Sleeping was again cold and drafty, but the rain parted the next morning just in time for us to pack up the tent & site. Thankful for the brief clearing! We drove back up the mesa to embark on our drenching, educational Cliff Palace tour/hike. The Cliff Palace (see picture) is believed to have been active until approximately 1270 A.D. with up to 120 residents at one time. The unique pattern of living offers that the people farmed on top of the mesa and then climbed down to their living cliff quarters. In the canyon, there are over 600 dwellings tucked away. Our family theorized and conversed about the various reasons the peoples inhabited there and why they vacated. I love our family discussions!

Even though we traveled to Mesa Verde after Durango, we wanted this to be the primary photo for this post!

Spruce Tree House dwelling

Hiking the Petroglyph Point Loop trail

Cliff Palace as we entered.

Cliff Palace as we exited.

One of the views leaving the top of Mesa Verde.