Tonight we are in Cortez which is 10 miles west of the Mesa Verde National Park, a World Heritage Site. It was created in 1906 to preserve the archeological heritage of the Ancestral Puebloans, both atop the mesas (plateaus) and in the cliff dwellings below. For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived and flourished here, eventually building elaborate stone communities in the sheltered alcoves of canyon walls. Then, in the late 1200s, in the span of a generation or two, they left their homes and moved away.
After entering the park, we drove an incredible 15-mile up to the Far View Visitor Center which was located on top of the mesa, where we signed up for the Cliff Palace site guided visit (photo on the left) at 2 pm. We then drove on to the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum site, where we were able to visit the Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling (photo on the right) on our own. The best preserved of all the cliff dwellings.
This has been an incredible visit into the past and left us pretty humble. We were lucky to have great weather to appreciate it all. We will return tomorrow so we can see one more guided cliff dwelling site and also visit other sights on the mesa.
Tonight, when we came to our campground, there was a very strong wind blowing but now it has died down a little. Since they are forecasting temperatures below 0 tonight, we have been cut off from the campground water. We are OK however since we always carry water to be used in emergencies like these. It is now 4.5 degrees C down from approx. 21 C around 5 pm. The skies are clear with stars sparkling here and there. This has been another incredible day.
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