Mixed Fortunes - Mesa Verde National Park

Mixed Fortunes - Mesa Verde National Park

30 April - 2 May 2023

We booked into Mesa verde campsite with the intention of spending two full days exploring the park. Two weeks prior to our arrival we received an email to let us know that our reservation had been canceled. Due to particularly heavy snow this winter the park service were unable to open the campground until mid-May. We scrambled and were able to book three nights at Mancos State Park, about thirteen miles away. We didn’t research what the park was like, we were just so pleased to have arranged something. As it turned out, Mancos State Park is fabulous. The focal point is a beautiful reservoir, surrounded by pine forests with snow capped peaks behind.  The campsites were everything that our previous location was not, which is just as well or I might have been finishing this camping trip alone! We had a great spot, nestled amongst the pines, with a picnic table and fire pit. Whilst there are no showers, the pit toilets are decent and there is ample running water. We enjoyed a good (fresh) open-air wash down in the relative privacy of our site, with hot water from our stove. After Desert Skies this has been a really relaxing and enjoyable spot to hang out.

Yesterday we headed over to Mesa Verde National Park, which was good in some ways but disappointing in others. It’s a 25 mile drive from the entrance up to the cliff dwellings for which the park is famous. The scenery was beautiful and from what we could see the cliff dwellings are amazing, but unfortunately the park was not yet fully open and it was not possible to gain entry into any of the cliff sites. Visits to these sites are always by tour and you can normally purchase tickets at the visitors center. I think this is partly for visitor safety, but primarily to protect the antiquities. Access to the cliff dwellings looks challenging and somewhat scary, and involves climbing up / down ladders and squeezing through narrow opens. We were able to get see some of the prime locations from viewpoints up on the cliff tops, and these were plenty impressive, but it would have been great to actually tour around the buildings. We did do a “strenuous” 2.5 mile trail called the Spruce Canyon Trail, which we enjoyed, and spent some time viewing the mesa-top dwellings which were open for self-guided tours. A full half of the park was closed due to repaving of the roads.

The Pueblo Indians first settled Mesa Verde around 750 AD. They lived on top of the mesas in villages built of sandstone blocks. They farmed the arid land around and excelled in developing bone and stone tools, and creating sophisticated pottery. They interacted widely with other native peoples and from 1000 - 1200 AD it is estimated that more people lived in the area than live here now. Around 1200 AD, for reasons that unknown, they started to build villages in caves on the cliffs of the canyon and abandoned the mesa-top settlements. The cliff dwellings are remarkable and access appears to be via foot-holds and hand-holds in the sheers rock walls. It is hard to imagine what living in such a place might have been like. Within 100 years it is believed that these cliff dwellings were also abandoned, again for reasons that are not known, and the Pueblo Indians moved south and integrated with other native people. Their ancestors are still around today. 

Having seen most of what was open, we decided not to go back to Mesa Verde for a second day. Instead we got some information from the Colorado Birding Trail and spent the day checking out some of the local birding hotspots. This took us to a number of ponds and reservoirs and on a riverside stroll by the river in Marcos. It was a lovely, relaxing day and we added pygmy nuthatches and Lewis’s woodpecker to our bird list.

Ps. It’s long past dark and I am sitting by the campfire finishing up this blog and editing photos! 

Mike

The road up to Mesa Verde

Incredibly impressive cliff dwellings (~ 1200 AD)

Mesa-Top dwellings (~ 1000 - 1200 AD)

Cottonwoods on the edge of the reservoir at Mancos State Park

Sunset over the reservoir

Reflected cloud formations at sunset

Gloria pretty much asleep in front of the fire, with the moon above the trees

Snow capped peaks to the east of Mancos State Park

At sunset the winds died down and clear reflections of the mountains behind

Our last night in Mancos State Park