With Moab, Utah done and dusted we headed out of town heading to Mesa Verde where the native Indians built cliff edge dwellings. Not far out of Moab we came across “The Hole in the Rock” which is a 5000 sq ft house carved out of the rock face. They have an exotic zoo, gifts and souvenirs, native crafts and jewellery and more. Pity we didn’t have time to stop and look. The jeep parked on top of the rock was enough to convince us it would be our loss not to stop. Further on we came to Wilson’s Arch right beside the highway. At first it didn’t look that large until we got alongside and saw a couple of people under the arch. A few interesting rock features, an extra wide load and “wild tractors” road sign later and we were well underway.
Unbelievable Primitive Dwellings
The morning after we settled into our RV Park at Cortez, we headed out to see the famous cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde. First stop was the museum/visitor centre just inside the gate. This museum is very modern, well laid out and packed with artefacts. In particular I liked the windows into the research lab where many yet to be classified and restored relics were visible. From the museum we started the ascent up the mesa but from ground level we wondered just how we were going to tackle this hill. Winding our way to the top our first stop was Park Point which at 8500 ft elevation is the highest point on the Mesa.
Museum 2
21 miles into the park we visited Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum which shows a great explanatory movie so that visitors have at least a basic knowledge of what they are about to see. Accompanying the movie there are several dioramas giving a clear view of what life on the mesa was like up to 1200 years ago. There is also a terrific range of exhibits to see and learn about. Armed with all this knowledge we were finally ready to see the living arrangements we had come so far to see.
An Amazing Display House With a Difference
Out back behind the CMAM we got to see the first of the cliff dwellings. This one is known as Spruce Tree House. It is the third largest and best preserved of the dwellings in the park and was occupied around 1200 to1280 AD. The first scientific excavation of this site was done in 1908 by a Dr JW Fewkes. Despite having seen dioramas, videos and more viewing this for the first time is stunning. You walk down the path behind the CMAM building and then there it is cosily tucked in under the alcove on the opposite side of the canyon. The alcove is 66 metres wide by 27 metres high. It held 120 rooms. 10 ledge rooms, 8 kivas and 2 towers. Kivas are the round pits you can see (and will see more of in this report) used for religious, social and weaving purposes. They were covered in limbs, leaves and mud with a square opening in the top for entry. Kivas also had a ‘vent’ hole to the outside for fresh air and cooling.
The Square Tower
Spruce Tree House was just the start. We moved on and came to the 1st of the pit house exhibits. The excavations of archaeologists have left us with an ideal display of the remaining ruins that show where a small pueblo once sat. Along with sign boards it is easy to imagine how these houses were constructed. Further along the roadway we came to the Square Tower House. Its name obviously comes from the 28 ft high tower within the cliff opening. These dwellings were also occupied through the 13th century though by the start of the 14th century they like much of Mesa Verde were abandoned as the natives migrated southward to New Mexico and Arizona.
Pits and Pueblos
Travelling further into the park there was a number of pit houses and Pueblos of different architectural design. Interpretive signs (I’ve tried to post many of these for your reading) pointed out important developments and unusual features of each. There was Sun Point Pueblo, Oak Tree House, Fire Temple, Sun Temple and eventually the crown jewel, the Cliff Palace. The Sun Temple stood out because it was not a cliff dwelling like the rest but was an above ground structure which showed a distinct departure from the traditional building methods of its’ predecessors.
A Palace Indeed
Scientists believe Cliff Palace was more of a community or administrative centre for the surrounding villages because of the relatively few living rooms in the complex. There are about 150 rooms, 75 constructed open areas, 21 kivas & 2 ‘kiva-like’ structures. Of these only about 2 dozen exhibit residential features like hearths etc. The alcove it is constructed in is about 215 ft wide by 90 ft deep by 60 ft high yet the estimated population of the ‘palace’ is around 100-120 people. Construction took almost 100 years ending around 1280 AD. A common feature of this and most dwellings is the “T” shaped doorways (one is easily visible on the extreme right of the palace photo). When the ancient Puebloan people lived here there would have been other rooms and roofs surrounding this tower and the door would have opened onto a rooftop plaza.
Far Far Away
Finally our tour ended with the aptly named “Far View Community”. This (semi) above ground community included some 5 villages and a reservoir which made it an ideal farming community. We only had the time (and energy by now) to explore the tower and 1 village but we found it very interesting. The sun was getting low and we had 30 plus miles of winding road to hit to get back off the Mesa.
Homeward Bound.
All in all it was a fantastic day viewing one of the most interesting sights we have ever seen. The idea of residing on these steep cliff edges with high vertical drop-offs made our knees weak. Could you imagine having to watch your toddlers all the time? One wonders how many people died negotiating those timber ladders in the most inclement weather like snow storms or desert scorchers. And how available were the food sources? Click here for a video of our day.
A Lonely Ship in the Desert
That’s it for Mesa Verde but before we left Cortez (Utah not Florida) we had one more road trip to do and that was to Ship Rock and the Four Corners. All up about 110 miles. It had snowed two nights before and remnants of white still remained in the shadowy side of the desert mesas. It was actually quite beautiful. We hadn’t gone that far out of Cortez when I noticed a peak quite some distance away. It turned out to be our goal, Ship Rock almost 30 miles away. It is that big!
Paying it Forward
A few miles out from the rock we were on a pot-holed, muddy (from melted snow) road when we spied a 4wd Subaru stopped in a strange spot. Thinking they were in trouble we also stopped to help but like us they too were here to see Ship Rock however as the road deteriorated they had decided they were near enough and had stopped here to take their photos. I wish we had done the same. Less than half a mile down the track and I heard the most distressing scraping sound from my front wheels (remember they had only just had new wheel bearings fitted) and my brakes were failing. Sitting in the middle of the snow covered desert plains, in a Navajo Community Reservation with no brakes and horrendous screeching coming from you car is not the way to lift your spirits. So I carefully turned the car around and headed the way we had come hoping the Subaru was still there but alas it had gone. We could see it a mile or so in front of us on the plains high tailing it out of there. Taking it very easy we eventually got back on to the black top where with a bit of pedal pumping the brakes began to work and the screeching stopped. A mile or two more and we were back on the highway and the car seemed in perfect order again. I guess it was a brake calliper full of gravel or something because we have not had any trouble since. That was as near as we got to Ship Rock.
Four Corners
There is just one place in the United States where 4 states come into contact at one point and it is aptly named Four Corners. It is the intersection of Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona and we wanted to get there. With Shane in Utah and Arizona and me in Colorado and New Mexico we had an interstate, cross border kiss for good luck. After a quick look through the native arts and crafts gift booths we headed back to Cortez and the warmth of our van.
Cheers for now
Garry & Shane