Mesa Verde

"Green Table", okay, so the Ancestral Pueblo people lacked imagination in naming things.

Rating:

This place gets 5 cold beers from a six-pack (needed them after the drive up the mountain). This is a must-see place in the Americas. A truly amazing one of a kind place being shared by people that genuinely care about it and that you enjoy it too.

Before we begin waxing poetic, which incidentally is the name of Randy's surf board (Poetic, the Surf Board) that Barbra Jean Jo Barbara reminds him regularly that he has only ridden once. RVers please read the warning below, but don’t let anything we say dissuade you from visiting this wonderful, unique, and mind-blowing place, but do understand that the road there is for cars, not RVs . Mesa Verde is a truly unique place and the only place on the planet to see the real history of ancient peoples as they left it. It is like seeing the pyramids in Egypt before the tourism began, a true Must-See!

The Visitor Center

We arrived early in the morning to find a very nice Visitor Center with informative displays showing the Ancestral Puebloan culture and daily life. It has a small café, clean restrooms, and free WiFi that came in handy when we got back to post photos. It is here that you get your first look at the ladders that you will be climbing if you visit Balcony House or Long House.

We were there before 9am on a weekday and all tours were already sold out except for “Balcony House, the Adventure Tour” that was available. The person helping us at the Visitor Center asked us about our general health as this was an adventure tour that would require some physical activity, but no questions that raised any alarm bells. He asked if either of us were afraid of heights, felt that we could climb a ladder, and things like that. He was able to get us booked on the tour but said we needed to really get moving because the tour started in an hour and a half. This should have been a BIG clue as the Balcony House is only 23 miles from the Visitor Center, but we didn’t catch the clue because we were too excited to see the ruins, really rearing to go. We could see by the map on the wall behind him (see below) that the road had sharp turns, steep elevations, and switchbacks so we asked if going up there in the 40 ft RV would be a problem. He looked at us, paused for dramatic effect, and said, ”Eh, you should be OK”.

We were later asked by the rangers at the top by the ruins how we got “that thing” up there as no vehicles over 20 feet should be on that road. We replied, “It took a lot of screaming, but we did it!”.

The Road

The graphic to the left is not Barbra Jean Jo Barbara's cardiogram as she watches Randy Randerson workout in a speedo, it is actually the road and all of it's glorious switchbacks and curves. The drive up to the ruins is about an hour and half to go 23 miles and you gain more than 2500 feet in elevation in the first 15 miles, so keep this in mind. This very scenic drive begins at the park entrance and nice visitor center, continuing up and along the North Rim for fifteen miles before reaching the Far View area (see photo below). There are several wonderful overlooks, including Park Point at an elevation of 8,572 feet. It is the highest point in Mesa Verde and has fantastic views to the north (below the North Rim) and the south (Shiprock and the Four Corners area). From here, you can continue down either Chapin Mesa or Wetherill Mesa to the park's famous ancient ruins.

Us - "Will we be OK driving up in a 40-foot-long RV?"

Park Ranger - Looking at us (pausing for dramatic effect) and said, ”Eh,... you should be OK”.

All of this sounds lovely, but remember the question that we asked the Ranger at the Visitor Center? You know, the one about the 40-foot-long RV? This road became TERRIFYING! Some of the switchbacks were too tight for us to keep both front and back wheels on the road surface at the same time. There were times when we would be taking up both lanes in a turn and the back wheels would drop off the road surface as we rounded the corner. It may have been the elevation, or it may have been the "special" way we were taking in these breathtaking and dramatic vistas (with the nose of the RV pointing out over the drop-off and feeling our back wheels finding the dirt shoulder), but it seems that both Barbra Jean Jo Barbara and Randy Randerson simultaneously developed a case of "Mountain Road Tourettes". I think you get the point that there was a lot of tension in the cab. The road is actually fine if you are in a car, but it is far too tight in the turns for an RV of any length over 20 feet.

The Ruins

Nothing short of incredible! Balcony House is a guided hike and tour and is a moderately difficult hike, but the guides are great at keeping the group engaged and safe. They stop regularly to talk about the history of the ruins and have a great way of involving everyone.

From the Ranger at the Visitor Center to the Ranger guide on the tour, they all make such a big deal out of the 30+ foot ladder that you must climb to get inside the cliff dwelling, but honestly we found that this was the “easy” part.

It is a fair warning to those who are afraid of heights or are limited physically, but there are other challenges that were more of an issue in our opinion.

There is a small (12 feet long) "tunnel" you have to crawl through, and a stone “staircase” you have to climb at the end. This is a very steep stone wall that has stairs cut into it and is held to the side of the cliff by a wire fence and chain handrail. As long as you don't look down, you will should be fine. This is NOT for those with a severe fear of heights or small places. Remember, you are at an elevation of more than 7000 feet, so if you are not used to it, even small efforts become harder.

These challenges were TOTALLY worth it! This was an amazing experience and the rangers are great!

The history of these cliffs and their people is fascinating and we got to experience it, not just read about it, but in fact feel it, touch it, climb it…. To know that you are standing where ancient people lived, loved, played, and worked while hanging precariously from stone cliffs for more than 700 years between 550 A.D. to 1300 A.D., is almost unbelievable. A society that farmed and traveled to trade as far as Mexico and Canada. Each of these dwellings is unique and fantastically preserved telling their story.

The image to the left is the opening of the 12 foot long tunnel. You will go in and someone will be in front of you and someone will be behind you.

Mesa Verde is a truly unique place and the only one of its kind in the Americas. Even if you are not a history buff, you will be blown away by the cliffs and vistas, and the fact that there were people living and thriving here hundreds of years before America was “discovered”.

After the tour of Balcony House, we made our way to Spruce House and visited the museum and gift shop. This was an impressive museum with many original artifacts found at the different sites, and information about them. It was hard to believe that we were looking at a bowl that was more than 1300 years old when we can’t seem to keep a bowl nice after a few years of light use and a few dozen times through the dishwasher.

Tips

• Don’t drive your RV – Don't do it! Unless you are an expert driver, use your toad or hitch a ride, any vehicle over 20 feet is not recommended. The roads are steep, windy, and have terrifying drop-offs. There are tour buses but they start halfway up and the first half is the scariest part. We know from experience, We drove it and it was terrifying. It is possible but not recommended.

• Wear appropriate gear, you will be climbing, crawling, and will be on an exposed cliff face at elevation for about 2 hours. Jeans, comfortable shoes with grip (flip flops would be a no-no), and a light jacket are in order.

• Balcony House and Long House require a pretty physical trek just to get to them. There is walking a narrow trail, climbing log ladders, and rock stairs. Once there, you have more climbing and crawling to do.