Mesa Verde

The Pueblo Indians, for reasons that are not altogether clear, moved from their farms on the tops of the mountains, and with remarkable skill, they built their homes in the cliffs below the summit, using every crack and crevice to make stores and living quarters.

They moved on, leaving these amazing cliff dwellings for bemused farmers to discover, centuries later, while looking for lost cattle in a blizzard. This fascinating history drew us there, and was the reason that we stopped in Cortez, Colorado, to explore the area.
 The road up into the Mesa Verde National Park wound upwards in steep hairpins with spectacular views, and we were thoroughly enjoying the drive until we noticed the clouds that were covering the sun and looking increasingly threatening. The Parks department has done a wonderful job of marking out paths to the overlooks where one has a clear view of the cliff dwellings – we decided that we would not take any of the tours on offer, which come with health warnings for folk with any type of problem, as the sites are very high (approximately 10 000 ft) and the tours entail much hiking and clambering up ladders on cliff-faces, definitely not an attractive thought to my mind!!

 We had just completed a walk along the first overlook, and were happily comparing our pictures, when the rain came down, and a very cold rain it was too. We decided to go on the circular drive anyway, in case the dwellings were visible from the road, and, of course, we ended up running to the lookout points in the rain (thank goodness for the wonderful rain jackets we bought in London!), taking photos and then charging back to our truck again to dry glasses and cameras in preparation for the next foray!

   And each time we decided that there would be no more foolish running in the rain, something even more interesting became visible, and out we went again! Eventually the rain dampened our enthusiasm, in a manner of speaking, and we gave up and headed for home – only to see the rain changing into small hail, and then to a full-blown snowstorm! Visibility decreased to nil, and the drive down the mountain took a hair-raising hour and a half, slip-sliding on the ice, peering through the snow and dodging the snow plow that came charging up the road clearing some of the obstruction. What an adventure!

Although we stayed on in Cortez another day in the hope that the weather would clear so that we could have another look at the Mesa, the forecast remained bleak and we left on Friday morning having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves despite rain, wind and snow, and hoping that some day we will be able to go back to this fascinating park in more favorable weather.