Mesa Verde

By far this was my favorite spot so far, Mesa Verde is an area bursting at the rim with history. Being a little bit of a history nerd, I could spend days here if not weeks.


Some quick fun facts about Mesa Verde:
-The Ancestral Pueblo people lived here for 700+ years.
-There are almost 5,000 known archeological sites with 600 cliff dwellings.
-Though Mesa Verde is best known for its cliff dwellings, the Pueblo people did not start building these structures until the last couple hundred of years they inhabited the area.


Although two of the large cliff dwelling areas were closed for the season, one was only available by guided tour, we were able to walk through the Spruce Tree Dwellings.

A Kiva in the Spruce Tree Dwellings

Square Tower Dwellings

You can see the bars where people are trying to stabilize the tower. You can see the four stories of the tower and the larger Kiva to the left.

You can see the hand and foot holes Puebloans chipped in the wall.

The Puebloans chipped hand and foot holes in the cliff faces so they could reach the dwellings. Later they would also add in ladders. 

This dwelling had four stories and even round towers. Even though these dwellings are being restored to preserve them, most of the dwellings are 90% in original condition. 

How many archeologists does it take to restore a fireplace?

You can see the expansive cliffs that the dwellings were built. 

Dwellings built into a gap in the cliff. 

Chase made a egg in a pancake! He calls it a Frog in a Pocket (similar to a toad in the hole).

Hopefully I will be back to see more of Mesa Verde!