Mesa Verde Springs Alive!

As much as winter wants to keep a grasp on the Four Corners area, spring's persistence wins out eventually; winter at Mesa Verde is no exception.  With this write up, I'll still give a few glimpses at the amazing ruin sites, but they don't truly change with the seasons. 

This time I'm going to focus more on Mesa Verde's landscape, wildlife and plants; the awakening from a deep slumber to a bright new season. With every visit to the park, there are certain viewing areas that we just cannot pass by; the views are spectacular and we want to see the changes.  From the entrance to Far View is a 15 mile trek; the valleys of Mancos and Montezuma stretch as far as the eye can see.

Mancos Valley; while there is snow up on the mountains in the distance, the valley below is beginning to get signs of greenery.



























Montezuma Valley; Sleeping Ute Mountain in the distance has shed his wintery coat of snow; will the warmth of spring give him cause to rise this year?

 

Snow covered mountains, stark landscape and suddenly greenery announcing that spring is here; also keep an eye out for alcoves in the rock face and perhaps a ruin site might be hidden there...or not.

Finally at Far View, you look south and there is Shiprock down New Mexico way; the ever present haze is there, but not so bad the day I took this photo.  I recently read an article in the local paper that the haze is actually caused by all the petroleum rigs in that area.  There are plans to try and do something about the pollution before Shiprock becomes totally shrouded.

Stopping at the museum, we decided to do a few shots of Spruce Tree House from the overlook; the spirits there don't seem to mind as one showed up in another of my photos.




A spirit orb in the upper middle window.

Another one of our favorite sites to visit is Square Tower House; mainly because its location on the cliff face always makes us wonder...how did they get up and down from there!?!  There is an alcove nearby with broken up ruins inside; the canyon views are always breath taking.

One of the enjoyments I had was two horses posing for me.  The April 2nd edition of our local paper reprinted an article about the horses; feral, "trespassing" horses that have been deemed a nuisance.  They are aggressive toward the elk herds in Mesa Verde, especially when competing for spots at the watering holes.  These horses are not protected under the "Wild Horse and Burro Act"; personally I'm not exactly sure why "feral" and "wild" are not the same thing.  Measures have been made to keep the horses from coming into the National Park, and to stay on Ute Tribal land.  I do hope they allow a small number to remain though as they add so much personality to the landscape; what is the southwest without the horse?













Along the route of Oak Tree House, Sunset House and The Fire Temple; Roy and I enjoy wandering through the wooden areas. Not only do we get those canyon views that aren't seen from the ruin overlooks, but there are interesting finds of the natural kind such as Yucca growing out from between rocks, or Desert Phlox growing out of the dry and dusty ground.    Those tiny flowers of the Phlox are a sure sign that spring has taken hold and told winter to hit the road.



Oak Tree House
 

Sunset House
 

Fire Temple
 

 

The Cliff Palace is pretty amazing; but we make sure to search for other amazing formations that Mother Nature created herself.   Have to give credit where credit is due; that woman is awesomely talented!  By the way, if you happen to be standing at one of the many overlooks and this truly foul odor assails your nostrils...no, it's not the person standing next to you.  See that bush with the wide oval leaves and star like flowers; say hello to the Utah Serviceberry. This bush was very useful to the Native American as the berries could be eaten and the strong twigs made into bows.  The smell is a defense mechanism; but birds, deer, elk and the human figured that out right away.






Cliff Palace

 

Another of our favorite spots is the House of Many Windows; there is a ledge area off to the right of the overlook where you can crawl out to the edge and get the best photos of, not just the ruins, but the canyons. 



House of Many Windows

While we enjoy stopping at the overlooks, we always make sure to simply drive the park one last time before heading to either a restaurant for a good meal; or home to fall asleep in our bed in contented exhaustion.  That one final drive gives us the option to see something that we might have missed out on, and Mesa Verde has not disappointed yet.  Near the museum were some rather large cactus bushes (Colorado Buckhorn Cholla) I hadn't truly looked at before.  Funny, they reminded me of those monstrous plants from the 1951 science fiction movie, "Day of the Triffids".  Suddenly though, there was a little song in the air; a lone warbler sitting on a leafless branch heralding the coming of spring.  Nice ending to a nice day.

Mary Cokenour

 

 

 

The Autumn Season at Mesa Verde.

Roy and I have been to Mesa Verde National Park four times, once for every season; each time we have found something new to look at, or seen something from a totally new viewpoint.  Since it is October and the fall season of the year has begun, I am going to introduce you to Mesa Verde in the Fall.  The leaves are turning color, or already begun falling off the tree limbs, giving the ruins a new type of framework to view them from.  Between the four seasons, we have taken over 600 photos, so picking out just a few to give enjoyment was difficult, so not every set of ruins will be displayed; have to save something for the other seasons you know.

Point Lookout (Butte above Park entrance)

Mesa Verde National Park is huge; I recommend spending an entire day to be able to see as many ruin sites as possible, and perhaps take one of the ranger guided tours.  The Visitors Center used to be 15 miles from the park entrance, but it has been rebuilt at the entrance, so you can gather all your information and get tour tickets.  The long winding roadway is overseen by Point Lookout; this butte can be seen for miles and is basically the park's "Welcome, you have arrived!" sign.


The first viewpoint you can park at has a stone and wooden balcony from which you can look over the Mancos Valley, and see the Rocky Mountains beyond.  At Park Point, you will have a short hike upwards that will afford you a magnificent view of the Montezuma Valley.  Park Point is also the highest point of Mesa Verde at 8572 feet above sea level.

View of Montezuma Valley from Park Point.

While there are plenty of sites along the way, on this Fall excursion we drove directly to the museum area.  The concrete walkway down to Spruce Tree House ruins is located there; it's about a three mile roundtrip hike with a short offshoot path to a petroglyph area.  Before getting to the ruins, there is a short primitive pathway to a cave like area; a pretty detour.

Spruce Tree House

 

Spruce Tree House is a long and deep set of ruins which are roped off to keep people from climbing onto or walking through them.  There is a Kiva that can be accessed though via a very sturdy rope bound wooden ladder, and a Park ranger available to answer questions (and to make sure visitors behave).  One cannot help to wonder if anyone from the past is peeking through one of the many windows.

There are many signs throughout Mesa Verde, so it's just a matter of choice which road you wish to explore first, and you can always loop around to catch whatever sites you've missed the first time around.  We went towards the Sun Point Viewpoint where we could walk around the outside of the Sun Temple, before seeing the cliff ruins further down.  At the Sun Temple, you're best bet is to get a good window or doorway viewpoint for a photo; the walls are high and difficult to see over, since they cannot be climbed on.  My hubby likes this particular type of photo I take; he calls it the "Windows to the Past".

Behind the Sun Temple you can walk along the fence line and see ruins across the way; for closer views, drive to each designated viewpoint.

Oak Tree House



Fire Temple



Fire Temple (main section)

The Cliff Palace

The road towards The Cliff Palace (ranger guided tours available) will also lead you towards an often missed site, Hemenway House.





Hemenway House

Looking across another canyon, The House of Many Windows is hidden inside a cliff face; use the informational board as a guide to be able to find it. At the time I took this photo, I didn't have my zoom lens yet, so crawled out onto a ledge to get this shot.

House of Many Windows
 

Speaking of canyons, don't be in a rush to get from site to site; take the time to enjoy the scenery and perhaps have a spiritual moment or two.

In the area called "Far View" can be found different sets of ruins; the Coyote Village can be accessed by walking a dirt pathway through a "forested" area.  Once there, you can walk into the ruins themselves, touch the stonewalls, and look into the several Kivas, one of which has wooden poles lining its walls.

Mesa Verde in the Fall; amazing and beautiful, and wait till you see it in the other seasons.

Mary Cokenour