“See I can see good things for you and I” – The BoDeans
First full day in Colorado. Best day of the trip? I don’t know, but it keeps looking worse and worse for Kansas City. We were up at the crack of dawn – 5:45 AM – in order to make it to the end of the Chapin Mesa at Mesa Verde National Park in time for our 7:45 tour of Square Tower House (I had a hard time finding a link to any actual description of this house, but this article, starting on page 55 of the pdf, was pretty good). We were led my Ranger Piper who from the very beginning shared his deep knowledge, understanding, and respect for the park with us.
We descended down a trail cut into a nearly vertical cliff. There were ropes anchored into the rock in several places to give us a hand-hold as we climbed down the rock and two ladders. We passed several areas where the hand and foot holds carved by the original inhabitants of these pueblos. I’m glad the the NPS provided us with a more secure way to climb!
When we reached the bottom of the trail we took a few minutes to take in the remains of the buildings around us. The tower this location is named for loomed above us. Through its windows we could still see the painted plaster that lined the walls. We were also able to see the area called the Crow’s Nest. A complex of rooms the are positioned high above the rest of the house. As Ranger Piper explained the purposes of the various rooms and the activities of the people who lived there he showed us and let us hold some of the pottery pieces that were found at this site.
To me seeing and holding this pottery was the best part of the experience. It made it possible to feel a connection to the people who created and used these items 900 years ago. Examining the glaze and feeling the texture made the objects real in a way that seeing them in the museum doesn’t. Another highlight was seeing the nearly intact ceiling of one of the kivas and the floor of the Crow’s Nest. These parts of the pueblos aren’t preserved as often as walls. The girls spotted a small pile of seashells that the inhabitants of Square Tower House would have traded for. We also spotted numerous petroglyphs of the rocks.
Eventually the time came for us to climb back up the cliff and into our modern world. We stopped at the museum to watch a video about the history of the area and view the exhibits about various aspects of construction and life at Mesa Verde throughout its history.
Since we hadn’t had much breakfast (Holiday Inn – it’s not OK to substitute Cinnabon for your delicious cinnamon rolls, they are not as good) we headed to the nearby town of Mancos, CO where we discovered the Absolute Bakery and Cafe. We loved the food and atmosphere so much that I think we’ll probably be back tomorrow. After lunch we wanted to explore the area around Mancos a bit so drove north to Delores, CO. Eventually we found our way back to Mancos where the girls had smoothies/coffee and we browsed the Farmer’s Market.
We topped the day off with dinner at Thai Cortez and ice cream at Moose and More. So in short, today we had an awesome experience at Mesa Verde, great food all day, and a fun time exploring this part of Colorado. I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings when we return to Mesa Verde to visit Mug House!