The Wetherill Experience Trail is one of three special ranger guided hikes offered during the 2010 summer season at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. The hike is designed as a 6.5 mile, 6 hour tour of a combination of front country and back country Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites. My hiking group was small so we decided to skip the front country sites as they can be easily visited without a ranger guide. Visiting just the back country kept the hiking distance at 6.5 miles but shortened the time, welcome on a 90 F degree mid July day.
The hike begins at the Wetherill Mesa Kiosk and follows the existing front country trail and the tram road. There are two mesa top unexcavated rubble pile sites visible along the way that are not part of the Badger House trail and we stopped at one of them. The back country trail segment starts near the rubble pile site and provides some different views of Kodak House, one of the attractions along the tram road. Normally, the views of Kodak House are rushed as no one wants to delay the tram, but on this hike more time can be spent. This was the one front country site where we actually spent some time. Kodak House has 70 rooms and 6 kivas and is No. 22 among the Nordenskiold sites.
Part of the Wetherill Experience no matter which trail, is observing the effects of the forest fires from 2000. Passing slowly along the tram road, we noticed that some small Junipers and Pinon Pines had started growing in the burned areas.
The first back country site visited is known only as site No. 12. Watch your step as the view is from close to the Rock Canyon rim. This site has a surprising 26 rooms and 3 kivas. With binoculars there are petroglyph panels visible. My favorite Wetherill brother, John inscribed his initials JW here in 1891. JW’s initials can also be found at the right end of the Spruce Tree House site.
From the site No. 12 viewpoint, there is a pair of alcove eyes looking back across Rock Canyon. The eye to the right has a ruins site called Plank House, with 20 rooms and 2 kivas. The site No. 12 has a round tower on the left side of the site. One of the theories of the function of towers is for communication, so one could scan the area near Plank House for a tower to communicate with.
The highlight of the Wetherill Experience is Double House, located in an east facing side canyon of Bobcat Canyon. I was surprised how many of these sites I had never heard of. They don’t seem to be mentioned to in any of the typical Mesa Verde information.
From the Double House overlook it took 1:40 hours to return to the Wetherill Kiosk for a total hike of 4:30 hours. The front country Long House overlook could have been a final stop but we by-passed it as the Long House tour is one of the standard ranger guided $3 hikes. The cost of the Wetherill Experience hike is $35 and includes a sandwich, chips, juice, granola bar, and fruit lunch. I carried 4 liters of water and drank most of it. The Wetherill Experience hike is being offered on a trial basis in 2010 and includes sites that are rarely viewed by the public, so don’t miss this opportunity.
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