Four Corners Hikes-Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde Winter Ecology Hike

2012-01-29T06:45:00.000-08:00

In 2011 and 2012, Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado is encouraging winter visitors by grooming the snow in some areas for snowshoe hiking and cross country skiing. A new guided hike was offered on January 28, 2012 on Winter Ecology at Mesa Verde.

This hike was offered in the Morefield Campground area where the campground loops are part of the groomed area. The groomed campground loops also provide access to the three Morefield campground trails. Another groomed section is named the Meadow Bliss Trail. The Meadow Bliss Trail is a new route that hasn’t been identified on the park maps before now.

There was no charge for this guided hike and during January and February 2012 admission to the park is free to encourage more public use. The trailhead for winter hiking is near the Morefield Campground stores and gas station.

The first hour of the three hour program was an introduction to tracks and tracking. Tracks by themselves can be difficult to identify but the stride and straddle, or length and width, can give a clue to the size of the animal. A process of elimination led the group to conclude that these tracks might be a coyote. This hike was led by two Mesa Verde Wildlife Management rangers and one of the Interpretive Rangers, so there was a wealth of expertise.

Further on, another similar looking set of tracks was thought to be Bobcat. Bobcat tracks tend to be circular while Coyote are more oval shaped. Bobcats and Mountain Lions are both at Mesa Verde but aren’t sighted very often. Tracks might be the typical hikers best opportunity to see a sign of them.

Part of winter ecology includes the effect of subtle differences in solar radiation. In the Morefield campground area, the differences in the geology and vegetation of north and south facing slopes are visible. The south facing slopes have Pinon Pine and Juniper forest while the cooler north facing slopes have some Douglas Firs. The south facing slopes are also more jumbled in appearance due to the daily effects of freeze and thaw.

Another factor in track identification is the Gait Pattern. Common gaits include walk, trot, gallop, and jump. Gait patterns include diagonal walking like the coyote and bobcat, and bounders like rabbits and squirrels. Mice are an example of gallopers.

The bounder tracks usually have the rear feet tracks in front of the front feet, as the animal moves its rear feet forward for the next leap. Tree dwellers will show both pair of feet parallel while ground dwellers will have one foot more forward.

Toward the end of the hike, there was a demonstration of the use of motion activated cameras to monitor wildlife in a non-invasive way. This unit was capable of day and night images. There was a discussion of how this type of camera shed some light on the interaction of the elk and the feral horses at Mesa Verde. Images were captured that showed how the horses were aggressive toward the elk and drove them away from one of the water sources.

Part of the hike introduction included a demonstration of how casts of tracks are made. At the end of the hike we looked at a sample cast of a deer track. I had noticed that we didn’t see any deer tracks during the hike even though deer are common in Mesa Verde during the warmer parts of the year. The explanation is that the deer prefer the less snowy lower elevation areas and can easily move down during the winter.

The last demonstration was how plants protect themselves. Samples of Rabbitbrush, Sagebrush, Pinon Pine and Douglas Fir were placed in a zip lock bag and made available for the group to sample the scents. The strong scents indicated the presence of compounds that deter animals from browsing on them.

The total program lasted 3:00 hours. It was about 25 F degrees at the 9:00 AM start and about 35 F degrees at the 12:00 PM finish. This hike was advertised as limited to 20 hikers. Snowshoes were available to borrow for those who didn’t have their own.

T Shaped Doors at Spruce Tree House

2011-12-18T05:42:00.000-08:00

During the winter season at Mesa Verde National Park, Spruce Tree House is the only large alcove ruins site that can be visited. There are three free ranger guided tours per day leaving from the Chapin Mesa Museum at 10:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 3:30 PM.

One of the detail features of Spruce Tree House is the many T shaped doorways that are easily visible. T shaped doorways are particular and symbolic of the American southwest. They are thought to have first appeared at Chaco Canyon, New Mexico around 1020 AD. The T shapes appear later at Aztec Ruins in Aztec New Mexico and then in the Mesa Verde area.

The left side plaza area behind the two reconstructed kivas has several T shapes visible including a few that appear to have been bricked in afterwards.

There is debate as to whether the T shapes have a practical function or are they symbolic. The wider top might provide a wider space for carrying material inside and places to place your hands if you want to vault into the room. The narrow bottom might help conserve heat.

Some have noticed that the T doorways are only present for habitation rooms and not for storage rooms. This would make the living rooms easier to spot from a distance. Most of the Spruce Tree House T shapes appear to be symmetrical, but this one has uneven shoulders and looks like a larger opening was bricked in later.

Another site in the Mesa Verde area with easy to visit T shaped doors is the Escalante Pueblo at the Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, Colorado. This site is thought to have been built originally in 1129 AD, making it older than Spruce Tree House where construction is thought to have occurred from 1200 to 1276 AD. In this case the T shapes are lined up and lead from one room to the next and are not just on the exterior of the structure. Inside the Anasazi Center Museum there is a mug with a T shaped handle, giving support to the idea that the T shape is symbolic of something.

It looks like there are also places at Spruce Tree House where one T shaped door leads to another interior T shaped door. The winter tour of Spruce Tree House takes about 1:00 hour. On my mid December visit there were only two hikers on the 10:00 AM tour, a much better experience than during the busy summer season.

Mesa Verde Black on White Pottery

2011-12-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

Hikers in the more remote areas of the Four Corners will frequently come across pottery shards near the ruins sites. Not many shards are visible at Mesa Verde, but the Chapin Mesa Museum has a good display of several styles including the Mesa Verde Black on white style.

The Anasazi Heritage Center in Dolores, Colorado has some textbook style explanations of different pottery styles and list more types of Black on White than the Mesa Verde Black on White. The definition of the Mesa Verde type given there says more common after 1200 AD. It has heavier designs with more black space, placed either in bands or in all-over patterns divided in halves, thirds, or quarters. Bowls are usually decorated on both surfaces.

The McElmo Black on White style is more common between 1150-1200 AD and often shows bands of triangles, checkerboards, steps, and hatched areas. Bowls were usually painted on the inside surface only.

The Chapin Mesa Museum doesn’t mention the different styles of Black on White but emphasizes the pottery forms. The description for this bowl says it has a ticked rim, a wide design band framed with thick and thin lines.

This water jar has a symmetrical geometric design with narrow spaced hatching. The water jars are also called Ollas. They may have an indentation on the underside to make it comfortable to carry on your head.

This example is labeled as a Kiva Jar as they have been mostly found in kivas. The top is shaped to accept a lid. This kiva jar is considered to be the finest piece in the Mesa Verde collection. The trail guide for the Nordenskiold Ruin No. 16 Trail on Wetherill Mesa says that this jar was found there during the excavations of Jesse Nusbaum in 1928-1929. It has been on display here at the Chapin Mesa Museum since the 1950s.

A miniature of this same jar also seems to appear in the diorama that depicts alcove life after 1200 AD. The dioramas are part of the CCC work of the depression era 1930s. It becomes obvious with experience at Mesa Verde that the dioramas are based on actual locations in the park. The scene that contains the famous pottery example is based on the Spruce Tree House that is right outside the museum.

Sun Point Pueblo on the Mesa Top Tour

2011-11-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

The Sun Point Pueblo is the sixth stop on the Mesa Top Pithouse to Pueblo Tour at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. This area of Chapin Mesa is part of the park that is kept open all winter. The road and short trails to the Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites are kept clear of snow and provide a hard surface for walking when other trails are muddy or snow covered.

I started my hike at the parking area for the third stop Square Tower House and visited the other sites toward the Sun Point View Point area. The sequence of ruins sites on the Mesa Top Loop traces the history of building styles in the Mesa Verde area from 600 to 1300 AD.

In the winter season, there isn’t much traffic and this is a pleasant walk with thick Pinon Pine and Juniper forest on both sides of the road. The Sun Point Pueblo is partly sheltered in an open sided building.

The key feature of the Sun Point Pueblo is the Tower and Kiva combination in the center of the village. Surrounding the Tower and Kiva are the outlines of 15 rooms. The interpretive sign in the shelter has a diagram showing the entire site.

The Tower and Kiva combination is one of several that can be viewed at Mesa Verde. Cedar Tree Tower and Far View Tower, also on Chapin Mesa are similar. There is also an example on the Badger House Trail on Wetherill Mesa.

Sun Point Pueblo is missing much of its material and it is thought that some of it might have been moved to build the many alcove structures that are visible at the nearby Sun Point overlook. The Sun Point Pueblo is thought to have been occupied for only a short period of time, during the transition to the alcove sites

It is easy to overlook the room block outlines that are on both sides of the shelter building. It is thought that there may have been as many as 30 rooms here with a population of about 50.

On the way off the Mesa Top Loop I saw a coyote also strolling along the road. My hike on the Mesa Top Loop from stops 3 to 7 was on a sunny 40 F degree mid November day. There were patches of snow in shady spots in the forest. My hike took 1:30 hours for about 2 miles.

Square Tower House Guided Hike

2011-09-14T04:30:00.000-07:00

The Square Tower House overlook is the third stop on the Mesa Top Pit House to Pueblo Tour at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. For many years, since the 1930s, the view from the overlook was only way for visitors to see the Square Tower House.

In the Fall season of 2011 from September 1 to October 15, ranger guided hikes into the site are offered on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. These tours start at 8:00 AM and last about 2 hours. There is a $20 charge and reservations have to be made. Each tour is limited to 10 hikers.

The 1 mile round trip hike is advertised as strenuous, but seemed to me to be very easy except that there are two ladders to descend. The transition from the carved steps to the lower ladder looks a little tricky from above, but there are ropes to hold on to.

The short segment of trail from the trailhead to the ladders has a spectacular view across Navajo Canyon with Echo House visible across the canyon. This trail was part of the CCC construction in the 1930s and includes the type of carved steps that are seen on other older trails in the park. The ladders are new for 2011.

The tour crosses in front of the site and begins at the left end. In this left side area a boulder broke loose in recent years and did some damage to some of the walls. The ranger related that there was consultation with current day pueblo people about what to do about the damage, and the result was that the damage was part of the natural process and should be accepted.

The park works to stabilize these structures but not to rebuild them in the current era. At first glance, the eye catching structures are the 28 foot Square Tower and the Crow’s Nest high in a crevice. The left side is the location of the Nordenskiold No. 8 and the John Wetherill JW initials. These historic inscriptions are visible but somewhat small and faint.

Just to the right of the tall tower, there is a kiva with half of the roof still in place. Some of the construction details of the placement of wood beams are visible along with a cross section of the packed mud surface.

From this same view point there are close up views of the Square Tower. This is the tallest structure in Mesa Verde.

Further to the right there is another kiva with part of the roof still intact. The view into the kiva is from a lower angle and some of the cribbing of the log roof is visible.

From the right side there are also the closest views of the Crow’s Nest. This structure isn’t visible from the overlook. We had a discussion of what the Crow’s Nest was for but the exact purpose isn’t known. It could have been a lookout or signaling point. It looks like it might have been possible to enter the site along the crevice and ledges where the Crow’s Nest is located but it looks very tricky. There are some very faint petroglyphs in the sandstone on the right side of the site but they are difficult to see.

An interesting point was made about the two tone plaster that is sometimes seen at these sites. The upper band of plaster is white and the lower band is buff colored.

Turning and looking out at the canyon, the upper sky is bright above a darker buff color of the sandstone cliffs. The interior decoration imitates the natural views outside. The ranger made the point that the people were very in touch with their environment, more than we are today.

With stops for discussion, it took our group of seven 0:45 minutes to arrive at Square Tower House. We spent 0:50 minutes viewing the site and 0:25 minutes to return to the trailhead. It was a 68 F degree September morning and most of the hike was in shade. I carried 2 liters of water but didn’t drink until the hike was completed.

Megalithic House on the Far View Trail

2011-07-05T06:26:00.000-07:00

The Far View Trail is a 0.75 mile loop that visits 6 excavated sites in one of the most populated areas of Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. In the 2011 summer season, there are ranger led hikes on the Far View Trail on Mondays and Fridays at 4:00 PM.

The north end of the loop leads to the unusual Megalithic House. Megalithic House uses large stones as part of the building style. At first, these large stones were the only evidence that something was here. Megalithic House is considered to be the home of one clan. The cluster of structures includes a kiva and several other rooms.

The Far View area is at an elevation of about 7800 feet. This elevation is about the limit for growing corn in this region. The advantage is that there is more moisture at higher elevation but the growing season is shorter and has to be timed carefully to avoid frosts.

What is unusual about Megalithic House is that the stone work in the kiva appears to be very fine while the work on the other buildings appears to be very course. Also, the floor of the kiva penetrates into the bedrock, very difficult to accomplish working by hand. The guided tour of Far View stays on the main trail and doesn’t visit any of the 50 village sites that are unexcavated. The total guided hike lasts about 1:00 hour.

Knife Edge Trail Bird Hike

2011-06-16T05:28:00.000-07:00

During the 2011 summer season Mesa Verde National Park is offering bird hikes on the Knife Edge Trail on Sunday and Wednesday at 7:30 AM. The Knife Edge Trail is one of three trails in the Morefield Campground area.

The Knife Edge Trail is a 2 mile round trip along the north rim and historically was a main road in the park, built in 1914. As a regular hike it emphasizes the plants in the area that were available to the Ancestral Pueblo people. There are also wide views of the Montezuma Valley with the regional mountain ranges visible.

The bird hike is different than other hiking in that the walking is slower and the talking is more in whispers. There is more effort at listening and wide angle awareness to spot movement of the birds. If you suffer from Nature-deficit disorder, bird hiking might be for you.

The Mesa Verde checklist of birds includes 186 species with 78 known to breed in the park. The checklist mentions five habitat types including Mesa Tops, Side Canyons, Deep Canyons, Riparian, and North Rim.

The Knife Edge Trail is probably the typical North Rim Habitat where the mountain shrubs include Gambel Oak, Utah Serviceberry, Mountain Mahogany, Cliff Fendler Bush, Chokecherry, and shady spots with Douglas Firs.

The highlight possibility on the hike is Peregrine Falcons along the sandstone cliffs. They have been sighted on some of the hikes but we didn’t see any on the day I hiked.

The birds we did see included Rufous-sided and Green-tailed Towhees, Scrub Jay, Raven, Rock Wren and another wren, maybe the Canyon Wren. There were many high flying birds high above on the cliff tops that were either White-throated Swifts or Violet-green Swallows. One bird we thought was a Yellow-rumped Warbler.

The hike is advertised as lasting two hours, but since this isn’t an archaeology sensitive area, you can stay longer even if the ranger has to leave. I stayed on the trail for 2:50 hours, finishing by myself. On the return hike I saw a Western Tanager and a circling soaring hawk with broad wings, probably the Red Tailed Hawk.

Oak Tree House on Fewkes Canyon Trail

2011-06-11T13:54:00.000-07:00

One of the most eye catching of the several Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites visible from Sun Point is the Oak Tree House. During the summer of 2011, Mesa Verde National Park is offering ranger guided hikes to Oak Tree House and further on to New Fire House and the Fire Temple.

Oak Tree House has about 50 rooms and 6 kivas. The interpretive sign at the Sun Point overlook says that the sloping alcove floor was leveled using retaining walls and fill, and that every available square foot of area was used, including the ledge area above.

The one mile round trip trail begins at the Sun Temple on the Mesa Top Loop. The hike gets off to a fast start with hikers clinging to an installed rope and stepping carefully into carved footholds and descending a ladder to a ledge area. The ledge trail winds around the point under the Sun Temple and Mummy House.

Along the way there are views from below toward Mummy House and across Cliff Canyon toward Cliff Palace and Sunset House. Near the tip of the point there is a small seep spring that one of the water sources for this relatively highly populated canyon area.

The trail to Oak Tree House was mostly constructed in 1915 and was improved in the 1930s but has not been used much since then. There were a few hikes here in the 2006 Mesa Verde Centennial year. In the 2010-11 summer seasons some of these rarely used trails have been re-opened on a trial basis to public visits.

The kiva at the right end of the site appears to have been modified into a grain grinding room. Another Mesa Verde site where I’ve noticed an indoor grinding room is Coyote Village on the Far View Trail.

There is a lot of soot visible at Oak Tree House. The square opening on the upper left appears to be a well framed window. Most of the small openings that we think are windows are actually doorways, but this one appears to actually be a window.

Oak Tree House is being monitored for structural changes with small monitors that are visible. This device provides data for deciding if any action needs to be taken to stabilize the fragile walls.

On the left side of the site, a T shaped doorway is visible near other rectangular doorways. The building dates for Oak Tree House appear to be earlier than many of the other cliff dwelling sites. The dates here are 1184 AD to a construction stop in 1209 AD.

From Oak Tree House the hike continues a short distance to New Fire House and Fire Temple (see separate post for Fire Temple). After visiting there we retrace back to the trailhead. The hike is advertised as two hours but is a better experience if it lasts close to three hours.

Fire Temple on Fewkes Canyon Trail

2011-06-11T06:13:00.000-07:00

One of the special hikes at Mesa Verde National Park in 2011 visits the Fire Temple and New Fire House in Fewkes Canyon. These side by side sites are visible from Sun Point on the Mesa Top Loop but have not been visited by the public since the 1930s.

The one mile round trip hike begins at the Sun Temple and winds around the point past Oak Tree House and below Mummy House. The hike I was on started hiking at about 8:20 AM and arrived at New Fire House at about 9:45 AM.

New Fire House is a two level structure. The lower level has seven rooms and three kivas. From the trail level, New Fire House is hard to view because the trail is a little below the floor level of the site. From the right side, there is an open area in the back of the alcove with some moisture and plants growing similar to Balcony House and Long House.

One of the possible interpretations of New Fire House is that it was the residence of the persons who were responsible for the ceremonies held at the adjacent Fire Temple. The trail stays along the front and doesn’t enter the site. There weren’t any good views into the kivas.

The upper level has 13 rooms. The overlook interpretive sign says there are foot and toe holds leading to the upper level and that ladders were probably used. There is a good view of the structure to the right of the upper level from below.

The main section of the Fire Temple resembles the floor a great kiva with two rectangular structures and a central circular structure that we usually think is a fire pit. The rectangular structures are often described as foot drums associated with dancing. The large outdoor plaza at Long House on Wetherill Mesa has similar features.

The great kivas at Chaco Canyon have these features as does the great kiva at Aztec Ruins. Early investigator J.W. Fewkes thought that the central fire pit may have been an “eternal flame” due to the large quantity of ashes that were found here. Fewkes saw a connection between this site and current “New Fire” rites practiced by the Hopis that he had spent much time with.

There is a lot of white plaster still intact here. Our group spent some time scanning the plaster for small images. There are two vertical zig zag snake like designs in the plaster but you have to look carefully to see them.

We noticed a large alcove directly across the canyon from the Fire Temple area but couldn’t see any structures. The possible explanation for non use is that this site doesn’t catch as much winter sun, but it is known as a Basketmaker, or early era site.

On the left side of the Fire Temple is a room with some pictographs on the wall. The images to the right are unusual and resemble Prickly Pear Cactus with flower buds. There are also some mountain sheep images. An early picture of these images also included some Kokopelli images that are now missing.

We had a discussion of how early visitors to these sites left historic inscriptions, but many of these were later considered to be graffiti and have been removed. It was speculated that the Kokopellis might have been removed for their phallic features.

The total hike to Oak Tree House and the Fire Temple took 2:50 hours. The tour is advertised as a two hour hike but the more leisurely 2:50 hour pace was appreciated by our group. In 2011 this hike is being offered May 29 to September 5 on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays for a cost of $20.

Sun Calendars Tour-Ute Mountain Tribal Park

2011-05-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

The Sun Calendar Tour in Ute Mountain Tribal Park is a special tour of the Mancos Canyon area and is usually offered in late May. The tour starts at the main park entrance, south of Cortez in southwest Colorado. The tour focuses on special petroglyphs in the Mancos Canyon area. Most of these sites are near the sites that are visited on the regular tours.

The first stop is an isolated boulder not far from the park entrance. There is a four ring spiral on the south side, but it is the odd arrangement of the boulders that make this a sun observation site. From this point, the point where the sun rises and sets along the canyon rim through the year can be noted.

On the north side of the boulder there is a panel that includes several animal related figures. The tour included a stop at the Red Pottery Village, a stop that is also in the regular tours. The Red Pottery Village has several large rubble pile ruins sites and a tremendous amount of artifacts visible on the surface. This village may have been the center of the Mancos Canyon community at one point.

The Many Cliffs area is usually on the regular tour and has some small ruins sites and a petroglyph and pictograph panel. The Sun Calendar image of interest is to the left of the lower small ruins site on a triangular wedge of stone. There is a five ring spiral above a grid, with five tick marks below the grid. On the winter solstice, the moving shadow aligns with each ring and tick mark. The grid is thought to represent the farming fields.

The next site has the largest spiral that has been found in this area. The importance of these sun calendars is that the growing season here is barely long enough for the corn crop. The ideal planting time is a short time before the summer solstice. Planting too early could lead to failure due to a late spring freeze.

The winter solstice is a time for ceremonies. Much of the religious activity is thought to relate to rainfall and the planting and fertility of the crops. The area around the large spiral has other rock art and small ruins.

The highlight of the sun calendar tour is the Butterfly site. A pointy rock directs a shadow across two side by side panels. The left panel is thought to represent the creation story and the right panel the emergence story.

The figures on the left include the spider, a spiral for the sun, the God of Land, thunder clouds, and a Kokopelli. These figures are symbolically touching. The thunder cloud image resembles a butterfly at first glance, but has five tick marks at the bottom, similar to the grid figure we saw earlier.

The symbols on the right are thought to represent the moon, the Evening Star i.e. planet Venus, several human figures, and the man made groove represents the place of emergence. Further to the right is a hole in the rock thought to represent the Sipapu connection with the earth that is also seen in some kivas. This panel could be 1500 years old, suggesting that these religious ideas have been constant for centuries.

The final stop was at Kiva Point, one of the regular tour stops. There is a short trail here. The trail visits several petroglyph panels, overlooks a great kiva, and there is a large display of pottery shards and other artifacts. Kiva Point is one of the most important areas in Mancos Canyon. The Sun Calendar tour focused on one of the petroglyph images that included many small dots. There is a pattern in these dots that suggests that this might be a yearly calendar, representing 365 days.

The tour I was on started at 9:00 AM and returned at 1:10 PM. The cost was $29 dollars and included transportation into Mancos Canyon.

Cliff Palace Kivas

2011-04-24T05:54:00.000-07:00

Cliff Palace is the largest and most popular of the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. From April to November, Cliff Palace can be visited on $3, one hour ranger guided tours.

The guided tours begin at an overlook point. From above, many of the visible rooms are the circular kivas. The current trail guide says that Cliff Palace has 21 large circular, partially underground rooms and 2 kiva-like structures. The usual tour has 3 stops. At the overlook there is an introduction to the site and some safety precautions.

The group then descends to the left side and discusses how the alcove structures fit in with the overall way of life in the region, and the theories of why the alcove structures were built and why they were eventually abandoned. At the final stop, the group gathers around a kiva on the right side and views the interior details. During the busy summers, the tours begin every 30 minutes and the groups are forced to keep moving.

Many of the Cliff Palace kivas are toward the back of the site or are surrounded by square walls and aren’t visible to visitors walking along the front of the site.

The trail guide describes one of the kivas as being at the center of Cliff Palace at the point where walls without doorways divides the site into two parts. This kiva or the partition hasn’t been pointed out on any of the tours I have attended; perhaps it isn’t easy to see at ground level.

Most of the Mesa Verde Kivas show a similar design. There are usually six pillars, or pilasters, to support the roof material. A deflector wall directs the incoming fresh air from the ventilation shaft around the room and away from the fire pit.

About half of the kivas have a small symbolic hole in the floor called the Sipapu. Some kivas have passage ways to other rooms. The usual entrance is through the roof. None of the Cliff Palace kivas has a roof but there are three reconstructed kiva roofs at Spruce Tree House.

Some kivas have a recess on one side giving a keyhole shape. The keyhole shaped kivas at the large Chaco Canyon structures in northwest New Mexico are pointed out as examples of Mesa Verde influence. Kivas are most often interpreted as of ceremonial purpose because current day Pueblo people use them that way. The explanation I like is that they were necessary for winter survival.

We mostly visit these sites in the warm part of the year, not when there are several feet of snow on the ground and temperatures are freezing. The underground arrangement provides insulation and conserves heat. The kivas are the only structures we see with ventilation systems. The recess areas could be for storage of food and fuel during a storm. The passage ways provide a way to get out without exposure to the elements.

Cliff Canyon Overlooks

2011-01-27T05:05:00.000-08:00

The Cliff Canyon overlooks are south of the famous Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. During the winter season, the six mile Cliff Palace Loop at Mesa Verde is usually closed to vehicles, but can still be hiked or cross country skied. During the busy summer season, most visitors pass quickly by the Cliff Canyon view points after visiting Cliff Palace or heading to Balcony House.

I snow shoe hiked part of the Cliff Palace Loop in late January. In 2011, the snow has been groomed for easy snow shoe walking and skiing. At the lasso part of the loop, I stayed right and visited the Cliff Palace overlook and the two Cliff Canyon overlooks. It took me about 0:45 minutes to arrive at the Cliff Palace trailhead. In winter, there are also view points of Cliff Palace from Sun Point and Sun Temple on the west side of Cliff Canyon.

The first viewpoint south of Cliff Palace is the Cliff Canyon Overlook. Across the canyon is Sun Point on the Mesa Top Tour, which is one of the best ruins view points in the region, with up to 12 ruins sites visible. To the right is a side view of part of Sunset House. Looking across the canyon, there are three small ruins sites visible. Sun Point Dwelling has only three rooms along a narrow ledge over a 100 foot drop off. To the left of Sun Point Dwelling is Site 634 with 16 rooms and 2 kivas.

Along this segment there are some views up Fewkes Canyon with some side views of Oak Tree House and the Sun Temple. The best views of the several Fewkes Canyon ruins sites are along the Mesa Top Tour.

A short distance further south is a view of the House of Many Windows. The multiple openings are actually doors. The site is thought to have 11 rooms and maybe a kiva. I turned around at the House of Many Windows overlook and returned the way I came. My total snow shoe hike was 2:30 hours for about 4 miles on a 35 F late January day. It had been 4 weeks since 2 feet of snow had fallen and there had been some melting without any additional snow.

Cliff Palace Loop in Winter

2011-01-14T05:55:00.000-08:00

The Cliff Palace Loop is the 6 mile loop road that leads to the popular Cliff Palace and Balcony House tours during the summer season at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. During the winter the road is closed to vehicles, but has been groomed for cross country skiing and snow shoe hiking. I think this is a new feature for the 2011 winter season.

There is room to park in the vicinity of the closed gate without blocking it. It is about 1.25 miles along the two way road section to the beginning of the loop. Staying to the right leads another 0.25 miles to the Cliff Palace Trailhead where there are overlooking views of the most famous Mesa Verde cliff dwelling site.

The first segment along the trail passes through a forest area that was burned during the forest fires in 2000 and then normal forest borders the trail. The snow shoe hiking was easy on the groomed surface. At the loop, I took the left fork and continued about 0.25 miles to the Soda Canyon Trail. It took me 0.45 minutes to arrive at the Soda Canyon Trailhead.

The Soda Canyon Trail is a 1.2 mile round trip to overlooks that offer the only views of Balcony House. The trail wasn’t groomed but the route was mostly easy to follow as a wide lane passing through the Juniper and Pinon Pine forest. I got a little confused at the point where the trail crosses a drainage and then turns south. The snow hiking here was harder, with most of my steps sinking in about six inches.

Balcony House doesn’t get much direct sunlight in the winter but does appear to provide shelter from the several feet of snow that the area receives. The view is from a distance, but the famous ladder and some of the features can be spotted from the overlook.

I spent 0:55 minutes on the Soda Canyon Trail and my total hike took 2:20 hours on a 28 F degree sunny mid January day. I didn’t complete the 6 mile loop, but returned the way I came for a total of about 4.2 miles. No one else was using the trail during my hike.

Snowshoeing in Morefield Canyon

2011-01-05T13:09:00.000-08:00

Morefield Canyon is the home of the campground at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. It is located only a few miles past the main entrance. In the summer season, there are three hiking trails that begin in the vicinity of the campground. In winter, the campground roads provide a level area for scenic snow hiking.

My hike was about one week after a 2 foot snowfall. The main park road was cleared and the Morefield Village service area was cleared. It was possible to drive to within about 100 yards of the trail head area for the Prater Ridge Trail. It appeared that parts of the campground roads have been groomed somewhat, making the footing more compact and easy. It looked like a few cross country skiers and snowshoe hikers had already used the route.

It is about 0.7 miles along the campground road to the relatively level 2 mile round trip Knife Edge Trail. The Knife Edge Trail is part of the old entrance road to the park and provides good views to the north above the Montezuma Valley and toward the nearby mountain ranges. The Knife Edge Trail looked like a previous snow shoe hiker had broken the trail.

Hiking past Point Lookout, the wide views open up. Most of the regional mountains are visible. To the north is the San Miguel range, featuring Lone Cone to the west and Dolores Peak to the east. The snow on the trail was about 2 feet deep. I noticed in the campground that the snow was up to the level of the picnic table benches.

I made it to trail marker 23, which discusses the geology of the area, including the Point Lookout sandstone and the underlying Mancos shale. Most of the trail markers on the Knife Edge Trail discuss the botany of the area. The trees easy to see in winter are the Pinon Pines and Utah Junipers, the leafless Gambel Oaks and the tall Douglas Firs. My snow shoe hike was on a 22 F early January day and I hiked about 3 miles in 1:30 hours.

Sun Temple on the Mesa Top Tour

2010-12-25T17:20:00.000-08:00

The Mesa Top Pit House to Pueblo Tour is a ten stop self guided tour that traces the development of building styles at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. During the busy summer, most visitors will move their vehicles between the stops.

In winter, the segment between the Square Tower House Overlook and the Sun Point Overlook is a 3 mile round trip hike on a hard surface that is cleared of snow and free from mud. One of the dozen or so ruins structures visible at Sun Point is the mysterious Sun Temple, visible on a point to the left of the famous Cliff Palace. It is another 0.5 miles of road past Sun Point to arrive at the Sun Temple.

Visitors enter the site from the west side and circle around to the south side. It is hard to see, but the overall structure is D shaped, has thick walls and most of the structure has a row of narrow rooms around the outside. On the south side, there is an indent in the wall with a small square opening on each side.

Looking in through the small openings, there are views on each side of the line of connected small rooms. There aren’t any apparent exterior doorways anywhere around the whole building.

Outside the southeast corner of the Sun Temple, there is a large circular tower. Along this same side, there is a good view of the Cliff Palace across the canyon.

There is a rock outcrop on the north side of Sun Temple that allows a view over the walls. On the interior, there is an open area with two circular kivas. No roof materials or household goods were found here, and it appears that this structure wasn’t completed before the entire region was abandoned around 1300 AD.

Far View House Plaza

2010-11-30T16:42:00.000-08:00

The Far View Trail at Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado is a short distance from the main park road and can be accessed and hiked during the winter season. Bring snowshoes in mid winter as there can be several feet of snow covering the trail. I hiked on a 30 F degree late November day with one or two inches of recent early winter snow.

Far View House and Pipe Shrine House are the two large ruins sites at the trailhead area, across a plaza from each other. Far View House was named by Dr. Jesse Walter Fewkes during the 1916 excavation for the wide views of the Four Corners area. These views today can be more readily seen from the Far View Visitor Center to the north, than from the plaza area between the large pueblo sites.

Among the 40 ground floor rooms of Far View House are 5 kivas, but only the one outside the main walls is visible. The height of the remaining walls at Far View House limits the view into the interior. One of the invisible interior kivas is particularly large and includes some features that are seen in the kivas found at Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico.

There are a couple of places along the front wall where the doorways line up and there is a view through a couple of rooms. The location and size of Far View House suggests that it may have served as a public building. This is also said of some of the large structures at Chaco Canyon.

Pipe Shrine House has 20 rooms and is just a short walk south of Far View House. The walls on the south side are two courses thick and thought to be the most recent work. The Pipe Shrine name comes from a dozen clay pipes found in the large kiva during the 1922 excavation.

The north side of the site shows the single course walls that are considered to be the older style. There are six large and varied excavated ruins sites on the one mile Far View Trail. It is easy hiking with a lot to see.

Coyote Village Corn Grinding Stones

2010-11-27T13:37:00.000-08:00

Coyote Village is one of six large Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites on the 1 mile Far View Trail in the Chapin Mesa area of Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado.

Coyote Village is an overlooked site on an overlooked trail. Most visitors by-pass the Far View Trail for the spectacular cliff dweller sites, but there aren’t many trails where so many easy to view sites are so close together.

One of the features of Coyote Village is the two examples of side by side grinding stones separated by stone partitions. One set of six grinding positions appears to be inside a structure and the other set of three is outside. The other Mesa Verde site where I’ve seen side by side bins is at Mug House on Wetherill Mesa.

Besides pottery shards, the artifacts a hiker might see at ruins sites are the grinding stones. The slabs are usually called metates and the hand held stone is called the mano. The Chapin Mesa Museum has displays of grinding stones. The Anasazi Heritage Center in nearby Dolores, CO has a display that gives more of a textbook description of the types of metates and manos.

The three styles of metates are basins, troughs, and slabs. The basin is the oldest style with the grinding done in a circular motion. The trough uses a back and forth motion with a one handed or two handed mano stone. The slab style is a flat stone and provides a larger surface area for a one handed or two handed mano. The flat slab is thought to be the most efficient of the three styles.

The mano hand stones are called biscuits if the diameter is less than 3 inches. Larger than 3 inches the biscuit becomes a one handed stone. The two handed stones used with the trough style metates show an upturned wear pattern at the outer edges.

Long House on Wetherill Mesa has a display of metates in the back of the alcove next to one of the seep springs and the sandstone ripple marks. This collection appears to be mostly slabs. Balcony House has a similar small display near the hands and knees tunnel exit.

Basin style grinding stones don’t seem to be very common in the museum displays, but the Aztec Ruins in Aztec, New Mexico has what looks like one in a random place near the beginning of the trail.

The Mesa Verde Chapin Mesa Museum has a display of how the bin style grinding works with some corn flour included. A note on the display says the current day Pueblo women still practice hand grinding of corn and they say it is their most difficult and wearisome task.

Wetherill Mesa Hike and Bike

2010-10-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado held a second Wetherill Mesa Hike and Bike day on October 9, 2010. Wetherill Mesa has the second largest concentration of Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites in the park, but is usually only open in the summer season between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

On this special day, the 5.4 mile paved tram road is open for hiking and biking to the several sites. Visitors park at the information kiosk as usual, and then set out on the tram road or the normal hiking trail. One of the best opportunities is that the trail to the very large Long House ruins site is open for a leisurely visit. During the busy summer season, a $3 guided tour is the only way to visit this impressive site.

The hike along the tram trail to the Long House trailhead is about 0.75 miles and took me about 20 minutes. The trail leading to Long House descends below the canyon rim along stairs for another 0.75 miles with spectacular views of the Rock Canyon area.

Normally, visitors arrive on the tram and hike in groups of up to 60 with no opportunity to pause along the trail and take in the views or examine the Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper forest.

Two or three of the Park Rangers were stationed in Long House to provide information for the stream of visitors, but there was no formal presentation. During my visit there seemed to be about 20 visitors trickling in and out, well spread out in the large alcove. In early October, the lower sun angle puts more of the structures in bright sunlight. It was easy to stop and find viewing angles that are unobstructed and there is no pressure to keep moving with a group.

Long House was excavated in 1959-61 as part of the Wetherill Mesa Archaeological Project, one of 15 sites worked on from 1958 to 1963. It is estimated that 150 to 175 people lived here from about 1200 to 1300 AD. The back of the alcove has several special features including the seep spring water supply, several vague pictographs, a collection of grinding stones, and a kiva with part of the roof still intact. Usually the line to climb the small ladder to view the interior of this kiva deters me from looking, but on the special day I finally had my chance.

The landing area between the two ladders that lead to the back of the alcove provides a good overview of the featured plaza area. On the normal tour, visitors are focused on staying in line to climb the ladders and don’t notice this angle.

The plaza area has some of the features that are found in Great Kivas, such as those at Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, or nearby Lowry Ruins, but isn’t enclosed by a wall and appears to have never had a roof. The regular tour gathers in the plaza and discusses the possible ceremonies, sometimes painting a picture of people even watching from the canyon rims as music and dances were performed.

After visiting Long House, I continued on the tram road to the junction at the trailhead for the Badger House Community and returned to the kiosk along the normal hiking trail. As part of the special day, a hamburger and chips lunch was available at the kiosk for $6. My hike and visit to Long House took 1:45 hours for about 3 miles of walking.

Wetherill Mesa Tram Trail

2010-09-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

The Wetherill Mesa area of Mesa Verde National Park is usually only open in the summer months between Memorial Day and Labor Day, but on September 19, 2010 the tram road was opened for a special day of hiking and biking. This special day is among the new visitor activities in 2010 that have also included three new back country hikes.

The main attractions on Wetherill Mesa are the self guided tours at Step House and the four mesa top sites of the Badger House Community Trail along with the guided tour at the very large alcove ruins site Long House.

The tram usually provides transportation to these sites and the overlook to Kodak House and the trailhead for the Nordenskiold No. 16 Trail. Park Rangers were available to provide information and support for visitors biking and hiking the normally closed paved trail.

One of the highlights of this special day was that the trail to Long House was open for leisurely visits, with rangers stationed at the site to answer questions. Normally, Long House can only be visited as part of a guided tour, often in groups of 60 that need to keep moving to stay on schedule. Visitors could hike or bike the modest distance from the parking area to Long House and enjoy the canyon environment and large ruins site at their own pace.

Most of the 5 miles or so of paved tram road passes through areas that are recovering from the forest fire of 2000. The line between what was burned and what survived is often sharp. The recovering areas seem to have the colorful yellow flowers Rabbit Brush and the important Yucca plants growing along with grasses.

In some spots some small Junipers and Pines have started. It took me 2:00 hours to walk the tram loop without stopping at any of the major ruins sites except for the overlooks at Long House, Kodak House and the overlook area near Nordenskiold No. 16.

Part of the Wetherill Mesa festivities included a lunch special of a hot dog, chips, and cold drink for $5. It was a perfect 80 F degree mid September blue sky day and the parking area seemed to have as many vehicles as on a normal summer day.

Wickiup Canyon Trail & Spring House

2010-09-18T06:12:00.000-07:00

Wickiup Canyon is part of the Mesa Verde National Park backcountry in southwest Colorado. It sits between Navajo Canyon on the east and Long Canyon on the west, and normally can’t be seen from any of the normal trails or viewpoints. During the 2010 summer season, Wickiup Canyon is the middle segment of the 8 mile round trip ranger guided hike to the Spring House ruins site.

Near the junction of Spruce Canyon and Navajo Canyon, the trail veers up the west side of hidden Wickiup Canyon and climbs several hundred feet to the neck of Long Mesa before continuing on to the ruins site..

Though the trail through Wickiup Canyon has been lightly used in recent decades, it has history dating back to the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. The stone work of that era was built to last, still holding up well over the years.

Wickiup Canyon doesn’t have any of the very large ruins sites for which Mesa Verde is most famous, but has several of the 600 Mesa Verde smaller alcove sites that are scattered in these deeply cut canyons. Near the mesa top is a well preserved appearing circular structure that is usually described as a storage granary.

The largest and most visible site is Buzzard House across the canyon. This site appeared to have easy access from the canyon floor and difficult access to the mesa top. The canyon floor in this area doesn’t look very wide or particularly suitable for farming, so one might wonder if this was a residence site or for some other purpose. The wooden supports for the upper floors stand out well in the afternoon sun.

Lower in the canyon, there are several small wall sections visible with binoculars. One of these sites is perched on the edge below a triangle face of desert varnish painted sandstone. The small sites in this area all look very difficult for the residents to access. In a couple of places high near the canyon rim, there are unexpected trees visible. You don’t expect to see an aspen or a cottonwood clinging to the cliff walls in this area, but there are some.

On our mid September hike it took 3:10 hours to arrive at the trailhead to the short descent below the rim down to Spring House. About half of the outward leg is spent on the climb up Wickiup Canyon and viewing the several points of interest on the way. About 2:00 hours were spent visiting Spring House and enjoying the provided lunch of a ham and turkey sandwich with chips, a piece of fruit, and a small bottle of juice. I carried 4 liters of water and needed most of it. The return hike took 2:00 hours for a total backcountry experience of 7:00 hours on a blue sky 80 F degree perfect day.

The Spring House hike, along with Mug House and Wetherill Experience, was one of three special backcountry hikes offered on the trial basis in 2010.

Point Lookout Trail

2010-09-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

The Point Lookout Trail is one of three hiking trails that leave from the Morefield Campground area near the entrance to Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. These trails give good views of the Montezuma and Mancos Valleys and the north rim of Mesa Verde itself.

The Point Lookout Trail leaves from the large amphitheater parking lot and climbs 400 feet and allows views to both valleys. The round trip distance is 2.2 miles and the forest is Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper with a lot of Gambel Oak and a few Rocky Mountain Junipers.

The nearby Knife Edge Trail includes a trail guide that provides extensive information on the native plants that grow in Mesa Verde. The first part of the trail has all the climbing with many switchbacks through relatively lush forest.

The view to the east is toward the LaPlata Mountains and the town of Mancos, CO. The highest mountain in that group is Mt. Hesperus, the sacred mountain of the north that marks one of the boundaries of traditional Navajo territory. The trails of the Morefield campground provide some good hiking but are probably mostly skipped in favor of the famous ruins sites.

From the lookout point, the view to the west is toward Sleeping Ute Mountain and the town of Cortez, CO. The route of the Knife Edge Trail is visible just below the sandstone rim. It was the old road into Mesa Verde until 1957. Further west is the Hovenweep and Canyons of the Ancients area, rich with ruins sites.

Looking straight north from the sandstone cliff you can watch the park visitors wind their way up the twisty highway into the park. The Point Lookout looms overhead for those drivers, but they are probably keeping their eyes on the road. The eroded brown hills are the Mancos layer made up of soft clays and shales.

Near the lookout point, the trail passes through a mysterious circle of stones. There is no information that this is a ruins site, perhaps it was built by more recent visitors. It is positioned in a spot where it would be a good signaling point.

After visiting the circular tower structures at Mesa Verde and other sites in the region, many appear to be positioned at places with a line of site to other similar structures. Point Lookout has a line of site view to Park Point, the highest point at Mesa Verde, and a place that may have a line of sight as far as the Chaco Canyon area, as well as the valley below. It took me 0:40 minutes to climb to the lookout point and my hike took 1:20 hours total.

Turning Red Tail Hawk Trail- Ute Mt. Tribal Park

2010-09-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

The Turning Red Tail Hawk Trail is a new tour offered for the first time in 2010 in Ute Mountain Tribal Park in southwest Colorado. This hike visits the Morris 3 cliff dweller ruins site in Johnson Canyon.

The trail head area is the same as the Lion Canyon Overlook Trail, a 10 minute hike to a viewpoint with cross canyon views of the four alcove ruins sites that are on the regular all day tour offered at Ute Mountain, including the spectacular Eagles Nest House. Some of the regular tours will visit this viewpoint, depending on the guide.

From the spectacular viewpoint, the trail plunges over the edge and down a long ladder. This segment is slow going down to a ledge area where the trail curls around the lookout point and up Johnson Canyon. The trail and ruins site has been stabilized recently.

The Morris 3 site was first worked on by Earl Morris in 1913. It takes about one hour of travel on the gravel roads in Ute Mountain Park to arrive at the trail head, similar to most of the tours here.

The trail is similar to the Petroglyph Trail in Mesa Verde, working along a cliff face below the rim but well above the canyon bottom. There are many ups and downs and careful stepping involved. There is a second small ladder about midway along the trail

Along the cliff face there are two small well preserved granary structures visible above the trail and a small alcove that is a ruins site, but without much stonework remaining. There is also a small granary site visible across Johnson Canyon and patches of Douglas Firs in the drainages across the way. There are supposed to be many rarely visited pit house sites on the mesa top across the canyon that Morris investigated long ago.

The stabilized trail enters the Morris 3 site from the left and crosses along the front with a route to enter for a close view. Our group size was only 11 and this was the first tour ever offered of this site.

The D shaped kiva at the back of the site was probably the most eye catching of the larger features. The large logs are still in place resting on the pilasters. The D shape is one of two side by side kivas partially tucked up under the alcove. The bottom features have been left unexcavated. Some of the plaster remains on the masonry interior walls.

Like many of the Mesa Verde area sites, different styles of masonry are visible. The Ute Mountain sites have been left much as they were originally found, with a lot of rubble still lying around the sites. There are also many pottery shards and corn cobs visible here. I saw mostly the corrugated style and not many with painted designs. The guide made the comment that in the early years of Mesa Verde, the boundary was not clear and many of the pottery shards from this site may have been collected by early visitors.

There is another large kiva on the right end of the site. The Morris 3 site has about 28 rooms and is thought to have been built around 1210 AD. It took our group 0:55 minutes of hiking from the trail head to arrive at the site, a distance of about 1.25 miles.

The tour visited the site for about 0:40 minutes and then we were allowed to return at our own pace to the trail head. There is a shade structure and picnic tables at the trail head where we rested and ate lunch for about 1:30 hours before traveling back to the visitor center.

The actual hike and ruins visit took about 2:30 hours for 2.5 miles out of a total experience of 5:45 hours. The cost of the tour was $38 which included riding in the van and a cold drink at the shade structure during the lunch break. This is one of the rare special experiences offered by Ute Mountain Tribal Park.

Wetherill Experience Trail

2010-07-16T04:58:00.000-07:00

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.

Double House is considered to be spread out in 3 alcoves and has 70-75 rooms and 5 kivas. Double House is No. 14 in the Nordenskiold list and has a C Wetherill inscription. Daniel House is visible in the far distance from the Double House overlook. Daniel House is also visible in the far distance from the Spring House trail. North up Bobcat Canyon there is a thick grove of Douglas Firs.

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.

Long House Special Features

2010-07-10T06:16:00.000-07:00

Long House is the second largest of the Ancestral Pueblo alcove ruins sites preserved in Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado.

It is located along Rock Canyon in the Wetherill Mesa portion of the park. Long House can be visited on a $3 ranger guided 1.5 hour tour during the summer months between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The site is accessed by a tram that departs from the Wetherill Mesa Kiosk near the parking area.

The spectacular setting, 150 rooms, 21 kivas, and unusual large central plaza are the most eye catching features, but there are some other special details to watch for. Cool…good stuff..as Ranger Ellen described it.

Long House is the only Mesa Verde site where the visitor can linger in the back of the alcove. Two of the special features are nearly side by side. Like Balcony House, there is a seep spring source of water trickling out from the junction of sandstone and an impermeable layer of shale.

Looking past the growing plants, there are small bowl shapes hollowed out, large enough to dip out a pottery mug full. Adjacent to the right end of the seep spring, there are ripple marks, evidence that this area was once covered by a vast inland sea.

High on the right side of the site, above the central plaza, there are prayer sticks inserted into cracks in the sandstone. Despite the spiritual term, these seem to have some practical value. If the rock shifts enough to cause the sticks to fall, it is a warning that a slab of rock might soon follow.

The geological process that causes alcoves to form also causes a danger if you choose to live in one. Prayer sticks are often mentioned at various ruins sites in the Four Corners area, but Long House is one site where they can be spotted.

Inscriptions at the ruins sites are of historical interest. As visitors enter from the left side, the Gustav Nordenskiold No 15 is easily seen. Nordenskiold was the first scientist to describe some of the sites in 1891. Despite the No. 15, Long House is one of the first sites that Nordenskiold worked on.

In 1991, photographers took a series of pictures from the same angles as Nordenskiold and published a small “then and now” book that is available at the Wetherill Mesa Kiosk. The book is called "Photographing Mesa Verde: Nordenskiold and Now". Nordenskiold's report on his time at Mesa Verde is called "The Cliff Dwellers of Mesa Verde."

On my way out to Wetherill Mesa on July 8, 2010, at 9:15 AM, I spotted a yearling Black Bear at about the 3 mile marker. The half grown bear tumbled down the Gambel Oak hillside from the right, stopped in the middle of the road and looked back at me for a few seconds, then scrambled downhill to the left. Mesa Verde acts as something as a wildlife refuge, home to bears and even mountain lions, and it’s good to make such a rare sighting.

Balcony House Water Supply

2010-07-08T19:55:00.000-07:00

The Balcony House Trail is one of the most popular sites for visitors to Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. The 32 foot ladder climb entrance and 12 foot hands and knees tunnel exit make this the most adventurous of the alcove cliff dweller sites. It is also a site where the scarcity of water for the residents comes into focus.

As visitors arrive at the double ladder to climb into the north side of Balcony House, they brace themselves, eyes turned upwards, for the climb. Perhaps little noticed is the damp spot just to the right of the ladder. Mesa Verde is inclined to the south at about a seven degree angle. This slight slope is important in the formation of the alcoves that shelter the spectacular ruins sites like Balcony House. Alcove formation is helped along by water that is absorbed into the porous sandstone and flows downwards until it reaches an impervious shale layer that forces the flow sideways. The cementing calcium carbonate dissolves and allows the sand grains to be washed or blown away. Seep springs are sometimes found in the back or near the alcoves and provide a convenient water source for the residents.

Though it doesn’t look like much, with the vegetation cleared away and with the use of pottery dippers and mugs, the use of this small spring would be preferable to walking a long distance and hauling a heavy load. Water weighst 8.34 pounds per gallon and in this dry climate 40 residents would need at least 400 pounds of water per day, maybe twice that amount.

When passing from the north parapet courtyard to the south courtyard with the two kivas, there is a glimpse of another seep spring at the back of the alcove. This spring is 30 feet or so above the spring that is visible at the ladder and appears to be contained in a small brick lined pool. There is also a view of this small water source just before the tunnel exit. The easily missed Geologic Overlook Trail, between Park Point and the Far View Visitor Center has a good view of the geologic layers at Mesa Verde and there is an interpretive sign there that discusses the formation and importance of seep springs.

The Mummy Lake constructed reservoir on the Far View Trail is an example of what had to be done if there were no springs nearby. The Mug House Trail tour includes a discussion of a constructed cistern to catch runoff to provide water for that large site. During the summer of 2010 Mesa Verde is installing new water pipes along the main park road. The water supply for the park is pumped up from the Jackson Lake north of Mancos, CO, after arriving at Jackson Lake through constructed canals that catch and control the snowmelt from the LaPlata Mountains. Throughout the ages, we go to great lengths to manage our water resources.

Mug House Trail

2010-06-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

The Mug House Trail is one of three special hikes offered during the 2010 summer season at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. The hike is about 2 miles roundtrip and starts at the Wetherill Mesa kiosk, the same starting point for the popular Long House and Step House Trails.

The ranger led tour leaves the parking and kiosk area on foot and starts back north along the Wetherill Mesa road. To the east across a branch of Long Canyon, there is a distant view of a small ruin site known as Lancaster House. A short distance further there is an unmarked vague trail that descends west below the rim of Rock Canyon. The narrow somewhat overgrown trail bends back south toward the Mug House alcove. There aren’t any ladders on this hike.

There are two small alcove sites along the way to Mug House. Painted Cave has a few artifacts to view and has a large reddish pictograph snake, or maybe two snakes. A short distance past is Adobe Cave where there is a small partially excavated ruin.

This section of trail is very shady and cool. When the area was excavated several burials were found in these small alcoves. These special Mug House hikes are offered every day and start at 10:00 AM, avoiding most of the summer heat. The group size is limited to 14, much smaller than the groups of 60 that visit Cliff Palace.

The trail enters Mug House from the left side. The site was worked on in the early years with the idea that it would be open to the public, but has been only rarely visited before 2010. Retaining walls were built and the tour groups can enter the site to the same extent as most of the other major Mesa Verde tours.

Mug House has about 100 rooms with about 8 kivas, making it medium sized site in this park that features large sites. The alcove is about 280 feet long by 42 feet deep.

Like many sites, there are upper levels and there are noticeable differences in masonry styles. There is a circular thick tower at the left end. The far right end has a keyhole style kiva.

One of the kivas in the center of the site seemed to have some colorful plaster still in place.

The view from the right side includes the large boulder where the 1891 Gustav Nordenskiold No. 19 is inscribed. Though Mug House is in a different canyon, it is only a short walk to the No 21 site Step House.

The name Mug House comes from four or five mugs found bound together with cord though the handles. The ranger pointed out the small room to the right of the inscription boulder as the site where the mugs were found.

The tour didn’t continue past Mug House, but the water source for this site is a short distance further south and there is a 4000 gallon reservoir or cistern constructed there that collects runoff from the rim. Someone did a study of the runoff area and found the watershed to be 6 acres with check dams to control the silt content of the water.

The study found that water would have been produced about 40 times each year, for a total of about 15,000 to 20,000 gallons annually. That sounds like a lot, but if there were 80 people living here it is only 0.7 gallons per person per day. I carried 0.5 gallons just for this hike. The nearest spring is about 0.5 miles south near a site called Jug House, but there aren’t any viewpoints for Jug House.

The Rock Canyon bottom below Mug House is thought to be more fertile for farming than most other canyon bottoms in the Mesa Verde area. Most of the farming is thought to have occurred on the mesa tops, where the growing season is longer. It seems strange but the canyon bottoms have hotter summer temperatures and colder winter temperatures than the mesa tops. The Mug House tour takes 2 hours and the cost is $15. Tickets are available up to 2 days in advance in the bookstore section of the Far View Visitor Center. This is a special hike to a special site and should not be missed.

Wetherill Mesa Excavations Mug House, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado

Step House Trail

2010-06-20T06:32:00.000-07:00

The Step House Trail is a 1.0 mile mostly paved loop near the tram parking area on Wetherill Mesa on the western side of Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. Step House is one of the five large alcove ruins sites that can be viewed closely. Rather than take a guided ranger tour, Step House is self guided with a ranger on duty at the site. The Wetherill Mesa area is only open during the summer months.

The tram provides transportation to the other trails and sites on Wetherill Mesa, but most can be easily reached by hikers on smooth easy trails. Step House can usually be visited in combination with the ranger tour of Long House. Step House sits in a short side canyon of Long Canyon.

On the canyon rim areas of the trail it is possible to scan with binoculars down Long Canyon and spot Spring House about 0.5 miles away. In 2010 there are special hikes from the Spruce Canyon Chapin Mesa area to Spring House. The Spring House hike helps the visitor to understand how these sites are connected geographically.

There are 6 stops on the self guiding tour and a printed trail guide. The Step House site is unique at Mesa Verde because ruins from different periods are side by side under the overhang of the sandstone alcove. On the left as you arrive at the site are four Pithouses from the era of 450 to 750 AD. The pithouse was a step toward permanent habitation from the nomadic hunting and gathering. The pithouse later developed into the Kiva that was central to ceremonial activity and winter survival and is included in most of the pueblo villages.

This reconstruction is helpful for understanding how these structures were built. Mostly we see these kivas or Pithouses without roofs or with the roof complete. There are more pithouses to see on the nearby Badger House Trail.

Climbing the short ladder allows a close view into the pueblo structure that dates from the 1200s. Just above the ladder there are some faded petroglyphs. In the same area is a "21" the number given to the site by Swedish investigator Gustaf Nordenskiold in 1891, shortly after the discovery of the cliff dweller sites by the local ranchers the Wetherill family. Like many of the alcove sites, there are natural boulders that are built right into the structures.

At stop 5 some of the original lintels are still visible above a small doorway. Looking through the opening, there are scratch marks on the wall behind that could be places where stone tools were sharpened.

Overhead at stop 5 there are several black Xs on the stone surface that are called Navajo Stars. I had to look for a long time before I could spot them. They have been found at other sites, mostly in Navajo territory, but there is no explanation for them.

The name "Step House" is for the set of primitive stone steps along the cliff that lead to the rim. For many of the cliff dweller sites in Mesa Verde it is often difficult to see how they got in and out of the precarious locations. There are good views of the steps from the rim directly above the alcove and the lower part is visible near the pit house displays. The Step House Trail is also a botany trail with small signs identifying some of the most common plants. The effects of the 2000 Pony forest fire can also be seen.

Spring House Trail

2010-06-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

The Spring House Trail is one of three special backcountry hikes offered during the 2010 summer season at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. It is also offered in the 2011 fall season. For many years, hiking at Mesa Verde has been limited to the specific trails visiting the major Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites for which the park is famous.

The Spring House Trail starts at the Chapin Mesa Museum and begins by following the paved trail that leads to Spruce Tree House Ruin. A short distance before the reaching the canyon bottom, the trail head for the popular 2.4 mile Petroglyph Trail and Spruce Canyon Trail branches off.

The route to Spring House follows the Spruce Canyon Trail to the point where it turns from south to north, then continues south to the junction with Navajo Canyon, one of the major canyons in the Mesa Verde area. The descending trail toward Navajo Canyon is cool and lush with vegetation and the relative dryness and change in vegetation of the Navajo Canyon floor is noticeable.

There are three ruins structures near the canyon rims to spot with binoculars near the junction of Navajo and Spruce Canyon. To the south is Echo House and just above to the north a wall fragment of Teakettle House can be spotted. The most interesting is the Navajo Watch Tower, one of the mysterious towers perched on a peak of sandstone with a commanding view of the area.

These three structures can be spotted from the Petroglyph Trail if you scan from the right spots, but the views are better from below. An igneous rock dike is visible in the canyon bottom area here. Where the dike passes through the resistant Cliff House sandstone, a notch has formed that may have been a place to travel through the cliffs.

From the junction the trail leads up Navajo Canyon to the junction with Wickiup Canyon and starts climbing the slope on the west side of Wickiup toward the top of Long Mesa. In early June there were many wildflowers in bloom, so many that the trek nearly became a botany hike instead of a ruins hike.

We spotted a large cluster of Claret Cup Cactus, Scarlet and Rocky Mountain Penstemons, Evening Primrose, Globe Mallow, Cliff Fendler Bush, Tetranevris, Forget-Me-Nots and several of the small Mesa Verde endemic plants that were marked with small warning flags for their protection..the Cliff Palace Milkvetch.

To add to the botanical excitement, this hike had a surprise guest speaker. A researcher from an Ohio University was searching the area for potato plants and he actually found some and showed them to us.

Before you comment that this study is just small potatoes, consider that potatoes are only native to Peru and finding them here would mean that the trading network of the Ancestral Puebloans extended as far as South America. The key research question is when did the potatoes arrive here. The usual plants mentioned as cultivated in the Four Corners region are corn, beans, and squash, and now maybe potatoes.

The highlight ruins site along the Wickiup Canyon segment is Buzzard House, across the canyon from the trail about halfway to the mesa top. There were at least four other small sites to spot in this area. These small sites were hard to spot even with binoculars and were in locations that make you wonder how anyone could get there.

The trail arrived at the top of Long Mesa at a narrow neck, practically a knife edge, with great views up and down Long Canyon. It seemed surprising that Wetherill Mesa is just across Long Canyon and the Step House Trail is visible at the canyon’s north end. Spruce Tree House to Wetherill Mesa seems like a long trip if you are traveling by car, but would just be a morning walk if you are hiking. You could leave after breakfast and arrive in time for lunch.

Hiking north along the mesa top for a few minutes, there is a precarious overlook view of 20 ½ House. The odd name comes from the site numbering system used by one of the early investigators, this site having been missed and found later. This is a two level site and is another one to wonder about the difficult location.

The highlight Spring House was also below the rim and was reached with the help of two ladders, a few ropes, and a rocky jumbled trail. The views are all from a platform on the right side and the tour didn’t enter the site. Spring House has evidence for 23 rooms on the upper level and 68 rooms total.

Looking up canyon, it can be thought of as a near neighbor of Step House. There is a good seep spring at the back left side of the site and the structure includes some rare Mesa Verde columns that were built around the spring and support room structures above the precious water.

The group spent about 0:40 minutes viewing and discussing Spring House. There is some minor rock art that can be spotted with binoculars. The return 4 mile leg of the hike took 2:15 hours and the total tour of 8 miles took 8:40 hours. On the outward leg we spent a lot of time pausing and discussing the fabulous Mesa Verde landscape and enjoying this rare opportunity, even for the rangers, to spend a day in this environment.

The $35 cost included a lunch of a turkey, ham, and cheese sandwich, small bag of chips, small bottle of juice, an apple, and several granola bar snacks. It was a warm 80 F degree blue sky early June day and 1 gallon of water should be carried by anyone making this moderately strenuous hike. This is a great hiking opportunity that may not be available for ever.

Porcupine House Trail-Ute Mt. Tribal Park

2010-05-30T06:02:00.000-07:00

The Porcupine House Trail is an infrequently offered guided tour to an Ancestral Pueblo cliff dweller site in Ute Mountain Tribal Park in southwest Colorado. This tour was offered as part of the annual open house that is usually at the end of May.

The site location is in Pitch Pine Canyon, a side canyon of Johnson Canyon on the south side of Mesa Verde. The access is from the main park entrance at the lower end of Mancos Canyon south of Cortez, CO. It is in the vicinity of the regular full day tour hike at Lion Canyon.

From the canyon rim only the upper level of the site is visible. From above, it looked like there were a few storage ruins here, but much is obscured by the thick vegetation. The canyon floor vegetation is dominated by Gambel Oaks and Ponderosa Pines, an unusual combination in the areas where the cliff dwellings are found. Usually the Pinon Pines and Utah Junipers are found in these canyons with occasional Douglas Firs in the deeper and moister locations.

There are two ladders installed to descend. This canyon is oriented north and south with the main structures facing east rather than toward the more typical south. There is a collapsed tower on the rim right next to the ladders. There is a drainage channel from the rim area that flows across the rough slickrock right into the ruins area, but I didn’t see a seep spring here. The bottom area is very thick with the Gambel Oaks.

This site has been worked on to some extent, but not as much as the large and famous Mesa Verde sites. There is a trail marked along the front of the site and there has been some excavation in places. Most of the Ute Mountain sites have been left as they were found, with little work done on them.

The Ute Mountain sites feature a lot of artifacts on display. There are pottery shards, corn cobs, grinding stones and other small tools. The small guided groups have kept these artifacts available for viewing. Most of the pottery shards are the corrugated types that were typically from cooking pots. There are also some black on white designed pieces.

A large kiva that looks like it has had excavation work is one of the highlights. The Porcupine House has about 50 total rooms and about 5 kivas. The kiva has the bench and pilaster features that are common to the Mesa Verde style kivas. There isn’t room here to step back and get a wide view of the many rooms. All the views are close ups.

One of the unusual artifacts visible at this site was an example of a small sandal made from Yucca fiber. The guide mentioned that it was thought that Yucca had been planted at this relatively cooler site. Yucca was the main fiber that was available to the people living here. It is surprising that an item like that, more than 700 years old stays so well preserved. This site also had more grinding stones visible than most sites that can be visited.

At the end of the trail the group has to turn around and retrace their steps back to the starting point. There is an option to try climbing out along the original route in and out rather than climb the ladders.

The total tour to Porcupine House took 7:00 hours with about 2:00 hours spent at the site. There were also two stops at Mancos Canyon pictograph and petroglyph sites that are part of the regular tours. There were also stops at the park campground and the trailhead area for the regular tour of Lion Canyon.

Mancos Canyon Tour-Ute Mt. Tribal Park

2010-05-30T05:47:00.000-07:00

Near the Mancos Canyon Road entrance to Ute Mountain Tribal Park in southwest Colorado are several easy to visit Ancestral Pueblo sites. These sites are part of the typical half day tour offered here. The full day tour goes on to the Lion Canyon Trail to visit a series of four cliff dwellings.

The Old Visitor Center was used from about 1971 to 1981 with the prominent Chimney Rock looming overhead. At first glance I thought this was an old jail. The wooden door was very thick and solid. Ute Mountain Tribal Park is the south side of Mesa Verde and is lightly visited.

The Red Pottery Village is an unexcavated village site where a lot of red pottery has been found. There are displays of pottery shards and artifacts in the field among the rubble mounds. The museums in the area say that the center of red pottery production was in southeast Utah and the Kayenta area of northeast Arizona, and any found near Mesa Verde would have been traded in.

This is one of the interesting features of the park, the visibility of these artifacts from a culture of more than 700 years ago. The artifacts are safe as all visitors are escorted by a guide. Across the canyon in this area a Hovenweep like tower is visible but the tour doesn’t go over to it.

Many Cliffs Ruins is a small site of small rooms tucked into the cliffs not far above the road. These small rooms are common in the region but are often overshadowed by the spectacular larger alcove ruins. Directly below the larger ruin and left of the smaller one there is an example of one of the Sun Calendar petroglyphs. There is a spiral and a grid that measures the movement of the sun, but it is hard to see from the road without binoculars.

About 200 yards back to the west of this site there is another petroglyph and pictograph panel with a trail up the cliff that allows a closer view. It may depend on who the tour guide is for the group to visit there.

There are many handprints, some broad shouldered figures and a footprint petroglyph. Occasionally there are special hikes that focus on the Sun Calendars along the Mancos Canyon. Usually the Sun Calendar hike is in late May.

The Chief Jack House Site was the home site of the last traditional chief of the Ute Mountain Utes and he was the one who proposed the Ute Mountain Tribal Park around 1970. There was initial opposition to the park and his house was burned down.

The Pictographs at the site are thought to have been painted by Chief Jack himself. The short Kiva Point Trail is also part of the Mancos Canyon Tour. There are easy to see petroglyphs and a large unexcavated Great Kiva.

The final stop in Mancos Canyon is the Kiva Point area where there are several large petroglyph panels and some unexcavated ruins. (Separate post with picutres.)

Cliff Palace Foundations

2010-04-22T06:53:00.000-07:00

The Cliff Palace Trail is one of three ranger guided tours to large ruins sites at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. In 2010, both Cliff Palace and Balcony House opened for the season on April 11. The Cliff Palace Tour lasts for one hour.

The $3 tickets for tours are purchased at the Far View Visitor Center. Cliff Palace is the largest and most famous of the alcove Ancestral Pueblo ruins sites in the United States. The main topics of the tour focus on how why the alcoves were chosen as building sites after centuries of living on the mesa tops, and why they chose to leave after only about 100 years of inhabiting the alcoves.

When you visit these sites several times some of the finer details come into focus. While gathering for the first of three stops on the tour, on the left side of Cliff Palace, a large boulder appears to be built into the complex arrangement of rooms and towers. The ranger points out that the original surface of the alcove was uneven and the floor was leveled with rubble. The floor also seems to include a few of these very large boulders.

Looking closer, the individual stone bricks are fitted very carefully. In 1934, the Park Service was concerned about the stability of this boulder and installed 70 tons of steel and concrete to stabilize the rock. Seventy tons would be about 34 cubic yards or about 4 modern loads of concrete in the large mixer trucks. The current trail down from the canyon rim is narrow and has many twists and steps.

The task of getting that much material to the site seems difficult, but then it is small compared to what was accomplished 800 years ago when the site was originally under construction. When the park service started work, they found that some ancient masonry was already installed under the unstable boulder, indicating that the Ancestral Pueblo engineers were aware of the danger.

There are several advantages of alcove living including better shelter, conservation of fuel, and security of food supplies. One of the disadvantages is that rock slabs will fall from the ceiling. At Cliff Palace and the other main Mesa Verde sites, the fallen rubble has been cleaned up.

At nearby Ute Mountain Tribal Park and the many wild sites in the region, large slabs of sandstone are part of the scene. The Ranger mentioned that among the artifacts found at the Mesa Verde sites are prayer sticks, inserted in the developing cracks. One might think that the prayer sticks were inserted as an appeal to the spirits to secure the cracks, but the Ranger made it sound like they were also a warning device. While enjoying the day on the plaza, if a prayer stick suddenly hit the floor, don’t look up, dive for cover.

Snowshoeing the Far View Trail

2010-02-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

The Far View Trail is about a 1 mile loop that leads to six mesa top sites at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. During the winter months the short road and trail are not cleared of snow but it is still available for visiting.

During February 2010, the snow at Far View was so deep it nearly covers the interpretive signs, so bring your snow shoes. It is about 0.25 miles from the main park road to the open plaza area between Far View House and Pipe Shrine House. The Far View Trail is flat, without any hidden hazards. The Far View sites are very good, but they seem to be ignored in favor of the spectacular cliff dweller sites for which Mesa Verde is most famous.

The interpretive sign at my feet describes how Far View was first investigated by Jesse Fewkes in 1916. Dr. Jesse Fewkes first arrived at Mesa Verde in 1907 as the primary archaeologist.

Pipe Shrine House is just a short walk south of Far View House. The low walls of Pipe Shrine were nearly covered completely, with only the kivas showing much of the stonework. Far View was one of the most densely populated areas of Mesa Verde with 50 villages within a square half mile. Only six are excavated for visitors.

The Far View Tower is a short distance north of Far View House. There is a tower and kiva combination here that draws interest. Some of the towers are positioned with good views so that they appear to be lookout towers. The Far View Tower is not positioned with a good view. Looking at it in winter with several feet of snow on the ground, it looks like a place to store food and fuel while taking refuge in the earth contact kiva. The elevated structure would also be a place to get out above the snow line on a sunny day like this one.

I continued north to the Mummy Lake Reservoir to find it completely filled with unmelted snow with only a few of the stones visible. No one else had hiked that far since the most recent snow. The snow surface was a little soft and I was sinking in 6” or so on most steps. Mummy Lake is one of four constructed reservoirs at Mesa Verde and the only one that is accessible.

I didn’t try to get to the small Megalithic House site. I made it to the Coyote Village site to the south of Far View House. No one else had tried to go there either and it was hard to see where the trail was, but I knew the way from previous visits. I spent about 1:00 hour in the deep snow Far View area on a 30 F degree early February day.

Square Tower House Trail and Pit Houses

2010-02-12T05:53:00.000-08:00

The Square Tower House Trail is a 500 foot paved route to an overlook of the Square Tower alcove ruins site. It is the third stop on the Mesa Top Pithouse to Pueblo Tour.

The Pithouse to Pueblo Tour is self guiding and visitors usually move their vehicles from stop to stop. During the winter months, the road and short trails are cleared of snow. The section from Square Tower to Sun Point, or further to Sun Temple, is a good hiking opportunity on a hard surface with little traffic.

It is thought that the site of Square Tower House was used as a resting and storage site very early in the human history of the Mesa Verde area. A storage pit was found here from the era when farming on the mesa tops was just beginning. Centuries later, after life on the mesa top was well established, the alcove was re-established as a residence site. At 26 feet tall, the Square Tower is the tallest structure in Mesa Verde.

The Square Tower site is thought to have been built and used during the years from 1200 to 1300 AD. About 60 of the original 80 rooms are still standing. There is a seep spring below the alcove that provided water. Square Tower has a little known neighbor to the north, around a corner called Little Long House that isn’t visible from a road side viewpoint. An unmarked side trail near the petroglyph on the Petroglyph Trail leads to a viewpoint.

My pictures of this site in the summer show more shade, while in winter the site gets full sun, just the way you would want it. For a hiker, there is the opportunity for a 3 mile round trip hike to the Sun Point area with several sites to visit along the way.

These sites explain the development of living styles from the first pit houses to the large alcove sites visible at sun point. On a sunny winter day this is a very pleasant walk when the other trails are snow covered. In early February I walked on a sunny 30 F degree day with at least two feet of snow along the roadside.

The first permanent dwellings in the Mesa Verde region were the Pit Houses. These living spaces are numerous at Mesa Verde but only a few are developed for viewing along the trails. The Chapin Mesa Pit House to Pueblo Tour and the Badger House Trail on Wetherill Mesa have several exhibits under protective roofs that show the development of the early pit houses into the large alcove sites for which Mesa Verde is famous.

The pit house sites don’t look like much at first glance as they only show the pits and not the roofing or any of the artifacts of everyday life. The small opening between the two pits is the ventilation shaft, allowing fresh air in as the smoke from the fire pit rises and exits through the roof opening. The ventilation systems are among the many clever features that we see in the more advanced kivas. Sifting through the debris of these sites, charred materials are often found indicating that fires occurred here frequently.

The fourth stop on the Chapin Mesa Pit House to Pueblo tour shows the smaller pit to have been converted into the main living area after a fire. The same stop has an example of the beginnings of above ground room blocks. The pit rooms gradually became deeper and became the stone lined kivas that we see at the alcove and advanced mesa top sites.

The interpretive signs at these sites emphasize the religious and ceremonial nature of these excavated chambers, but when visiting here in February when the temperatures are below freezing and there is several feet of snow on the ground it seems that keeping warm would be the priority concern,

The Mesa Verde area was abandoned by about 1300 AD for reasons that are not clear. Among the reasons could be that by 1300, the large population here had used up all the winter fire wood. There was a burst of alcove building from 1200 to 1300.Viewing the many alcove sites at nearby Sun Point in winter, the alcoves are sunny and snow free while the mesa top is still frozen under deep snow.

The Anasazi Heritage Center in nearby Dolores, CO has a reconstructed pit house inside the museum. The construction details of the roof aren’t as clear as at Step House but the smaller sunken area in front of the pit house is well illustrated with some typical artifacts including pottery, baskets, an ax and a grinding stone. There is a display of pictures that shows the experience of an archaeologists attempt to build a pit house today. It is mentioned that it took 8000 strokes with a stone ax to cut an 11.5 inch log. This seems to be about 12 hours of chopping per log.

Chapin Mesa Museum-Corn for the Ages

2010-02-07T06:03:00.000-08:00

There isn’t much broken pottery to notice along the trails in Mesa Verde but the Chapin Mesa Museum has a good display. The interpretive information explains the experimentation and development of pottery from the simplest forms to the most complex. There are also explanations of the ingredients and techniques used.

There is a good display of corrugated pottery including how it was made. Corrugated is one of the most common types that a hiker might find on trails in the region around Mesa Verde. The information here says that corrugated pots were often black with soot, indicating that they were used for cooking. The sizes vary greatly and are globular or egg-shaped with thin walls.

In the Mesa Verde collection there is one Red Ware example, with the comment that these are not common at Mesa Verde and was probably traded from southeast Utah or northeast Arizona, around Kayenta. One of the sites to visit in the adjacent Ute Mountain Tribal Park is called Red Pottery Village, perhaps a village rich in Red Ware.

There is a special display of a pot that was found filled with 31 pounds of corn, the most ever found at one time. The pot is described as being of a type that was made between 1200 and 1272. This may be the Mesa Verde Black on White. The Anasazi Heritage Center Museum in nearby Dolores, CO has more information on the types of designs that are found in this area.

There was a small display of pottery shards on display at the Spruce Tree House site, though the ranger led tour did not call attention to them. These small displays are common at ruins sites in the region. I asked the ranger about pottery making sites at the cliff dwellings, as they are usually not pointed out, even though pottery is one the main artifacts that we see and it was widely traded. He said look for small structures that are soot covered on the inside and that there might be one to find at the Cliff Palace site.

Spruce Tree House in Winter

2010-01-23T06:32:00.000-08:00

During the winter months at Mesa Verde, the popular ranger guided tours to Cliff Palace, Long House, and Balcony House close for the season. The Spruce Tree House schedule changes from a self guided trail to three guided tours per day.

The paved trail is cleared of snow and the groups are usually small compared to the crowds that visit during the warm months of the year. The ranger guided tour emphasizes that the people that lived here had adequate food, water, shelter, warmth, useful daily activities, entertainment, in short everything that we view as necessary for a full life. The architecture of the site is examined, including the eight circular kivas that served multiple functions in the community.

The Kivas are often described as having religious significance, based on their use by Pueblo People living today. Under the winter conditions that occur in mid January, with nearly two feet of snow on the mesa tops, the kivas are obviously a warm sheltered area to use during the most difficult weather conditions.

One of the Spruce Tree House Kivas has been reconstructed so that visitors can climb down the ladder and get the feel for the inside. Mostly, we view the kivas from the rim without the roof. During the off season, the usual long line to climb down into the kiva disappears. This was my chance.

The Spruce Tree House reconstructed kiva seems to lack the fire pit and the small symbolic Sipapu but has the pilasters and a nicely constructed roof. It seems small once inside, but was probably cozy and warm and could accommodate a dozen people if it had to. Then bench like banquette is too high to use as a bench in this kiva, while at other kivas it looks like a good seat.

Other reconstructed Kivas in the region include Edge of the Cedars State Park in Blanding, Utah, Three Kiva Pueblo in the Montezuma Canyon in Utah. There is a side view from the bottom of a Kiva at the Lowry Pueblo site near Pleasant View, CO. The most elaborate reconstructed Kiva is the Great Kiva at the Aztec Ruins in Aztec, NM.

Pipe Shrine House and Mysterious Spirals

2010-01-18T06:14:00.001-08:00

One of the most common petroglyphs on the ruins trails in the Four Corners region is the spiral. Some of these are thought to be associated with observations of the skies, or they could represent a journey.

The panel on the popular Petroglyph Trail at Mesa Verde has several spirals. This panel is somewhat unusual in that there is some interpretation offered in the trail guide based on the comments of Hopi visitors in 1942. The spirals here said to represent the place of emergence and the end of the journey.

The Anasazi Heritage Center Museum near Dolores, CO has a good display of pottery and artifacts in a small museum. One of the unnoticed artifacts is a building stone with a spiral etched into it. The stone is described as being from the Escalante Pueblo, a modest sized hilltop site that is located on the same grounds as the Heritage Center. There are no other comments on what a spiral on a building stone might mean.

On the south side of Pipe Shrine House a similar spiral inscribed stone sits along the top row in the center of the wall. Pipe Shrine House is one of the six Far View Sites, an open air complex of pueblo and related structures. The Far View Sites are mostly overlooked at Mesa Verde, the large cliff dweller alcove sites attracting most of the attention.

During the winter season, the short road to Far View is closed but the trail can still be hiked. The snow was more than one foot deep in mid January. Previous hikers and at least one cross country skier had packed down a path. The walking wasn’t easy and snow shoes would have made the going easier.

Mesa Verde-The Five Large Alcoves

2010-01-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

The large alcove cliff dwellings are the most compelling attractions of Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. There are 2000 archaeology sites in the park and 600 cliff structures, but there are five large and spectacular sites that are essential.

Two of the large alcoves that can be entered are on the Wetherill Mesa side of the park and can only be visited during the summer months between the Memorial Day and Labor Day holidays. The Step House site trail head is near the parking area and tram loading area that provides transportation to the other Wetherill sites. Step House is a self-guiding trail with a ranger stationed near the site to answer questions.

A highlight of the Step House site is the side by side display of the pit house style of living with the later masonry pueblo style. Most pit house dwellings are on the mesa tops, but apparently some were also using the alcove sites. One of the mysteries of Mesa Verde is why was there a burst of alcove building in the era just before the entire area was abandoned.

One of the hidden sites of Mesa Verde and Wetherill Mesa is Mug House. There are no viewpoints for Mug House. Some special hikes were offered in 2006 for the 100 year anniversary of the park, but otherwise it rests unvisited (until 2010 when it was re-opened.).

Long House is the second largest cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde with 150 rooms, 19 kivas and a large central plaza. The Long House ranger led tour takes 1.5 hours and requires a $3 ticket from the Far View Visitor Center. After purchasing a ticket and driving to the parking area, there is a short tram ride to the trailhead. The final comments of the tour I took described a scene where large dances or ceremonies took place here with plenty of room for spectators along the canyon rim.

The other site in Mesa Verde that seems similar is the Fire Temple site visible from the Sun Point overlook along the self guiding Mesa Top Tour in the Chapin Mesa area. One of the other trails in the Wetherill Mesa area is the Long House Overlook Trail, where a wide view of the site is available.

The Spruce Tree House is the easiest of the large alcoves to visit and is really the center of Mesa Verde. In addition to being the third largest cliff dwelling with about 114 rooms and 8 kivas, the Chapin Mesa Museum is located at the trail head and there is a snack bar, book store and gift shop as part of the visitor facilities.

The paved trail leading to Spruce Tree House is open as a self guiding route during the mild parts of the year and is the only guided and free tour available during the winter months. The plants along the trail are identified with comments on their possible use to the people who lived here. Two 2.4 mile hiking trails, the Petroglyph Trail and the Spruce Canyon Trail also begin at the same trail head. If you only have time for a short visit to Mesa Verde, the Spruce Tree House area is the place to go.

Along with Cliff Palace and Long House, the Balcony House is one of three cliff dwellings that require a $3 ranger led tour to visit. Balcony House is often a highlight as it involves climbing ladders and crawling through a short tunnel. Balcony House is located along a loop road that includes Cliff Palace and the series of lookout points I call the House of Many Windows Trail or the Cliff Canyon Overlooks..

Balcony House is not a unique in its size but seems to be a possible special use site. It faces east rather than south and has more difficult access than most sites. The rarely visited Inaccessible House in the nearby Ute Mountain Park is another example of a possible special use site. Balcony House is open for tours from late April to mid October, a slightly shorter season than Cliff Palace. During the off season, the loop road is closed to vehicles but can be hiked.

Cliff Palace is the largest and most famous of the cliff dwellings ruins sites at Mesa Verde and in North America. The visitor season for ranger led tours of Cliff Palace is early April to early November with the road closing in winter but the overlook still open to hikers. If you visit Cliff Palace only, it appears to be an isolated site, but when viewed from Sun Point, across the canyon, it is seen as part of a very busy area. There are about 12 different sites visible from Sun Point, one of the stops on the Mesa Top Pithouse to Pueblo self guiding tour.

Cedar Tree and other Towers

2009-12-08T13:44:00.000-08:00

The cliff dwellings are the most spectacular sights at Mesa Verde, but there are also mesa top ruins to see. The Cedar Tree Tower ruins site is an isolated Tower and Kiva site a little north of the Chapin Mesa Museum and the Spruce Tree Ruins area. This site is probably often skipped by those in a hurry to get to the more spectacular cliff dweller sites.

The tower location has a good view down a deep canyon. The interpretive information at the site raises the question of why were towers built. There are a lot of towers in the region but the reasons for them are not clear. The Cedar Tree Tower is connected to the adjacent Kiva with a tunnel. We visit these sites mainly in the warm seasons of the year and forget that the residents had to endure the cold winters. Imagine a group of people sheltered in the Kiva under several feet of snow. A tunnel to a storage area with a way to get above the snow line seems like a practical arrangement.

Another tower that is easy to view at Mesa Verde is along the Far View Trail, a little north of the Cedar Tree and Farming Terrace area. There are several large sites at Far View, and I think it would qualify as a National Monument by itself if it wasn’t surrounded by the spectacular large alcove sites. The Far Vew Tower is a little north of Far View House on the loop trail. The Far View Tower is surrounded by 16 rooms and there are two Kivas nearby. The trail guide for Far View says that nearly 60 round towers have been found at Mesa Verde. The three mentioned here are mesa top sites rather than alcove sites.

The longest Kiva and Tower combination found in the southwest is at Badger House on the Badger House Trail in the Wetherill Mesa part of Mesa Verde. The tunnel was built digging a trench which was then roofed with poles, brush and earth. This tunnel extended for 41 feet.

Tower enthusiasts can find others in the Mesa Verde region. The Sand Canyon Trail in the Canyons of the Ancients west of Cortez, CO has one about 2.5 miles north from the south trailhead. Harder to get to is the Mad Dog Tower on the east side of Sand Canyon. The Sand Canyon area is very rich with small sites, at least 35 on the overall network of trails. The Hovenweep National Monument area is rich with towers, not all of them circular. The outlying Horseshoe Trail, Cutthroat Castle Trail, and Painted Hand Trail have good examples of circular towers.

Fall Color on the Prater Ridge Trail

2009-09-30T04:44:00.001-07:00

The Morefield campground area at Mesa Verde has three hiking trails including the Prater Ridge Trail. The Prater Ridge Trail takes off from the south side of the campground area and climbs 675 feet up to the top of the ridge, and winds around along the edge. The other campground trails are the Knife Edge Trail and the Lookout Point Trail.

It is 1.2 miles to the start of the two hiking loops on top of Prater Ridge. The north loop is 4 miles and the south loop is 2.4 miles. There is a shortcut trail that forms the two loops into a figure 8. From the north loop there are good views of several ranges of the nearby San Juan Mountains and the Montezuma and Mancos valleys below. The south loop views are of the canyons along the main park road traveling toward the south part of the park. It is one of the few trails in the park that doesn't go past any of the 700 year old Ancestral Pueblo Ruins for which the park is famous.

In 2000, it was a bad year for forest fires at Mesa Verde. The Bircher Fire scorched the north side of the park near the Morefield campground. Mesa Verde means "green table" and for a while in 2000, it was a "black table". The Gambel Oaks are recovering, bushy new shoots sprouting up around the charred remains of the forest fire victims. These oaks don't grow very tall, they grow more like a shrub here. In the fall the oaks put on a good display of color. The Utah Serviceberry shrub also adds some yellow to the scene.

The trail mostly follows along the sandstone cliffs. I scanned the cliffs to see if there were any small ruins sites but didn’t see any. It is possible that the people that lived here came to this area for materials as there were some Douglas Firs in the shaded north facing pockets and the acorns from the Oaks were probably a food source.

Most of the charred tree trunks from the forest fires are still standing. Most of what is visible now is the colorful oaks. There are only a few pockets where the evergreen trees survived. When I’ve hiked the full 7.4 mile loop it has taken me 3:30 hours. Hiking just the shorter 3.7 mile south loop route took about 2:15 hours.

Inaccessible House Trail

2009-08-11T04:37:00.000-07:00

Inaccessible House is located below the east rim of Navajo Canyon in Ute Mountain Tribal Park in southwest Colorado. It is rarely visited, but is included on a special tour along with the nearby Casa Colorado ruins site. The trail head is in the area south of the Mesa Top Tour at the south end of Mesa Verde National Park. This hike has been offered once per year since 2009.

The trail runs south along the Navajo Canyon east rim to an unnamed side canyon where the Casa Colorado ruins sits at the side canyon head. A rough trail descends into the side canyon and turns back toward the main canyon and runs under the rim. The Inaccessible House site is above the trail at a somewhat awkward viewing angle, and seems to be very well preserved.

At the canyon junction a short distance before the site there are some historic inscriptions from some of the early visitors to the area. The 2009 hike was guided by one of the experts in the history of Mesa Verde and there was a good discussion of who the inscribers were and what their roles were in the early history of the area. There are several inscriptions on the canyon walls here.

The trail continues past the Inaccessible House site to another alcove that has only rubble piles remaining but also has a small reddish pictograph panel.

The wrecked nature of this alcove site was attributed to rough use during the pot hunter era of the early 1900s. This second site has several grinding and sharpening sites also.

Beyond the second alcove there is a small granary site. The trail along here was reasonably good despite not much maintenance over the years. The Ute Mountain Tribal Park has mostly left these sites in the state that they were found. Pottery shards are visible and remain in place as all hikes here are guided. I noticed a second granary site on the return hike near the inscription rock, so there are three intact ruins in this area plus the pictograph alcove.

Inaccessible House doesn’t appear to be a place that anyone would have resided in, maybe it is a special use site. It is hard even to see it.

The quality of the stonework seems to be particularly fine here. The stones that are visible seem to be very well shaped.

There isn’t any room to step back and get a good view. Our tour group visited this site and those with enough energy left continued on to nearby but harder to get to Casa Colorado. On the 2011 hike the order of the visits was reversed. Casa Colorado was visited first. Casa Colorado is an easier site to view but the trail to Inaccessible House has more features.

On the 2011 return hike, there is a view point for Inaccessible House from the rim. The total tour in 2009 took about 6:30 hours with about half the time spent at each of the two sites. The 2011 tour took about 5:00 hours, with less time spent on Casa Colorado. The distance covered was about 3 miles but the route was somewhat difficult and required some scrambling up and dwn in the rocky environment.

Casa Colorado Trail

2009-08-09T15:11:00.001-07:00

Casa Colorado is a rarely visited Ancestral Pueblo cliff dweller ruins site in Ute Mountain Tribal Park in southwest Colorado. Ute Mountain Tribal Park offers guided full day and half day tours and a few special tours such as this hike to Casa Colorado and Inaccessible House. The 2009 summer season was the first year this hike was offered and it was offered once also in 2010 and 2011.

The trail head area for Casa Colorado is accessed at the south end of Mesa Verde National Park in the vicinity of the Mesa Top Pit House to Pueblo self guided tour. This is the same beginning area for the Pool Canyon Trail, another of the rarely offered Ute Mountain tours. After a short drive across the park boundary the hike begins along the east rim of Navajo Canyon.

The popular Spruce Tree Canyon area is a side canyon to the north of this section of larger Navajo Canyon. The hike along the rim is about 0.5 miles to an unnamed side canyon with Casa Colorado at the head of this short side canyon.

There were at least 3 ruins sites visible across the Navajo Canyon the west side. One of them we thought was named Casa Blanca and there also appears to be a tower visible. You would need binoculars to see these distant sites very well. At the canyon bottom there appears to be an old road.

There is an old 1930s era trail just below the rim heading east to toward the ruins site but it is unmaintained and wasn’t obvious on the outward leg. In 2009, most of our group made their way slowly through the Pinon Pine and Juniper forest but mostly not on any trail. The route was somewhat difficult and there was some scrambling through and over the jumbled rocks. The distance was only about 0.3 miles and the ruins site was visible most of the way.

On the 2011 hike to Casa Colorado, the tour stayed on the north rim of the side canyon and circled around the canyon head, then approached the Casa Colorado site from the south side. Those who wanted could try to descend down to the next ledge and view the site from the right side.

Casa Colorado is difficult to approach no matter which way you try. The 2011 approach involved some tricky climbing.

The trail approaches from the left side. It was possible, though not easy, on the 2009 hike, to approach the Casa Colorado closely from the right side by descending to the canyon bottom and climbing up the other side. It looked like the right side would have been the main entrance.

In 2009, a few of our active group chose to climb to the canyon rim from this right side of the site, going out over the top of the ruin, but most returned back the way we came. In 2011 the right side climb was the guided way in. The return trip was a little easier, and was mostly on the old trail below the rim. The total hike to Casa Colorado and nearby Inaccessible House was about 6:30 hours with about half the time spent at each site. The total distance was only about 3 miles but the going wasn’t easy and there was a lot of lingering at each site.

Petroglyph Trail- Spruce Canyon Below the Rim

2009-07-17T05:03:00.000-07:00

There are five large cliff dweller ruins sites at Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado that can be entered, and only two that do not require a ranger led tour.

Spruce Tree House is the more popular of the two self guiding sites. To experience more of the canyon environment of the Ancestral Pueblos, the interpretive Petroglyph Trail travels a 2.4 mile loop just below the rim of Spruce Canyon.

There are 34 stops along the trail, emphasizing the plants of the canyon and mesa top and their possible uses to the people and wildlife that live here. The main trees are Pinon Pines, Utah Junipers, and Gambel Oaks with Douglas Firs in the cool shady parts of the canyon. The mix of shrubs can vary with subtle factors such as facing north or south and the soils.

The trail leads to at least three alcoves as it winds its way south just under the canyon rim. One of the alcoves has some small ruins structures. The under the rim route has many steps that have been engineered or carved to make traveling easier, but it is still slow going and rocky, with many ups and downs. The tricky footing, the shade of the tall trees and the wide views encourage stopping and viewing the natural features.

There are several places where the trail squeezes through narrow cracks in the sandstone cliffs. Across the canyon there are at least two alcoves visible with binoculars that have ruins sites.

Beyond interpretive stop 20 and on to 26, the Navajo Watch Tower is visible across the canyon with binoculars. This is a tower at the top of a rounded knob. It is also visible on the ranger led hike to Spring House.

The views to these sites are a little better on the return loop on the mesa top. Mesa Verde has 600 alcove ruins sites. The handful of large spectacular sites get the most attention, but there are many unpublicized smaller ones to see with careful observation.

The highlight of the trail is the petroglyph panel at the far end of the loop. This is a medium sized panel, and is the best known in Mesa Verde. This one is a little unusual in that there are comments in the trail guide offering some interpretation.

This panel does not seem to be associated with a large ruins site and it not at an obvious canyon junction. Just past the petroglyph panel the trail climbs back to the rim and returns back toward the Chapin Mesa Museum area.

As the trail turns back north on the mesa top there is a vague unpublicized trail that continues south for about 0.25 miles to a rocky overlook where there is a large alcove ruins site. The map I have calls this site Little Long House.

It doesn’t appear on the official park map and it isn’t visible from any of the official overlooks. It looks like this site has relatively easy access from the canyon floor, a gradual slope leading up. The Square Tower House is a nearby neighbor, just down the canyon and visible from the Mesa Top Loop Tour.

It looks like this area was once on an official trail as there are steps carved into the rock leading to view points. This segment may have been dropped from the official trail for safety reasons. There aren’t any safety railings here and the cliff drops off steeply.

When viewing this site, cars can be seen stopping at the Navajo Canyon overlook of the Mesa Top Tour. This site is below and to the right of the overlook, but not visible from there. My hike on the Petroglyph Trail took 2:30 hours on a warm July afternoon and I carried 1 liter of water. Binoculars are handy on this hike for the views across Spruce Canyon.

Long House Trail

2009-06-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Long House Trail is on the Wetherill Mesa side of Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado.

This section of the park is only open during the summer months and has the second largest concentration of Ancestral Pueblo ruins in the park. Long House is the second largest cliff alcove site at Mesa Verde.
Long House can only be visited on a $3, 1.5 hour ranger guided tour. After arriving at the Wetherill Mesa parking area, visitors take a tram to the trail head. There is one stop on the paved trail leading down into the large alcove site. In addition to a discussion of the Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper forest environment a small water conserving check dam along a small drainage is pointed out.

Long House is one of the sites that early investigator Gustavf Nordenskiold visited in 1891 and he labeled this site No. 15, the carving still visible in the sandstone as the tour enters the site. Also visible on the way down are hand and toe holds that residents must have used to climb to the canyon rim.

The Long House tour includes visiting the back of the site after climbing two ladders. In the cool and shady back of the alcove there was a discussion of the advantages and reasons for building and living in the alcoves after centuries of living on the mesa tops. My favorite reason is the shelter from the hot summers and cold winters that the south facing alcoves provided.

There is a seep spring providing water at the back of the cave and small hollowed out basins where water could collect are visible. It is thought that construction started at the back of the site and expanded towards the front. There are also examples of grain grinding stones on display in the back.

There are 21 kivas at Long House, one still having part of the roof intact. There is a ladder to climb up and view inside. Standing in the elevated area at the back, the kivas seem to cascade down to the lower plaza area below. The kivas are thought to have been useful for winter protection and also served ceremonial purposes. There are a few small rock art pictographs along the back wall.

Among the 150 rooms at Long House there are some upper level storage areas. Looking up at these storage areas it is hard to see how anyone was able to get up there.

The last stop is in the large plaza in the lower front of the site. The ranger had the group close our eyes imagine the scene of a major dance ceremony taking place; drums playing, fires burning, viewers watching from the canyon rim, an exciting evening.

The 12 miles drive to Wetherill Mesa from the Far View Visitor Center has several pull over view points along the twisty road. At the three that are closest to the end of the road, small ruins sites are visible across the canyons. These smaller sites tend to get lost among the very large sites for which Mesa Verde is famous. One of the three is a tower that seems to sit isolated on the opposite rim, much like the Cedar Tree Tower in the Chapin Mesa area.

Knife Edge Trail in Spring

2009-05-26T05:01:00.000-07:00

The Knife Edge Trail at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado is one of two or three interpretive trails in the park that emphasize the plants found in the area, and their use by the Ancestral Pueblo people that lived here. The Trail Head is in the Morefield campground area near the part entrance and the hike is a 2.0 mile round trip. There are three hiking trails starting in the Morefield campground area, but none of them pass by any of the famous ruins sites.

There are 32 stops on the self guided trail. In spring, not all of the plants mentioned in the trail guide are in flower, but some are. The first stops on the trail are Gambel Oak and Pinon Pine, two of the most common trees, and also sources of acorns and pine nuts that were edible. Also mentioned are Black Sagebrush and Big Sagebrush, two common shrubs. Big Sagebrush is an indicator of good soil for farming.

In the vicinity of the marker that discussed the blue Spurred Lupine there was a blue flower in bloom, but I think in late May is was Larkspur.

There are some wildflowers along the trail that aren't mentioned in the trail guide. I think this is Clematis in the buttercup family. Clematis is one of the plants identified on the paved trail leading down to Spruce Tree House on Chapin Mesa.

Another flower that was conspicuous in May but not mentioned in the trail guide was this showy white flower that I think is Cliff Fendler Bush. The views from the Knife Edge Trail are from the North Rim of Mesa Verde toward the Montezuma Valley.

Snowberry is a low growing bush with pale pink bell shaped flowers. The Trail Guide says that there was no known Ancestral Pueblo use for Snowberry. Another berry on the trail is Utah Serviceberry, the most common bush in Mesa Verde and probably a source of food. There is also an Elderberry Bush on the trail, the only one that has been found in the park.

The Trail Guide mentions that this bush was so striking that the Knife Edge road was detoured slightly to preserve it. The Knife Edge Road was built in 1914 and served as an entrance to the park until the tunnel between Prater and Morefield canyons was built in 1957.

The Wild Rose has bright pink flowers and red oval shaped berries called "hips." These hips are rich in vitamin C and some have been found in Ancestral Pueblo remains. These roses grow in moist side canyons in dense patches.

A few small Douglas Firs are found along the trail and there are large ones high above against the north facing cliffs. Douglas Firs are also found in the moist canyons such as near Spruce Tree House. The Trail Guide mentions that the most colorful flower along the trail is the bright red Indian Paint Brush, but in late may none were in bloom yet.

Inside Balcony House

2009-05-08T04:38:00.000-07:00

The one hour tours at Balcony House at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado begin in late April, about three weeks after they begin at the famous Cliff Palace. Balcony House is a medium sized 27 room cliff dwelling and is very popular as the tour visit involves the adventure of climbing several ladders and crawling through a short tunnel.

Another difference about the Balcony House tour is that the visitor goes deep inside the sandstone alcove, rather than just along the front. The tour has five stops. There is an introduction at the beginning, a pause and view before descending a metal stair case and another pause before climbing the 32 foot double ladder. The fourth stop is in the plaza area where the well preserved balcony is visible.

After the discussion in the plaza, the route to the other side of the site involves a short climb and maneuvering around behind the structures to the back of the alcove, something that the other large alcove sites don’t allow.

The back of the alcove has a seep spring that provided water for the site. The Balcony House is a little unusual in that it faces mostly east rather than south, and doesn’t catch much sun in the cold winter months. The back of the alcove is thought to have been a refuse disposal area.

The fifth and last stop is in the area where the two site Kivas are side by side. These Kivas seem to be particularly deep and perhaps the extra insulation made up for the lack of solar heating here. Near the exit, there is a display of grinding stones that would have been used to grind corn.

Some of the ranger discussion talked of how these people suffered from decayed teeth. Sand from the corn grinding would end up in their food and wear their teeth down. The other observation was the prevalence of arthritis, from the kneeling and probable carrying of materials in a difficult location. There has been little observation of signs of violence.

The highlight exit is to crawl on hands and knees through the 12 foot tunnel. This was the entrance and exit that the people who lived here used. The entrance the tour uses was engineered by the Park Service.

Looking down on the tunnel from above, it appears that it was originally just a narrow crack in the sandstone. It looks like a ceiling was added to the crack and the gap filled with masonry. Some effort was made to make the site secure from unwanted visitors and this is one of the mysteries of the cliff dwellings.

Some sites show signs that security was a concern, but others do not. After visiting Balcony House, the nearby Soda Canyon Trail offers a 1.2 mile hike through the Pinon Pine and Utah Juniper forest to three canyon overlooks. From the first two overlooks, there are somewhat distant views of Balcony House.

Cliff Palace in Spring

2009-04-17T04:46:00.000-07:00

The Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde in southwest Colorado opens for the season in early April. The ranger lead tour takes about 1 hour. After an introduction at the overlook there are two stops, one to the left at the ruin level and one along the front of the site.

One of the questions about the 600 or more cliff dwellings that are found in the canyons of Mesa Verde is why did they build here? The Ancestral Pueblo people who lived here are thought to have arrived as hunters and gatherers around 500 AD and lived on the mesa tops for several hundred years, until a burst alcove building that began around 1200 AD.

The ranger offered a possible explanation. In this period, resources began to become scarce. The cliff structures provided more security. They were difficult to enter and more easily defended. But in the end, this strategy didn’t work.

The entire Four Corners region was abandoned by 1300 AD. There is some evidence that the amount of domesticated turkey consumed declined in this era. There wasn’t enough corn anymore to feed the turkeys.

Looking closely at the stone work, a variety of styles of masonry are seen. It looks like there was no central direction to the work here, each family adding and remodeling in their own style. This contrasts with the more uniform building styles in the large structures in Chaco Canyon, in northwest New Mexico.

The Cliff Palace contains 217 rooms and 23 circular kivas and is thought to have supported a population of about 200. On the second stop on the tour, the group gathers around one of the kivas. The traditional interpretation of these circular underground rooms is that they are used for ceremonies.

My thought has been that they would be more practical as shelters from the hard winters in this high elevation area. Winters are cold, there can be several feet of snow, and the earth contact insulation would moderate the cold. There are often tunnels connecting the fire warmed and well ventilated rooms with the storage rooms. Most of the alcoves used as living space face the south, taking advantage of the winter sun. There was an experiment going on in one of the kivas. Samples of the mud that could have been used as mortar were being tested.

The four story tower at the far end of the site has some artwork visible on the inside. At the very end of the tour there is an opportunity to lean in the small doorway and glance up. The interior and exterior walls of these structures were often covered with plaster which could be decorated.

At most sites, the plaster is the first feature to wear away and we don’t see any decorative work. The climb back to the canyon rim includes two convenient ladders to climb. To the right on the way up are the seemingly treacherous toe and hand holds that the residents used.

House of Many Windows Trail

2009-04-12T10:21:00.000-07:00

The House of Many Windows Trail is a 3 (or maybe 6) mile segment of paved road along the Cliff Palace Loop that visits five overlooks and has a continuous cross canyon view. This is an off season hike. Most summer visitors pass by the middle view points after visiting Cliff Palace or heading to Balcony House.

After the first week of November, the Ranger guided tours at Cliff Palace and Balcony House close for the season. The road remains open until it is impassible with snow. I started my mid November hike at the Cliff Palace parking area. The road was still open and there was very little traffic. The stunning Cliff Palace is always worth a quick view from the overlook area.

The first viewpoint after Cliff Palace is the Cliff Canyon Overlook. This point is across the canyon from Sun Point which is one of the best ruins view points in the region, with up to 12 sites visible. To the right on the same side of this canyon rim is a side view of Sunset House.

Looking across the canyon, there are three ruins sites visible. Sun Point Dwelling, to the right has only three rooms along a narrow ledge. Site 634 in the middle, has 16 rooms and two kivas. Way to the left is the House of Many Windows.

The second lookout point gives a more direct view of the House of Many Windows. The multiple openings are actually doors. The site is thought to have 11 rooms and maybe a kiva. From this point there is a view up the canyon toward the Sun Temple and a glimpse of Oak Tree House.

The paved road turns east and the scene shifts from Cliff Canyon to Soda Canyon. Right at the turning point, there is a segment of old paved road that offers better views than the main road. It appears that the road was abandoned because it cut too deeply into the adjacent Ute Mountain Tribal Park. I followed the abandoned road which stayed along the canyon rim. It rejoins the main road at the next lookout point. The next lookout point is for Hemenway House, named for Mary Hemenway, a Massachusetts woman who financially supported the early archaeological research in the southwest. The site named for her is spread out in a very large alcove.

The next view point is the Balcony House parking area, though Balcony House isn’t visible. The tour of Balcony House is popular and features ladders to climb and a short tunnel to crawl through. Further up the road the 1.2 mile Soda Canyon Trail leads to two overlook points that offer the only views from outside balcony House. After the Soda Canyon Trail, the road loops back to Cliff Palace. My hike, with the road open was about 3 miles and I spent about 2:00 hours. If the road is closed, the distance to make the loop increases to 6 miles. I walked on a 40 F degree blue sky day in mid November.

Small Ruins on the Farming Terrace Trail

2009-04-11T05:37:00.000-07:00

The Cedar Tree Tower and the 0.5 mile Farming Terrace Trail are located along a short side road near the Chapin Mesa Museum area in Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. This pair of attractions is probably often overlooked.The Cedar Tree Tower location has a good view down a deep canyon. The interpretive information raises the question of why were towers built. This tower is in good position for signaling, but there is not another obvious tower in sight.

There are a lot of towers in the region, particularly in the Hovenweep National Monument, but the reasons for them are not clear. The Cedar Tree Tower is in combination with a circular kiva and there is a connecting tunnel. There is another tower and kiva combination on the Badger House Trail on the Wetherill Mesa part of Mesa Verde.

Nearby Cedar Tree Tower the short Farming Terrace Trail winds around a dry wash area. The Pinion Pine and Utah Juniper trees along the trail are scorched from the recent forest fires. The highlight of this trail is the series of check dams built across the gully to catch runoff and limit erosion in a dry climate. It is pointed out that in dry years these check dam areas provided more moisture for agriculture than the mesa top fields.

Upstream of the check dams there is a small ruins structure. This site isn’t pointed out and isn’t visible from the trail, though it is very close by. The Cedar Tree Tower is visible across the drainage, through the burnt over forest. It makes sense that some sort of a dwelling would be in the vicinity of the farming terraces.

This site looks like it has been excavated recently as there are piles of sandstone bricks nearby. The extensive forest fires that have occurred since 2000 are said to have revealed many previously unknown sites, and perhaps this is one. It makes an interesting addition to this short trail.

Sun Point Trail

2009-02-25T05:13:00.001-08:00

The Sun Point Trail is a segment of the Mesa Top Pit House to Pueblo tour on Chapin Mesa in Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado.

On this self guiding tour most visitors move their vehicles to each of the ten stops, but during winter conditions this is a peaceful 3 mile round trip hike on a firm surface.

I started my hike at the Square Tower Overlook, a 500 foot paved trail and the second stop on the tour. This overlook views an alcove ruins site that features a four story square tower pressed against the wall of the alcove in Navajo Canyon. This site retains about 60 of an original 80 rooms. There is another ruins site directly across Navajo Canyon closer to the canyon rim.

There are three stops before arriving at Sun Point, the first of three view points across Cliff Canyon and Fewkes Canyon. This is one of the best ruins viewpoints in the region as about 12 Ancestral Pueblo Ruins sites are visible here.

The largest and most eye catching from Sun Point is Sunset House. To the left of Sunset House are two smaller sites and then Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dweller site in Mesa Verde. There is another site down canyon to the right, visible with binoculars, that isn't mentioned in the interpretive information at the overlook.

Moving to the left side of the same overlook, there are views across the canyon junction toward the large alcove Cliff Palace, the Sun Temple on the mesa top, and Mummy House below the Temple and below the canyon rim. A reliable water supply in this area made it an attractive area for these numerous cliff dwellings.

A short distance further is the Oak Tree House overlook. Oak Tree House has a retaining wall at the front of the site and the area behind the wall filled in to level the floor.

This site has 50 rooms and six circular kivas. All of these sites face the south. In late February these sites are snow free while the north facing side of the canyon still is snow covered.

Just past Oak Tree House is the Fire Temple. This site has an area to the left that is thought to have been used only for ceremonies, as it shows no features associated with habitation. To the right is a split level site cliff dwelling called New Fire House.

It took me about 1:00 hour to hike from Square Tower to the Fire Temple overlook including all the stops, and 40 minutes to return. I only saw two or three other visitors on a sunny 50 degree day in late February. From the Fire Temple it is another 0.6 miles to the Sun Temple.

Luminarias at Spruce Tree House

2008-12-19T05:23:00.000-08:00

A Luminaria is a small lantern made with a lighted candle supported inside an open brown paper bag with a layer of sand. During the holiday season displays of Luminarias are popular in Arizona and New Mexico and other areas of the southwest.

The small lights are spaced at about ten feet along both sides of side walks and roads and create an enchanting evening display.

Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado has an annual event where the route leading to the popular Spruce Tree House ruin is lined with Luminairas and the interiors and plazas of the ruin structures are lighted with camping lanterns. This is a popular event, especially with photographers. Tripods crowd the best vantage points both on the canyon rim and below.

In winter, there are normally three tours of Spruce Tree House per day, but another four are added for this special event. As dusk settles, the flickering Luminarias guide visitors down the switch back trail that descends into the ruin site. Walk carefully, it's still very dark with only candles to guide the way.

One of the problems that Ancestral Pueblo People would have had living in these cliff dweller sites is keeping warm in the winter. These rooms may have had small fires burning such that the effect may have been something like this. There are soot marks on the rock ceilings that some think indicate fires burning 24 hours a day.

My visit was right at dusk and I left just as much of the visiting crowd was still arriving. It is a twisty dark road for 25 miles to get to the Spruce Tree Ruins site, and there were ice patches in spots that don't get any winter sun. But the traffic arriving for this special event was heavy and the parking area full.

Balcony House Trail

2008-12-08T05:16:00.000-08:00

Balcony House is one of the three cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado where you have to buy a $3 dollar ticket for a ranger led one hour tour.

The other two are the famous Cliff Palace and the nearly equally large Long House. Balcony House is one of the most popular sites for visitors to Mesa Verde. The trail head is on the Cliff Palace Loop in the Chapin Mesa area.
Everyone says that Balcony House is the Indiana Jones adventure tour. To get into the ruin you have to walk down 130 steps to get to a point below the ruin, perched high on a steep canyon wall. There was not an original entrance to the Balcony House site from this side. It was installed by the Park Service to make the visit easy. Then you have to climb a 32 foot ladder to arrive at a narrow entry, slither along a sandstone wall, then ducking through a low opening, to arrive in a small plaza. This village is thought to have been home to about 40 people 700 years ago, then mysteriously abandoned.

I had thought it had the name Balcony House because it was perched like a balcony with a low wall, hanging over a deep canyon. The low wall is called a parapet wall and is a unique feature, probably important for keeping children from falling into the canyon below.

But actually, it has this name because one of the second floor rooms has a small ledge outside the window, a feature not often preserved as well as here, but seen in other large sites.

There are two large circular ceremonial kivas on the south side of the site. This medium sized site appears to have about 28 rooms besides the two kivas. The south side may have been the business side of the site and children were kept more to the north side plaza with the protective parapet wall. The back of the site has two springs. This was a fortunate site to have water so handy.

The ruin is small compared to some of the other ones, but the adventure continues. To get out of the site you have to crawl on hands and knees through 12 feet of tunnel, then climb another ladder, and scramble up some primitive steps carved into stone, while clinging to a chain hand hold. The only place to view Balcony House besides the tour is from the Soda Canyon Trail where there is an across the canyon overlook.

Spruce Canyon Trail

2008-11-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

The Spruce Canyon Trail is one of two 2.4 mile trails, along with the Petroglyph Trail, that start at the Spruce Tree House trail head next to the Chapin Mesa Museum in Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. From the trail head paved switchbacks descend into the canyon to Spruce Tree House, one of the major Ancestral Pueblo Ruins sites that can be entered.

It is possible to hike the Spruce Canyon Trail without passing by the ruin site, but it is a spectacular site and is worth a look even if you've seen it before. From an elevated view it is possible to see some roof beam details and rooms at the back of the site that aren't visible at ruin level.

After splitting from the Petroglyph Trail, the Spruce Canyon Trail descends to the bottom of the Douglas Fir dominated side canyon continues south for a short ways then swings north around a canyon junction into the main part of Spruce Canyon.

The canyon bottom is dense forest with glimpses of the canyon sides. I was scanning the canyon walls for small ruins sites with binoculars but didn't see any. There is a good ruins site along the trail but I didn't see it until arriving back on the canyon rim.

Climbing back to the canyon rim the route continues through the picnic ground close to the rim and you can view the trail where you were just hiking.

Continuing along the rim the trail passes Fewkes Cabin, named for Jesse Walter Fewkes, the pioneer archaeologist who did much of the early work in Mesa Verde. Fewkes was an early proponent of opening the ruins sites to the public as an educational experience. This is the oldest historic building at Mesa Verde.The trail continues past the old amphitheater to the overflow parking lot where you can scan the cliffs across Spruce Canyon to the west with binoculars. There is a medium sized ruins site just below the rim, over the Spruce Canyon Trail, but I don't think it is visible from below.

There isn't a sign pointing this site out and it doesn't appear on the park map. The Rangers said that this site is called Thomas House. I've walked this trail in 1:15 but on this hike I spent more time scanning and used 2:00 hours.

Cliff Palace Trail

2008-11-11T10:19:00.000-08:00

Cliff Palace is the largest and most famous of the Mesa Verde National Park cliff dweller ruins in southwest Colorado. It's the one that would be featured on the National Geographic specials accompanied by some somber flute music.

This is one of three sites at Mesa Verde that can only be visited as a $3 ranger guided tour. The trail down has a lot of rough steps and slides through some narrow openings and has ladders to climb up and down. If you have bad knees or hips, stay on top, the ranger advises.

The answer to the question of why they lived there seems to be that they used the cliff dwellings more for storage than to live in, mostly still living on the mesa tops. Sheltered under the stone roof, the cliff dwellings were cooler in summer and warmer in winter if they faced the south. In the Chapin Mesa Museum there is a pot that was filled with 700 year old corn that was found in one of the ruins.

The Cliff Palace contains 217 rooms and 23 circular kivas and is thought to have supported a population of about 200. As large as it is, this site was used for only 75-100 years. The whole Four Corners area was abandoned by 1300 AD and these sites lay vacant for centuries.

Looking back up toward the trail head area, the forest resources here are Pinon Pines and Utah Juniper trees. The canyons where the cliff dwellings occur are porous sandstone. Water seeping down through the rock loosens the grains and the cave like alcoves form. Only a few alcoves are large enough for a very large structure like Cliff Palace.

The ceremonial Kivas are one of the interesting features of the cliff dwellings and other Ancestral Pueblo sites. The Kivas seem to usually have a ventilation shaft, unlike most of the rectangular rooms. Around the circle, the columns supported the roof structure which included the entryway. Most kivas seem to have been entered from the top but a few have side entrances. We usually see the kivas without the roofs.

At the far end of the Cliff Palace, the second level structures are visible. The fine stone work that was used here is also visible. Some of the structures at this end were reconstructed and stabilized by the Park Service. There are more ladders to climb to exit the site. Some of the hand and toe holds that the residents used are also visible.

Petroglyph Trail

2008-09-14T05:27:00.000-07:00

The 2.4 mile Petroglyph Trail in Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado is probably the best all around hiking trail in the park that can be visited every year.

The Petroglyph Trail itself visits the rocky, sheltered, and forested area just below the rim of Spruce Canyon, passes by a small ruins site and goes past the best petroglyph site in Mesa Verde. But before you get to that, the interpretive descent into the canyon identifies many of the common plants of the canyon and passes by Spruce Tree House, one of two cliff dweller sites that can be visited without going on a ranger guided tour.

The trail has a lot of ups and downs, rocky steps and wide canyon views before arriving at the highlight petroglyph panel. The trail guide offers some interpretations that were provided by current day Hopi Native Americans.

The squarish swirl below the hand print represents the "Sipapu" the place where the Pueblo People emerged from the earth, taken as the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona. To the left of the Sipapu and higher the Eagle Clan symbol indicates that they separated from the main migration group. To the left of the Eagle, the Mountain Sheep Clan also dropped away from the migration.

The human figures represent the people and the "whipping Kachinas" influencing the people. The "whipping Kachinas" are spirits who "straightened out" the people and gave direction to their travels. I imagine we could all benefit from "whipping Kachinas."

In current Hopi religion the San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, Arizona are the home of the Kachinas, the spirits who bring the rain so that the corn will grow. Corn was the most important crop of these people and still plays an important spiritual role.

The swirl to the right has two interpretations. It represents the either the end of the migration, here in Mesa Verde, or the future end in the modern Hopi Villages in Arizona. To the left of the swirl is a lizard symbol, meaning either that the Horned Toad clan separated off from the migration, or the Lizard Spirit had influence, causing a period of wandering without direction. The human figure to the left of the lizard is another "whipping Kachina."

To the left of the "whipping Kachina" is either the Mountain Lion Clan symbol, or an all powerful animal spirit watching over the people in their travels. These interpretations cover about half of the figures that are here. There are several hand prints, and other animal and human figures and a lot of swirled lines.

After the petroglyph panel the trail climbs to the canyon rim and returns loops back toward the Spruce Tree House area, giving some views from above and to the side.

Pool Canyon Trail - Nordenskiold Sites in Ute Mountain Tribal Park

2008-07-27T05:01:00.000-07:00

The Pool Canyon Trail is in a rarely visited part of Ute Mountain Tribal Park, which sits on the south side of Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. This hike is only offered two or three times per year and is a guided hike.

The access to the trail is along the Mesa Top Tour loop south of the Chapin Mesa Museum Area. The hike is about a three mile round trip and visits three cliff dweller ruins sites in Pool Canyon. The first part of the hike traverses a fairly lush area of Pinon Pine and Juniper Forest then descends to the head of Pool Canyon.

The first ruin site is the Nordenskiold No. 5 site. Nordenskiold was a Swedish scientist who was the first professional to view the Mesa Verde sites in 1891. The sites in Ute Mountain Tribal Park haven't been worked on very much or stabilized and are in the condition they were found in, except that many of the artifacts were removed in the early 1900s.

This site seems to have had some of the sandstone from the overhead alcove collapse on the front. The overhead crashing down is not something you usually think about when visiting these sites, but there must have been some accumulated debris when the sites were first occupied that made readily available building material. There are some small structures on a second level up to the left of the main site. These small rooms are thought to be storage areas.

Often in these structures, different styles of masonry are seen side by side, indicating that the site was worked on over a period of years, or perhaps by different crews of workers. These sites were all abandoned around 1300 with the people migrating to areas to the south. Drought is often suggested as the reason, but some say it was just time to move on.

Pool Canyon isn't as deep as many of the canyons in the Mesa Verde area and the rock alcoves are not as high. It is thought that the Ancestral Pueblo people spent most of their time on the mesa top in farming activity and only a fraction of time in these cliff dweller sites.

The second ruins site visited is the Nordenskiold No. 4 site. This is a two level site with neither level very tall due to the nature of the alcove. This site was on the opposite side of the Pool Canyon from the No. 5 site. The trail here follows along the bottom of the canyon, much of it in the dry creek bed. Just before this site there are a few petroglyphs scratched into the sandstone walls.

The forest in the canyon is mostly Pinon Pine and Gambel Oak. Utah Juniper is also common in the area. The rooms here and at the other sites in Pool Canyon are small and not very tall due to the shape of the alcoves. Some of the doorways use the key hole style that is seen at other sites around the region. I noticed that one of the rooms used larger than average stones on the lowest course. There are two sites in Mesa Verde where this is noted, referred to as megalithic stones.

The upper level stone work appeared to be in good condition. There is a log leaning here that has the look of a primitive ladder but no one attempted to climb up there. The black streaks on the sandstone are deposits of manganese and are sometimes called desert varnish.

The third ruins site on the Pool Canyon Trail is the Nordenskiold No. 3 site. This appeared to be the largest of the three sites, with a wide alcove but not a very tall one. There are some upper level structures at this site. Peeking in through some of the openings, there are two and in some cases three small rooms before the back of the alcove. This sandstone rock alcove site is wider than the other two sites on this trail but like them, there isn't much room overhead in these structures.

The No. 3 site is deep in the back and is a shady and cool site on a hot summer day. This site shows double thick walls which usually means it was later in the period of occupation. Also, there are some keyhole style doorways which I always think are clever. Some the sandstone from the overhead area has crashed down onto the site. These large slabs are not seen at the Mesa Verde National Park sites, presumably they have been cleared away for visitor convenience. The Ute Mountain Park has mostly left nature to its own.

The No. 3 site is in a sort of pocket off the main canyon. It looks like that during a heavy rain storm, water from above would pour off in a sheet right in front of the main room blocks. The rooms would be protected by being back inside far enough. There is a fairly deep hole in front of the site that appears to have been gouged by falling drainage from above. it must have been an entertaining spectacle here during a heavy storm.

It was a 45 minute hike back to the trail head from the No.3 site. Our group spent about 4:15 hours on the trail and visiting the sites.

Long House Overlook Trail

2008-07-22T05:02:00.000-07:00

The Long House Trail is a short paved trail to the overlook of Long House, the second largest cliff dweller ruin in Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. It is reached only by the tram that services the Wetherill Mesa Area.

Long House is one of the three sites in Mesa Verde that is visited only by guided tours. The site has about 150 rooms and 21 kivas and a large central plaza.
This site was discovered by the Wetherill brothers during the winter of 1889-90 but was essentially unexcavated by the early visitors and was not fully excavated until 1958-61.
The site sits at the head of a large deep canyon and has a seep spring at the back of the site.

Badger House Trail

2008-07-16T05:04:00.000-07:00

The Badger House Trail is a 0.75 mile one way paved route that visits four sites on Wetherill Mesa in Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado. These sites trace some of the development in architecture and living styles of the Ancestral Pueblo People who lived here until mysteriously vanishing around 1300 AD. The trail head for the Badger House Trail is about 0.5 miles from the tram parking area. The Nordenskiold No. 16 Trail is in the same vicinity. The tram also stops at both ends of the trail.

The first stop on the trail is the Pithouse from about 650 AD. This structure marked the change in life style from nomadic hunting to permanent habitation. This example has a large room and an area that is thought to be for storage. These were covered over with a wood frame and plastered with mud. The entrance was through the roof.

The second site to visit is the Pueblo Village. From about 750 AD the storage rooms began expanding into several rooms. These structures were more adobe with the beginnings of rock masonry that developed later. This site has a great kiva where the soil layers tell some of its story. The size of this kiva indicates that is was probably a center for a wider group of people that just this set of room blocks.

The Badger House site, the third of the four on this trail, has the longest kiva and tower tunnel connection yet to be found in the southwest.
The tunnel here extends for 41 feet. The connection of kivas with towers seems to be common but it is not known why. Current day Pueblo people still use kivas but not towers. The stone work here is thought to be from the 1200s. This site was built on top of an older site.

Two Raven House is the last site on the Badger House Trail. This site is thought to have been occupied from the 900s to the 1100s. It has two unusual features. There is a small circular room that resembles a miniature kiva. Some sites have great kivas but this is a rare mini kiva. There is also evidence for a fence built around the plaza area, maybe as a windbreak, or to fence in or out their domestic turkeys.

Hikers can return to the trailhead on foot or catch the tram at the end of the trail. There are two short overlook trails to Kodak House and Long House that can only be reached by riding the tram.

Kodak House Overlook Trail

2008-07-13T05:54:00.000-07:00

The Kodak House Trail is a short paved walk to an overlook on Wetherill Mesa in Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado.The trail head is reached by riding the Wetherill Mesa tram. It is one of two overlooks, along with the Long House overlook, that can only be reached by riding the tram.
Kodak House received its name from the camera that was stored in one of the rooms by early investigator Gustaf Nordenskiold. When he first examined the site it had already been severely damaged by pot hunters.
Kodak House sits just below the rim of a large wide canyon. The site has a two level structure and about 70 rooms and 6 or 7 kivas.

Nordenskiold No. 16 Ruin Trail

2008-07-08T05:28:00.000-07:00

The Nordenskiold No. 16 Ruin Trail is a 1.0 mile round trip to an overlook of the alcove protected structures. It is an additional 0.5 miles walking to the trailhead from the tram parking area on Wetherill Mesa in Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado.

There is a good trail guide for this route, with numbered stops, that describes in detail the surrounding Pinon Pine and Juniper forest, and many of the plants and their ethnobotanical uses by the Ancestral Pueblo and the wildlife.

Unfortunately, much of this area was burned over during the 2000 Pony forest fire. Stop No. 3 on the guide describes how such fires help maintain a healthy and vigorous forest.

The No. 16 Ruin was occupied during the 1200s and sits in the layer called the Cliff House Formation sandstone. It has about 50 rooms and has a two level structure.
Gustaf Nordenskiold was a visiting Swedish geologist and paleontologist who undertook the first systematic study of the Mesa Verde cliff dwellers in 1891, paying one of the Wetherills $3.00 per day as his guide.

The Wetherills were ranchers from nearby Mancos, CO who had first stumbled onto the sites while rounding up stray cattle, or so it is said. Another version has it that the local Ute Indian Chief led the Wetherills to the sites.

Nordenskiold didn't spend much time at this site as it didn't have the artifacts he was interested in. He later took nine crates of material back to Europe with him.

This brazen act outraged other pot hunters and led to the passage of the 1906 Antiquities Act so that no one would get away with this again, at least not a European.

The nine crates of treasures are now on display in the National Museum of Finland in Helsinki.

The site we see today is the result of a program of stabilization that began in the 1940s. Walls and other features are strengthened to prevent further collapse.

Hikers visiting the No. 16 site will probably also hike on to the Badger House Trail, a short distance away.

Mancos Canyon Kiva Point Trail

2008-06-18T19:35:00.000-07:00

The Kiva Point Trail in Ute Mountain Tribal Park, in southwest Colorado is a short route just off the gravel road in the Mancos River Canyon near the Highway 491 entrance to the park.

Kiva Point is part of the regular tours at Ute Mountain. Both the half day and full day tours normally stop here. The Sun Calendar Tour in late May also stops here.

Ute Mountain Tribal Park requires all visitors to be escorted by a guide and one of the benefits of this system, as opposed to the mass system at nearby Mesa Verde, is the numerous collections of pottery shards and artifacts that are on display in the areas where they were found.

Among the highlights of this trail are the several panels of rock art petroglyphs on the sandstone cliffs a short climb from the road.

The interpretation of these drawings is usually a mystery though current day Pueblo People often have some insights.

The Kiva here is unexcavated and appears as a large circle with scattered rubble. This site was a fairly large village area not far from the Mancos River, a modest sized stream that flows out of the nearby LaPlata mountains. There is an identified dancing ground near the site, along with collapsed towers and a possible three story pueblo.

Eagle's Nest House on the Lion Canyon Trail

2008-06-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

The highlight site on the Lion Canyon Trail in Ute Mountain Tribal Park in southwest Colorado is the spectacular Eagle's Nest House. It is the fourth of four cliff dweller sites along the three mile trail.

Eagles Nest is thought to be a 15 room and 1 kiva site. The exciting part of visiting this site is getting to it.

The trailhead is reached after a 40 minute ride on gravel roads. Then, a climb down three ladders into Lion Canyon, and hike 1.5 miles along a rough trail.
The first challenge is to climb the 30 foot ladder. The guide made a point of saying that this climb was optional. Six of our group of eight made the harrowing climb.
After reaching the top, there is a fairly narrow and low ceiling ledge to travel. I kept as far to the right as I could, ducking low and not looking over the edge.
The posts sticking out horizontally of the structure probably supported a small balcony, similar to Balcony House in Mesa Verde. It's hard to imagine anyone sitting on the balcony, dangling their legs over the deep canyon.
Creeping slowly and deeper into the site, we could peer into the circular kiva, some of its structures still intact after 700 years. We could creep further and look through the openings past the kiva. Then backtrack along the narrow ledge and the long ladder, to the relative safety of the primitive trail.

Morris #5 Ruin on Lion Canyon Trail

2008-06-08T11:36:00.000-07:00

The Morris #5 site is the third of the cliff dweller sites on the remote Lion Canyon Trail in Ute Mountain Tribal Park in southwest Colorado. The trail is a three mile round trip to four barely touched Ancestral Pueblo Ruins sites.

After riding 40 minutes on gravel roads through the Mancos River Canyon and climbing down several ladders we arrive at this 25 room and 2 kiva site.
Archaeologist Morris found this ceremonial kiva with the roof still in place, a rare finding. But he also found a rare design inside. Lacking photo flash in the early 1900s he tore the roof off the photograph the design.
The grooves in the sandstone here were described by the guide as a place where spears were sharpened. These details, along with the numerous collections of pottery and stone tools at the sites here in Ute Mountain Park are things that aren't seen very often in nearby Mesa Verde.
On a second level there seems to be a wall constructed without mortar. The guide suggested that this was thought to be an area for defense. Reachable only by a ladder, residents could retreat and toss the loose stones on unwanted visitors.