Point Lookout Trail

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

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

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

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

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.

(There are other posts that show the details of Balcony House. Use the Balcony House Trail label to find.)