Magestic Mesa Verde

Unlike Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde is a very well known and very well visited national park in southern Colorado.  Its big draw is cliff dwellings built by contemporaries of the Chacoans.  We had spent the night in Aztec, New Mexico (which happened to have a decent Mexican place with its own, surprisingly tasty craft beer) and headed out in the morning for Cortez, Colorado, our jumping off point for Mesa Verde.

We passed a few spots of note along the way.  The first was Ship Rock, a gigantic rock formation west of Aztec.  Apparently early Spanish explorers thought it looked like a ship.  It is a spiritual site for the Native Americans in the area, though it lost some of its magic when the Sierra Club scaled it a few years ago.  The town of Shiprock nearby is not worth the effort.

We also drove through Arizona and then past (yes, past) the incredibly cheesy Four Corners Monument where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah meet.

Arriving in Cortez in the early afternoon we determined there was very little to do there other than go to Mesa Verde, so that's what we did.  It is much greener in that part of the country, and the fall colours were already turning.  It made for some stunning views, most of which I failed to capture on camera.  We made it up to the first set of cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde in the early afternoon.

A spectacular butte covered in fall coloured trees on the road on the way up.  Unfortunately, stopping to take this photo meant we had to wait 20 minutes for construction going on just around the bend.  Fortunately, we were at the front of the line so got to set our own pace on the 17 mile, windy, uphill road.

First sight of the main cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde - seeing these ones requires just a short walk down a paved trail.  You have to love US Parks - they'll pave a trail to just about anything!

Yucca plants are everywhere.

Dad checks out a pinion pine - common in this area, but definitely not in BC.

After we checked out the main set of cliff dwellings, we accidentally ended up going for a hike along the top of the canyon, with the return loop following just under the lip of the canyon top.  The first half of the hike was along a nice, easy trail, but it got a lot more exciting on the way back.

Enjoying the views of the steep canyon.

Okay, is that seriously another hidden, super steep rock staircase?  Yes, yes it is.

Lots of lizards popped up along the way.  This one was kind enough to let me take a few photos.  I guess he was very confident in his camouflage.

Just another narrow pass to squeeze through.  This was actually one of the larger ones!

Dad lives like a Mesa Verdan and sleeps in a cave we found along the way.

Gorgeous views of the plains below on the drive home.

We spent the evening in Cortez, visiting the local brewery - Main Street Brewing Company - where we found decent craft beer and burgers.  The next day it was back up to Mesa Verde!