Mesa Verde

Mesa Verde is located near Cortez, Colorado. This was the home to the ancestral Pueblo people for  hundreds of years. About 800 years ago they all left rather suddenly and never returned. 

This National Park includes their cliff dwellings and mesa top homes that are available for inspection and contemplation. Most can be walked to on pathways, however the Balcony House dwellings require climbing ladders, crawling thru tunnels and climbing cliffs using footholds carved into the rocks.

The somewhat official name for the tour of the Balcony House is the Adventure tour, but the ranger guide told us they refer to it as the 'Indiana Jones' tour.

This is the visitor center located near the highway entrance to the park. You purchase your tour tickets here and then drive an hour or so on winding roads thru the park to the cliff dwellings.

The visitor center has several good exhibits about life of the Indians

The views from the Mesa are impressive

This is the Park museum and is located at the top of the trail to the Spruce Tree House cliff dwellings

John T and Julie with the Spruce Tree house in the background

The trail to the Spruce Tree House

This is how the Kiva's look before the roof is installed. These below ground chambers were thought to be used for ceremonial purposes

The Spruce Tree House has an actual enclosed Kiva that you can descend into

The ladder descends into the Kiva just behind the air deflector that directed the air intake for the fire to flow around the Kiva

The museum has several dioramas showing the evolution of the Indian life styles over the centuries.

The Balcony house tour is the one referred to as the Indiana Jones tour.We were told that the tour is not recommended for those who have a fear of heights, can't climb ladders, are claustrophobic or who have respiratory or heart problems. That was good advice. 

The tour goers met under this shade canopy and awaited the start of the tour

We then descended a path to the start of the tour of the dwellings

The way into the dwellings is by way of a 32 step ladder.

Julie did well with the climb

You then climb thru a narrow crevasse and climb another ladder. This was to make the dwelling easy to defend as any attacker would not be able to wield a weapon. 

Eventually you enter into the cliff dwellings

Another view of the entrance

Made it!

Our Ranger guide

The dwellings were in a constant state of construction. This section of wall shows two separate constructions that happened 30 years apart - around 1275 AD

There are footholds carved into the rock that take you to the connection to the next cliff dwelling.

More Kivas were found in the next section of the cliff dwellings

The way out is not for the faint of heart. It involves narrow slots in the rock face, a tunnel you crawl thru and a climb up a rock face and ladder to the parking lot - Whew!

All in all quite the adventure!