We woke up in Mesa Verde Colorado, just across from the Mesa Verde National Park. Or so we thought. We were actually just across from the gates to the park, and it took about 45 minutes on bumpy roads undergoing roadworks to get into the Park proper. Luckily it was worth it.
On our first voyage into a National Park (in Yosemite) we spent $80 on an annual Parks pass. Since the bigger parks charge about $25 per vehicle, our pass is now paying for itself.
Mesa Verde is a really fascinating place and it's very different from the parks we've been to up to this point. While the scenery is pretty, this place is about the people. The Anasazi (referred to now as the Ancient Puebloans) got to MV about 1100AD. They had been nomadic up til then, but started setting up wee communities, first in rudimentary 'pit houses' and eventually building much more elaborate and hardy stone cliff dwellings in the ledges of canyons. Some of these were four stories high. Then between 1200AD and 1300AD, they packed up and left completely. No-one knows why, but it seems there'd been a massive drought, and the people probably thought they'd angered the gods and scarpered. They headed out into the wider area and merged with other groups to create the tribes now known as the Hopi, the Zumi and others in the Rio Grande area. The area was uncovered again in the 1800s and 1900s, and the buildings are in really amazing condition (refer photo gallery 3).
Charlotte drove us to Durango, CO - hitting a new high speed of 65mph. We saw two dead deer - Colorado's version of roadkill. There are signs everywhere warning of elk and deer on the roads - it was horrible to see some people hadn't been paying attention. Durango itself was really lovely - a gorgeous little ski-town, with an old narrow gauge railway and a thoroughly charming main street. Coffee wasn't bad either.
Back on the road and crossed into New Mexico. The park card came in handy again - this time at the Aztec ruins. A bit disappointing that they're actually misrepresented, because they're not really Aztec ruins - which dashed Charlotte's hopes. They're also Ancient Puebloan, and you can wander through the ancient buildings and into a reconstructed kiva (ceremonial house). These guys vanished about the same time as Mesa Verde's population. We had a chat with Landis the ranger - it was really informative. We rate the National Park Service very highly, the sites are really well looked after and the rangers are very helpful.
We decided to make a push for Santa Fe - a big drive but it was enjoyable and meant we could take it easy the next day. We've been tuning into local radio stations, and picked up Mountain FM which was celebrating Memorial Weekend with the 500 best rock songs of all time (of course Stairway to Heaven won). But it was excellent road trip music as we blitzed central New Mexico to the sound of AC/DC and Led Zeppelin.
No comments:
Post a Comment