Mesa Verde

Today we went to Mesa Verde to see the cliff dwellings of the ancient people of Southwestern Colorado. All I could think all day long was how much Jenna would enjoy this (she's an archeologist, in case you didn't know). I really wish you could have been here, Jay!

Most of the cliff dwellings require a tour with a park ranger, as they are difficult to get to. We, of course, chose the two most difficult and "strenuous" tours.
The first took us to Cliff Palace, which archeologist think was some sort of gathering place. It has 100 rooms and is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. It was built from around 1190 to 1260 or something like that and was abandoned for unknown reasons (spooky!) around 1300. To get in and out of Cliff Palace, you have to climb 4 10-foot ladders, but that was nothing compared to the next place we went.

Balcony House was built for defense, and therefore is more difficult to get to. To get there, we had to descend a 100 foot staircase and climb a 32 foot tall ladder (made of sticks, practically). Then, to get out of the canyon, we had to literally crawl through a 12 foot long, 18" wide tunnel and climb 60 more feet on another large ladder and a set of stone steps on a cliff that made Angel's Landing seem like a piece of cake. It was just a little bit frightening, but lots of fun - definitely an adventure.

It was truly fascinating to see how the ancient folks lived - it definitely appealed to the nerdy sides of our personalities.

We hear it's hot in Knoxville - it's been nice here - 70 degrees average! We're sunburnt and can't find a tent for our Havasu Falls trip, but still having a great time!

Pictures!