Today we investigated Mesa Verde and the cliff dwellings of ancient pleboains This national park is mainly here just to preserve the cliff dwellings and history of the Puebloan peoples. The park was nothing special as far as beauty but the cliff dwellings that I have seen for years in books were great to get to actually see and walk through.

This is the only national park that we have gone to where some of the best sights were only accessible by guided ranger tour. The tour ticket had to be requested in person and could be gotten up to 3 days in advance. The tours cost 5 dollars per person. The tours were well worth what we spent. The rangers were very knowledgeable and took their time letting us look and answering all our questions.

We toured Cliff Palace, which is the most photographed and famous of the dwellings. In pictures it looks like a kids toy. For some reason the scope of the size does not show in pictures.

We also toured Balcony House, This tour was considered strenuous on their scale. Not for the length, but because of the obstacles that had to be overcome to get into and out of the cliff dwelling. I actually enjoyed the obstacles. To get in we had to climb a 30 foot ladder and then go through a crevice in between 2 rocks that was not as wide as my soldiers. The tour of the cliff was easy, but then to leave and get back up to the top of the Mesa, we had to crawl through an opening 18 x 24 inches wide for the length of 12 foot. Once through there was 3 more straight up ladders, and then a trek up the side of a mountain wall using feet holds that were cut in and a chain to pull yourself up and stabilize yourself.

On to Arizona now.